the shutters department logo
“There is absolutely no way you can scale the business without a system like MachShip. Our entire logistics process is made simple.” 
Gilad Baker
Product Manager

Customer Spotlight

The Shutters Dept

Discover How The Shutters Dept Scaled Their Business With MachShip

Learn how The Shutters Dept saved time and scaled their business by moving away from clunky carrier portals and onto modern, cloud-based freight management software. 

The Shutters Dept is an online B2C retailer providing premium window shutters direct from wholesaler to customer. The Shutters Dept has enjoyed strong and steady growth since it launched with no signs of slowing down. 

Gilad Baker is a key member of the foundation team that launched the business and since then has implemented new systems and processes to remove bottlenecks and scale the business. Gilad took the time to share with us his experience implementing systems to streamline order fulfilment, including consigning and tracking customer shipments.

Dependency on carrier technology holding back the business

Shutters come in a range of sizes hence can only be transported by carriers that offer services for shipping ‘ugly’ freight. Ugly freight can get very expensive quickly so selecting the right carrier, or a mix of carriers is paramount to the viability of the business.  

In the early days, Gilad partnered with a single transport carrier and quickly butted up against bottlenecks in order fulfilment because of the carrier’s antiquated customer portal. Gilad soon realised that he could not scale the business while being bound to sub-par technology systems that he had no control over. 

“Our old carrier portal was horrible to use… The carriers system was so old and clunky it would literally take me hours every night to import the orders we received that day and manifest to the carrier.”

Technology as an enabler to growth 

Gilad set about finding a solution whereby he could maintain his relationship with the carrier but without the burden of being reliant on the carrier’s technology. In MachShip he found a modern solution that facilitated real-time transactions direct with the carrier using his own account and rates via a simple and intuitive system. 

In the beginning, The Shutters Dept had a relationship with a single carrier but as the business grew, additional carriers were added into their mix. MachShip not only allowed carriers to be added and removed seamlessly without impacting business operations but also applied real-time pricing to ensure that the best value carrier and service was selected for each job serving to reduce costs.  

MachShip has allowed The Shutter Dept to scale by providing a platform from where despatch, tracking, invoice reconciliation and reporting is centrally managed across the entire carrier mix providing predictability and visibility over its warehouse operations. 

“There is absolutely no way you can scale the business without a system like MachShip; an easy-to-use product that saves heaps of time. Selecting carriers and creating consignments is straightforward. Printing labels made easy. And reconciling invoices done quickly. Our entire logistics process is made simple.

Making the change 

The MachShip customer success team will work with you to setup your account and train you to be self-sufficient. Gilad sees MachShip as a key logistics partner and has worked closely with the Customer Success team to get the most out of the MachShip platform. 

“Account setup was a one-off process managed by MachShip on our behalf and while aspects of it were complicated it’s worth it. The customer service is always great and helpful in resolving issues”.