Keep Distribution Moving. Outgrow the Spreadsheet.
Most distribution and logistics operations start the same way. A single spreadsheet holds the numbers, one person owns it, and it works well enough while the operation is small. As the business grows, that same spreadsheet starts to hold it back.
More shipments, more data points, and more departments that need the same information all add pressure to a tool that was never built to handle any of it. Multiple people need to see and update the numbers at once, but every additional user increases the risk of an error that’s hard to trace. The hours spent maintaining the spreadsheet start competing with the hours spent running the operation.
A Fast Growing Distribution Operation Outgrows Its Spreadsheet
Leaf Home is one of the largest in-home sales companies in the United States, offering home safety solutions such as gutter protection, stair lifts, walk in tubs and showers, water purification, and other home enhancements. Matt McKinney, Director of Logistics and Distribution, oversees logistics and distribution center operations for the company’s rapidly expanding Hudson, Ohio operations.
Leaf Home originally ran its logistics on Excel spreadsheets. The method worked at first, but it became increasingly problematic as the company grew. Manual data entry caused frequent errors. Managing the spreadsheet with a single user became unsustainable. By 2020, the operation was managing more than 200,000 data points a year, and that number had grown past 400,000 by the time of this case study.
The core problems were familiar to any growing distribution operation. Too many labor hours went into data management and reporting. Giving multiple people access to the spreadsheet felt risky because of the errors that came with it. Moving information between departments efficiently was difficult. McKinney needed a solution that was user friendly and customizable, that could support multiple people working at the same time, and that could handle automation and workload management.
As a growing company, Leaf Home, originally built their logistics operation off of Excel spreadsheets.
How Leaf Home Got Started With TrackVia
Leaf Home chose TrackVia’s platform because it let the logistics team build its own applications without advanced coding skills. The team started with the workflow causing the most pain: consolidating and managing the data that had outgrown the spreadsheet.
With a few clicks, McKinney’s team built dynamic dashboards that bring information into one place, with views built for each team’s needs. Work that used to mean manually updating and maintaining a spreadsheet now updates on its own. That cut out redundant work and freed up hours that used to go into keeping the numbers straight instead of using them.
With TrackVia, labor costs have decreased approximately $30K a year.
The Payoff: Real Savings and a Faster Operation
Leaf Home saved approximately $30,000 a year in labor costs through reduced manual work and automated reporting. The platform also made data sharing and workflow management faster across the distribution center, which sped up truck loading and unloading, a place where minutes matter every day.
“Anytime we have a crazy idea that we think can’t be done, they say, ‘Hey, we can handle it.'” Matt McKinney, Director of Logistics and Distribution, Leaf Home
Since building that first workflow, interest in TrackVia has spread well beyond logistics, into installation, sales, and marketing. For any growing operation that has outgrown its spreadsheets, that’s the pattern. Fix the workflow causing the most pain first, and the rest of the organization starts asking for the same kind of solution once they see what it can do.
With a Few Clicks Matt Can:
Create Dynamic Dashboards
All his information can be found in one location and he can create unique dashboards for his teams to share the key information they need.
Easily Generate Reports
With TrackVia’s data analytics capabilities, Matt can create reports for meetings, managers, and more.
Decrease Manual Labor & Redundancies
Most importantly, Matt is able to reduce the need for the manual labor it took to update and maintain the Excel spreadsheets and streamline his existing workflows.
Your Operation Should Keep Getting Better
More data, more departments, and more ideas will keep showing up as a company grows. The tool that got a distribution operation started shouldn’t be the reason it can’t keep growing. TrackVia combines a proven starting point for logistics and distribution operations with the adaptability to build the next idea as soon as it comes up.
Purpose-built for the work. Connected as it happens. Adaptable as operations change.
Connect the work. Control the operation.
See how TrackVia can help you outgrow your spreadsheets without slowing down your operation.