Case study · Parts distribution
Maxiforce ships to 90% of the United States in two days. There is no room to pick the wrong part.
How a diesel engine parts distributor with three centers cut picking errors by more than 80%, without replacing its ERP.
Industry
Diesel engine parts
Operation
3 distribution centers
In business
Close to 30 years
Implementation
7 weeks
The company
Thirty years moving parts that leave no room for error.
Maxiforce distributes diesel engine parts for John Deere, Cummins, Perkins, Caterpillar, Kubota and Yanmar, among other brands, from three centers in Doral, Indianapolis and Santa Fe Springs. Its commercial promise is to reach 90% of the continental US market within one to two days on ground service.
The problem
A picking error means a machine sitting idle.
In diesel parts, two components with nearly identical part numbers serve different engines. Shipping the wrong one is not just another return: it leaves the customer with a machine stopped in the shop.
Before WMS Ligero, the warehouse recorded 3.1 errors per 100 lines picked, inventory accuracy hovered around 93%, and physical counts forced the operation to stop for two days.
Why WMS Ligero
Implementing the WMS could not cost more than the problem it solved.
The heavyweight alternative
A corporate WMS meant an eighteen-month project with outside consultants, for a three-center operation that cannot afford to stop.
The ERP stayed
The ERP worked well. Replacing it was a risk the picking problem did not justify, so WMS Ligero connected to the one already in place.
Seven weeks
From kickoff to live operation, without stopping shipments. The warehouse team was up and running after two days of training.
Results
What changed in the warehouse.
| Metric | Before | With WMS Ligero |
|---|---|---|
| Picking errors per 100 lines | 3.1 | 0.6 |
| Inventory accuracy | 93% | 99.4% |
| Order preparation time | 14 min | 6 min |
| Orders shipped same day | 78% | 96% |
| Returns from wrong shipments | 2.1% | 0.4% |
| Physical inventory | 2 days of stopped operation | Ongoing cycle counting |
“Within the first month, we reduced picking errors by more than 80%. ERP integration was seamless, and our operations team adopted the system immediately.”
Next step
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