By Jeff Goeters

Hinda Incentives, a full-service reward-programs company, became an industry leader through a combination of high-quality inventory and supreme customer service. Proof of this winning combination is 20 to 40 percent annual growth.

The company distinguishes itself by providing award recipients with immediate gratification through fast and accurate shipping.

Benito Bustamante, Hinda’s director of warehouse operations, said, “If someone knows they are getting a reward, they want it yesterday. And we want to oblige.”

Hinda is known for its powerful online incentive programs that give participants immediate access to information and catalogs. The programs the company markets offer customization, instant communication, multi-layered reporting, and the ability to easily change the structure of the reward programs.

These differentiations have enabled the company to build a large, global customer base. Meeting their shipping demands is a challenge. Hinda handles 3,500 different products - filling three tractor-trailer loads a day with valuable products going to domestic and international destinations.

To handle its comprehensive online-incentive programs and attendant accounting and warehouse operations, the company has a sophisticated ERP system. As the system grew, communicating with the shipping department was becoming cumbersome.

It became apparent that without new processes, shipping system bottlenecks hamper Hinda’s ability to provide exceptional shipping. “We knew we had to step back, be creative and build a much more efficient, customer-pleasing shipping system, said Bustamante.

“We rounded up the various departments, including members of our warehouse team, merchandising and IT, and worked together to determine requirements. Scalability and flexibility topped the list. The system also needed to be secure and accountable.

“In addition to these operational requirements, we had our customer service goals,” said Bustamante. “Fast, accurate delivery is a critical corporate differentiation and key to continued exceptional growth and profitability. Our goal is to ship 100% of orders from in-stock inventory within 48 hours of processing. We could not do that economically when our workers were spending nearly a full minute manually typing and writing information for each box to be shipped.”

Hinda brought in Best Way Technologies, the maker of ProShip multi-carrier parcel shipping software, to help streamline the fulfillment process.

Processing speed had to be very fast. For instance, one recent customer wanted Hinda to ship 180,000 units over a short time period. ProShip’s server can process 600 packages a second. So Hinda now has the speed it needed. Next was a more flexible, integrated process.

Working with ProShip, Hinda combined picking, packing and shipping at each station and ran them in parallel. Each station has a touch-screen interface, creating efficiency and fewer mistakes. This touch-screen interface replaced a system that required individuals to work with 12 different screens.

Every morning, the person manning each station receives a detailed pick list for the day. He or she picks the items and returns to the station to pack and ship each order.

Lalo Tovar, Hinda’s warehouse manager, states, “we were hesitant at first to combine all the functions. We felt that our previous method of having different people involved in each order created a double check for errors. We feared an increase in mistakes. The opposite occurred. Errors went down and units shipped increased.”

To achieve create a bulletproof system, the company began accumulating a massive number of metrics. “We wanted to know where we were slow, said Tovar. “After speeding up one process, we moved to the next issue. The data was invaluable to building the system we now enjoy.”

The metrics remain a key part of Hinda’s shipping management. “They help in two ways,” said Bustamante. “They tell us if our order cycle is meeting objectives and if we are eliminating shipping errors. The second use of metrics is to provide incentives for our own employees.

“We believe in what we sell,” he said. “Our customers see the benefit in incentive programs, and so do we. We call our program ‘The Undisputed Leader’ program. And we spot outstanding work through the use of metrics. If a shipping station is required to ship at least 30 packages an hour, and someone is cranking out 45 or 50 with no errors, he or she is going to win points toward a special gift.”

“As we have continued to grow, the system is keeping up” said Tovar. “ The number of shipments we processing has increased tremendously. The volume we once had to work extra hours to complete is now easily completed by noon.” As volume increases, all we have to do is add work stations. We can continue to double every five years for some time to come without worrying about our shipping system.”

With the help of ProShip, Hinda achieved its goal of shipping 100% of orders from in-stock inventory within 48 hours of processing. In fact, more than 90% of orders are shipped within 24 hours.

“We also are pleased with our return on investment,” said Bustamante. “There are two ways to save money. Increase productivity or chop labor costs. We choose to use technology to achieve productivity. And it works. We have been able to grow dramatically without adding employees.”

Regarding return on investment: The system, with financial contributions from Hinda’s carriers, paid for itself within one year.

Other features of Hinda’s advanced shipping and fulfillment system include:
•Printed pick lists per individual employee with user-productivity metrics
•Integrated inventory with immediate inventory posting and availability for shipment
•Checking for order discrepancies
•Facilitating cross-dock shipping
•Pre-inspection of products for quality and accuracy
•Providing detailed information about what is in each individual box
•Provide Customer Service with the tracking number for each item
•Give drop-ship e-tracking information for vendors
•Double over wrap of delicate merchandise
•Customize shipping labels with each clients name and Hinda’s toll-free customer service number

“Everybody is more comfortable now,” said Bustamante, “Packages are flowing out the door, and our customers are happier than ever.”

Established in 1970, Chicago-based Hinda Incentives is one of the nation’s leading specialists in motivating employees and sales forces, and providing incentives to dealers, distributors, and clients. Hinda is also a pioneer in the development and support of cutting-edge, web-based motivational programs, such as an innovative points-based auction. Hinda offers the most current deluxe merchandise award catalog in the marketplace.

If you would like additional information about Hinda Incentives, please contact director of marketing, Alisa Schafer at (773) 890-5900 or Jennifer Juergens (917) 514-2627.