News

Oxford University Press Workforce Gets More Efficient with RedPrairie App

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 03/09/09

Oxford University Press (OUP), a major academic publishing house and the world's largest university press, has released results from its use of a workforce management application from RedPrairie in its UK warehouse in order to increase its service capacity. In a statement the publisher said its productivity rose by 19 percent in the first week with the result that over one year the cost of fulfilling an order fell by 27 percent. It also saved £100,000 from its annual budget for warehouse staff by handling orders during peak periods using fewer people.

"The key to successfully implementing the workforce management system was to fully involve staff in the project. We gave them ownership of their productivity and the chance to contribute ideas so that all the changes made were their own. This proved to be a catalyst to re-energize the team and showed them a wealth of new opportunities, what we call light bulb moments, small things that make a big difference," said Elwyn Roberts, infrastructure manager. "Given the choice, no one would go back to the old way of working."

The publisher's UK warehouse handles 24 million books, 40,000 titles, and 26,500 pallets a year. It manages 15,000 order lines per day, and 3,500 orders are dispatched each day.