August 17, 2023 Newcastle Systems & McCollister’s Global Services

The Newcastle Systems mobile workstation exceeds expectations regarding productivity and efficiency of McCollister’s operations.

The Client

McCollister’s Global Services, Inc. is a privately held, asset-based, white glove, specialized transportation provider founded in 1945 in Burlington, New Jersey. Managed by owner and President Daniel H. McCollister, McCollister’s performs specialty transportation services for various products, including medical equipment, household goods, aerospace equipment, high-value electronics, medical equipment, and more. McCollister’s also specializes in warehouse distribution and fulfillment.

Throughout McCollister’s history, the company has leveraged asset-based infrastructure to deliver tailored logistics solutions. Employees adhere to a consultative, market-driven approach to implement service mechanisms of uncommonly high value, supporting the needs of their corporate clients. McCollister’s Global Services does this within three primary divisions:

High-Value Product Logistics, Commercial Services, and Employee Relocation.

The Problem

Like many of Newcastle’s clients, McCollister’s journey to partnership began with an internal review of one logistical process: labeling. After internal reviews and analyzing customer feedback, McCollister’s warehouse solutions team found significant challenges within the operational setup, sometimes identifying 20 labeling errors in a single day.

Employees initially utilized central fulfillment stations—large communal printers—to handle their printing and labeling needs. Not only did this force employees to spend hours walking to and from central printers, but it also resulted in common labeling errors.

“More steps, more time in-between tasks, and more material to manage at one time encouraged ‘batch printing,’ which resulted in more mistakes,” said Tyler Yoos, VP/GM at McCollister’s.

Over 900 packages are distributed daily through McCollister’s facilities, each receiving four labels during the outbound process alone. McCollister’s clients noted that a single labeling issue could result in $1,000 in lost and wasted materials. Combined with the substantial time wasted by employees walking to and from central fulfillment stations, a new labeling solution became a top priority for McCollister’s warehouse solutions team.

Addressing the Challenge

When approached by Newcastle’s reselling partner, IPSi Scan, McCollister’s jumped on the opportunity to test the company’s line of mobile power workstations. McCollister’s initially requested a single unit to integrate into its warehouse operations to monitor performance and impact on productivity. A centralized fulfillment station was replaced in one of McCollister’s warehouses with Newcastles’ PC Series Heavy Duty Power workstation. The cart was equipped with a high-capacity printer, an industrial lithium power system, and ergonomic tools to improve McCollister’s original setup, especially for distribution, scanning, and labeling.

McCollister’s goal was to observe a measurable improvement in team member productivity.

“Instead of taking the product to the station to get the needed specs and labels, our trial period with Newcastle allowed us to start taking the stations to the products for the first time,” said Yoos. “I was excited to see how it performed during intake and distribution times because it could move and work from anywhere in the warehouse.”

The Result

Once integrated into McCollister’s facility, the Newcastle mobile power workstation exceeded expectations. It addressed the inefficiencies affiliated with labeling, supported warehouse operations at several other points, and resulted in significant operational improvements.

“In my nine years at McCollister’s, IPSi and Newcastle have been some of the easiest suppliers to do business with, hands down,” added Yoos. “The amount of support we have received from the Newcastle customer support and IT team has been tremendous.”

Here are three ways McCollister’s has benefited from the use of Newcastle’s mobile power workstations:

1. Improved Labeling Accuracy & Output

The Newcastle system, equipped with a high-capacity printer, eliminated the need for “batch printing,” a process where an employee will print several labels at once and then attempt to organize and accurately label many products simultaneously. Batch printing was the leading cause of labeling errors, and consolidating printing, labeling, and product data entry in a single system dramatically reduced these mistakes.

2. Boosted Productivity

McCollister’s employees nearly doubled their productivity by eliminating half of their time performing non-productive tasks. Almost immediately, McCollister’s team noticed the benefits the Newcastle workstation provided the warehouse team.

“This is much more than a printer solution,” said Yoos. “It’s an absolute game-changer. It is much more than a single-purpose system; it’s everything. And the feedback from our veteran warehouse people performing the work has been incredible.”

3. Client Retention & Acquisitions

Deploying the Newcastle power workstations on the warehouse floor imbued a perception of organizational and operational efficiency to McCollister’s clients.

“One hundred percent [these carts] are a selling tool,” added Yoos. “When potential customers see the mobile workstations, they say, ‘Wow, you all are solution-oriented and on the cutting edge of innovation.’ A cart that provides power all day offers many benefits and can travel anywhere in the warehouse.”

What’s Next

As of July 2023, McCollister’s has dozens of Newcastle carts deployed across seven locations and markets and intends to acquire more.

Newcastle workstations have eliminated nearly all of McCollister’s labeling errors and increased employee satisfaction and retention by making their jobs easier. Overall, the Newcastle mobile workstation exceeded expectations regarding productivity and efficiency. Newcastle’s carts have proven to be a comprehensive solution and have helped McCollister’s team reimagine how to best structure warehouse operations.

In the coming years, new features like employee health monitoring tools will become standard on mobile workstations. For Newcastle, planned iterations of their workstation will feature advanced tools that add to the benefit their systems bring to warehouse operations and workers.

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