Having the right tools and equipment on hand to engage and inspire learners is vital in any teaching session – which is why Creative Hut have engaged 3P Logistics (3PL) to take care of their fulfilment and logistics needs.
With products ranging from small, simple and robust kits from well-known brands like LEGO, to large, complex and delicate devices like drones and 3D printers, having a partner that can deal with this kind of variety – swiftly and accurately – is vital to the business.
It’s the first time Creative Hut have had the confidence to outsource their fulfilment and logistics needs, having previously handled it all themselves.
Supplying directly to consumers, in addition to retail and distribution partners, the 3PL Fusion platform will receive orders directly from Creative Hut’s systems, for 3PL to pick, pack and dispatch, while also generating a complete digital trail including tracking information.
The Creative Hut brand
Creative Hut provide hands-on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths) resources designed to inspire creativity, build resilience and equip students with the problem-solving skills they need for the future.
From LEGO to drones, and starter software development to 3D printing, they have products to support learners of every age from early years to university – as well as for teacher training, and community-led education projects. They cover Coding and Computing, Design Technology, Engineering and Art and Design – and it’s the inclusion of Art into the mix that is designed to add wonder, critique, enquiry and innovation alongside the traditional STEM subjects.
Quality fulfilment vital for complex and high value products
With a mission of making learning fun, Creative Hut offer educational kits, including early years LEGO and science sets up to university level robotics costing up to nearly £4,000, which means careful handling and accurate inventory management are essential.
Customers include schools, football academies and small independent businesses, as well as those accessing products via Creative Hut’s Shopify platform, so precision and attention to detail are critical as delays or mistakes could impact ongoing programmes.
3PL colleagues are trained to manage these high-value educational kits and strict processes to ensure all orders are accurately fulfilled and packaged OTIF (On Time, In Full), according to the product type and customer requirements.
3PL Fusion – a specifically designed platform
Operational compliance in the form of pick/pack accuracy, and dispatch timeliness, is available to customers thanks to 3PL Fusion, the complete fulfilment platform, developed and maintained by the 3PL team.
Orders are received from different sources including web orders, various eCommerce platforms, retailers or distribution partners and processed through Fusion for picking, packing and accuracy, timely dispatch. The system-driven workflows and checklists also support consistency and minimise errors.
As soon as the process is complete, Fusion pushes accurate dispatch and tracking information back to the customer platform for full traceability.
Integration between systems creates a seamless service
With Fusion, the complexities of two-way integration between customers’ backend business systems and 3PL’s warehouse and dispatch systems are made as effortless as possible.
3PL have engineered APIs which effectively act as a bridge, allowing the respective software applications to communicate seamlessly with external platforms. The customer’s platforms send orders directly to 3PL, where the team then picks, packs and dispatches them directly to consumers, retail, wholesale or distribution partners.
3PL’s Head of Solutions, Leon Parkinson, explained: “We created 3PL Fusion to offer the ultimate in customer support. Designed in-house by operators for operations, it is simple to use, while having the capability to deal with every aspect of fulfilment from complex inbound stock to picking, packing and delivery – even returns – all integrating directly with all the most common online shopping platforms and customer management systems.”
Rapid onboarding for practical reasons and customer peace of mind
Customer set up and physical onboarding usually typically takes around 12 weeks, from contract start date and sometimes a customer needs a shorter lead time.
Creative Hut are growing quickly and requested an expedited setup to handle the uplift in demand. In demonstrating agility and responsiveness, 3PL were able to deliver the entire onboarding programme in less than three weeks, from the first planning call to go-live operations, ensuring accurate and timely fulfilment throughout.
Outsourced fulfilment creates time to focus on business growth
Prior to outsourcing to 3PL, all Creative Hut’s sourcing, order processing and distribution operations were managed in-house. This diluted focus, reducing the time spent on the key area of business development which was hindering growth.
Outsourcing the management of physical operations now creates the headroom for Creative Hut to focus on building client partnerships and crystallising future plans.
