Southport Cold Chain Warehouse Management
A Brisbane cold-storage operator replaced two off-the-shelf WMS tools with one platform built for frozen logistics.
Impact
What changed.
Picking accuracy
Pick error rate dropped from 1.8% to 0.31% inside the first six months. Customer claims for short or wrong shipments fell 78% year over year.
Compliance audit time
Temperature audit reports that used to take a full day to compile now generate on demand. The compliance lead reclaimed two days a week.
New business velocity
The sales team now quotes new lanes inside a sales call. Quote-to-close cycle compressed from eleven days to four, lifting new-account win rate by 31%.
The challenge
Before
Southport Cold Chain operates three freezer facilities across South-East Queensland with combined capacity for 17,000 pallets at temperatures from -26°C to +4°C. They were running an inbound WMS from one vendor and an outbound order management system from another, with a nightly batch sync that lost line-level detail. Picking errors averaged 1.8% — high for cold-chain — and temperature compliance audits required pulling data from four separate systems including the building management chillers.
- Two disconnected WMS systems with a lossy nightly batch sync
- 1.8% picking error rate — costly because returns to freezer are not always possible
- Temperature compliance audits requiring data from four separate systems
- No live view of dock door utilization across the three sites
- Forklift operators using paper pick lists laminated against frost damage
- Inbound ASN matched to PO manually by warehouse admin team
- Customer SLA reports compiled in Excel from exports across both systems
- No way to quote a new lane or customer without a manual cost build
The solution
What we built
We built a unified cold-chain WMS that owns the full inbound-to-outbound lifecycle plus temperature compliance. Forklift operators run the app on ruggedized handhelds rated for freezer operation — every move, pick, and putaway is recorded in real time against pallet license-plate codes. The system ingests live temperature readings from the BMS chiller stack on a 30-second poll and stamps every pallet movement with the corridor and zone temperature at that moment. Inbound ASNs auto-match against open POs with tolerance rules for short and over shipments. Customer SLA dashboards refresh continuously, so account managers can see at-risk shipments before the customer calls. We also built a quoting tool that takes lane, volume, temperature band, dwell time, and pick complexity as inputs and produces a margin-priced quote against the customer-specific tariff sheet in under ninety seconds.
Core workflow connections
How the system flows.
- ASN ReceiptPO MatchDock Door AssignmentInbound Inspection
- Putaway SuggestionForklift MoveLicense Plate ConfirmationSlot Locked
- Order DropWave BuildPick AssignmentHandheld Confirmation
- Cross-Dock MoveOutbound StageTruck Load PlanDeparture Manifest
- Temperature SampleZone TagPallet Movement StampCompliance Log
- Cycle CountVariance InvestigationStock AdjustmentAudit Trail
- Customer SLA Dashboard refreshed continuously with at-risk shipment flags
- Lane Quote Engine producing margin-priced quote in under ninety seconds
- Forklift productivity scoring against benchmark moves per labor hour
- BMS chiller integration polling temperature readings every 30 seconds
Process
How we built it.
ASN Receipt → PO Match → Dock Door Assignment → Inbound Inspection
Putaway Suggestion → Forklift Move → License Plate Confirmation → Slot Locked
Order Drop → Wave Build → Pick Assignment → Handheld Confirmation
Cross-Dock Move → Outbound Stage → Truck Load Plan → Departure Manifest
Temperature Sample → Zone Tag → Pallet Movement Stamp → Compliance Log
Cycle Count → Variance Investigation → Stock Adjustment → Audit Trail
Customer SLA Dashboard refreshed continuously with at-risk shipment flags
Lane Quote Engine producing margin-priced quote in under ninety seconds
Forklift productivity scoring against benchmark moves per labor hour
BMS chiller integration polling temperature readings every 30 seconds
Start a project
Running cold-chain across mismatched systems?
We build WMS platforms that respect freezer realities — handheld ergonomics, BMS integration, and SLA dashboards your sales team actually uses.
No retainer lock-in · Month-to-month · Full transparency
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