Airbox Achieves 32% Cost Savings and Enhanced Efficiency with Parallel’s Tailor-Made Print Solution.

Parallel continues adding new clients to its impressive customer base by showcasing its ability to demonstrate flexibility and industry-leading support by adding another client to its portfolio.

Airbox supports brands with logistics and fulfilment and last year shipped over five million products on behalf of their customers across the globe. Printing is a critical operation within the organisation’s three sites, and having a robust solution in place that could cope with the growing demands of the business was paramount.

When Airbox first approached Parallel, the previous Managed Print Services contract was causing several problems. One of the key issues was having a mixed-age fleet – units were performing at different speeds and print qualities; added to this were support issues as engineers were struggling to secure parts to get the units back up and running.

“Having units out of action for days has a real knock-on effect for our processes – these units are in constant use, and we would need to reorganise our working processes to cover the loss of off-line unit”  Josh Erskine | Operations Manager | Airbox

To add in more challenges, the previous provider was unable to supply volume information which made tracking costs inaccurate: –

“Not being able to confidently track how much the print was costing on a particular job was a real issue for us – we needed to know we were allocating the right amounts to the right customer, and the lack of reporting was making this an impossible task.”

It was very clear that this outdated contract wasn’t meeting the growing demands of this evolving business, and with no flexibility to improve the solution, the business started to look for different options.

“As soon as we met Airbox we could see how to immediately improve their current situation – we knew we could give them a well-rounded solution which offers the support, consistency and scalability their organisation needs all whilst saving them money ” Gavin Auckland | Managing Director | Parallel 

Parallel worked with Airbox to specify a solution that would offer them flexibility, consistency, accurate reporting, and a support contract that would minimise downtime for individual units.

An initial install of 18 units was placed within Airbox’s sites – these units are tried and tested within a busy warehousing environment and allowed Airbox to have a robust solution they could trust.

Another issue being created by the previous mixed-age fleet was a lack of print quality consistency between the machines; Parallel can regularly monitor the print consistency for Airbox using their Printanista software: –

“We promise our customers a best-in-class logistics solution, so knowing we can accurately reproduce their branding is paramount, and the fact that we can now trust this process makes our lives a lot easier”

Parallel were able to fix another problem that Airbox were experiencing with the housing of the new units. With the printers in constant use during working hours, staff were having to bend to retrieve the documents – Parallel was able to source cabinets that raised the machines to operator height, significantly improving the warehousing staff’s productivity and comfort.

The overall solution has transformed the print process for Airbox; it offers the management the clarity they need to control and allocate costs to their clients with accuracy and has given their employees a better experience!

The service level agreements that have been put in place mean that any issues with the units are fixed quickly, and with remote monitoring in place, 90% of the issues can be resolved remotely, resulting in minimum downtime and disruption.

Parallel specified a combination of A3 and A4 units across Airbox’s three sites, and as Airbox’s business grows and evolves, Parallel can quickly configure and install new machines or assist with re-organising the sites as new working routines are established.

“Knowing that Parallel are totally reactive to our needs is fantastic – we often reconfigure our workspace to suit new projects, and they are always there to help us to adapt and ensure our print operation is up and running”.

Airbox were also proud to sign up for the Print Releaf scheme, and this further enhanced their sustainability messaging: –

Josh continues, “We are proud to offer a carbon-neutral warehousing solution, so knowing we are offsetting our paper consumption into trees around the world is a great message for us”. 

Due to the lack of transparency that existed in their previous agreement, it is hard to quantify just how much the Parallel contract has saved Airbox, but it is estimated that there has been a 32% cost saving across the board, and this should further increase as their business continues to scale and grow.

Considering this saving alongside the accuracy and clarity they have with their reporting, the vastly improved print consistency, SLAs that allow for minimal downtime and their bespoke solution to improve staff members’ well-being, it is clear why Parallel are their partner of choice.

Josh confirms, “Having a print solution in place we can trust, understand, and change really has had a profound impact on our business – we can’t thank Parallel enough for all of their hard work in understanding our requirements and specifying a tailor-made solution that works for our organisation, exactly how we need it to”.