Key results achieved with Rabot
Highline successfully scaled its order processing capacity, managing orders for 85+ clients while ensuring each package received personalized attention.
Efficiency improvements led to reduced order fulfillment times and increased accuracy, enhancing overall operational performance.
Maintaining a high level of personalized service while growing fast, Highline saw significant improvements in customer feedback and satisfaction.
About Highline: Best 3PL for founders
In the fast-paced world of ecommerce, Highline Commerce is a beacon for startups and small brands who need more hands-on service and customized fulfillment. While many of these companies are in need of a trusted fulfillment partner, more often than not, traditional 3PL companies aren’t able to (or even willing to) take them on. Founded in the heart of NYC, just months before the pandemic, Highline was born with a mission to offer personalized, efficient service for these founders and help them scale quickly.
Richard Hurley, CEO and Morgan Patterson, COO are co founders of Highline Commerce and along with their growing team have been able to serve 85+ happy clients (and growing). With a strong commitment to offering flexibility and transparency to their clients, it’s clear why they’re seen as trusted advisors to these growing brands.
“The brands we work with are amazing, and we consider ourselves an extension of their teams.” - Morgan, COO
Big growth brings big challenges
As Highline began to scale quickly to 50 clients less than a year ago, they brought on Nick Devereux, VP Operations, a 25 year veteran with 3PL and DTC operations experience. He was quickly sold on the mission of Highline, wanting to continue the work to create a 3PL that was not only responsive to the brands’ unique needs, but also run a profitable warehouse.
One of Highline’s priorities is to maintain a high level of service and communication with their brands, which has helped lead to their runaway success. But, the team faced significant challenges:
Scaling Ops while personalizing service : The rapid increase in order volume demanded a scalable solution that maintained Highline’s commitment to personalized customer service.
Operational efficiency: Ensuring that each order was fulfilled efficiently and accurately became increasingly complex as they grew.
Maintaining customer satisfaction: Highline prided itself on exceptional customer service, a standard that became more challenging to uphold as the business grew.
Nick says, “When I joined, we weren’t geared to scale. We were experiencing issues when shifting our focus from one client to another, sometimes, losing critical touch points. We needed a solution that would enable us to provide the same level of service for each of our clients and we needed it soon.”
Nick had already been familiar with Rabot and what it could offer Highline, and it wasn’t too long before he reached out to see how Rabot could help out.
Watch this video to see the magic behind the Highline story and its partners in scale:
Efficiency and personalization aren't mutually exclusive, thanks to Rabot
#1 Audit quality and efficiency of every order packed
One of Highline’s main claims to fame is delivering high quality unboxing experiences for its portfolio of boutique brands. To meet the need for unique specifications on packouts against rapidly increasing volumes, Highline needed to understand how orders were being packed in the first place.
With Rabot, Highline and their clients can now review videos of individual orders with an eye on improving procedures system wide. Nick says, “Thanks to Rabot, we now have the tools to determine whether any issues that come up need to be addressed in our procedures, or if it is just a one-off error that won’t likely be repeated. We have so much more control over our quality and efficiency.”
Resolving an issue prior to Rabot could take anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours of work to investigate, communicate, and reprocess the order, and might involve front line employees, account managers, and even any of the leaders depending on the issue or escalation required. Now, Highline is able to involve less people and resolve issues in a matter of minutes.
Richard further adds how valuable it has been for client confidence too: “I'd say more than the cost alone - it REALLY helps our reputation as a 3PL, and shows very clearly that our team is taking the steps we need to in order to ensure the customers are getting what they expect to get.”
#2 Removing unnecessary steps that cost time and money
Before Rabot, it was hard to know exactly how and where to improve procedures at packout. Now, Highline can review key metrics and assess where improvements can be made easily.
The Rabot solution allows Highline to view and analyze metrics by client, such as:
Average amount of time to pack an order (and can be viewed by client), identifying opportunities for better training
Average cost to pack an order
Metrics reports like these from the Rabot portal help Highline zero in on where exactly the company needs to improve—but also helps the team prepare for big spikes in demand. Inefficiencies in the packout process add up, causing issues down the supply chain from lost budget to customer disappointment.
Nick D explains, “We have some clear examples where one of our clients had a process to include tissue paper in mailers, and we knew that it increased the time taken to pack orders. Given the high volumes during the holidays, we were able to work with our client to remove this step. But, after the holidays when they insisted on adding this step back, I was able to show them with clear metrics how much time it’s actually taking - whether it’s 20% or even 300% longer. It really helped push the conversation forward and get them to answer the important questions - how valuable is this step for you? And, is it worth the cost for you?”
#3 - Digital Work Instructions - always up-to-date and accurate
Highline Commerce navigates an expanding landscape of customer needs, diverse product offerings, and intricate packing instructions, with far more variability than the average 3PL. This variability introduced significant risks for errors and inefficiencies, which could directly impact customer satisfaction and operational costs. It was clear they needed a centralized repository to store work instructions and procedures while making sure packers had access to the latest work instructions at all times.
Using Rabot Portal, account managers and clients are able to upload and approve new packing procedures and training videos. With Rabot Pulse, an operator-facing interface, packers are given immediate access to detailed work instructions for unfamiliar client orders, eliminating delays in seeking guidance from supervisors.
What truly sets this solution apart is the ongoing collaborative effort behind its development. By working closely with Highline’s account managers, customer success, and operations teams, Rabot gained a deeper understanding of the core challenges associated with onboarding new clients and training associates on new procedures. This insight ensured the creation of an experience that is not only user-friendly and robust but also specifically designed to handle the complexity and variability of client needs.
This empowerment leads to a more efficient, confident packing process, ensuring the quality and consistency for every customer order.
Richard says, “Having a screen specifically for the packer really helped so that we can swap in different packers to easily do these really custom packouts, and at any time, be able to see what they're doing and whether they’re doing it to spec”.
Future Outlook
Highline Commerce’s journey with Rabot illustrates the power of leveraging Vision AI to solve complex operational challenges. Scaling operations efficiently without taking their eyes off of personalized customer service is the holy grail, but Highline is setting a new standard. Looking forward, the company, with Rabot by its side, is ready to tackle the challenges of tomorrow’s ecommerce landscape.
Nick Devereux concludes: "Partnering with Rabot was a game-changer. It allowed us to scale our operations without losing the personal touch that defines our brand. Our ability to handle thousands of orders while ensuring each one meets our high standards is directly attributable to Rabot’s innovative solutions."