Mintsoft and Evolve Fulfilment
This 3PL warehouse management system case study highlights how Evolve Fulfilment started and grew their 3PL business with Mintsoft as their chosen software.
Who are Evolve Fulfilment?
Evolve Fulfilment was established in 2024 by Nigel Keaveney. Following 29 years working in B2B and DTC fulfilment, Nigel was determined to start his own 3PL to work in partnership with scaling ecommerce brands to offer an impeccable end customer experience.
When starting Evolve, Nigel knew he needed a strong and scalable warehouse management system to ensure accurate and timely order fulfilment for his clients. Having implemented Mintsoft in a previous role, he’d already decided Mintsoft would be his chosen software provider once his first client was on-board.
“The fact that I could get up and running that quickly on my own as a small company - it made a massive difference for me.”
How Mintsoft has helped
Nigel was in touch with Mintsoft as Evolve began to pick up interest from brands needed a 3PL partner, so he was ready to launch the system as his first client signed up to work together.
Onboarding and training
Once Nigel secured his first client contract, he contacted Mintsoft to arrange to be onboarded and Mintsoft rose to the challenge of getting his 3PL system up and running within the 2-week timeframe he had to begin fulfilling his first client’s orders.
Within the 2 weeks, Nigel received online training on how to use Mintsoft, as well as support to go live with the system. The sessions were recorded so he could return to them when needed and everything was ready for his first client to be onboarded in time too.
“The fact that I could get up and running that quickly on my own as a small company - it made a massive difference for me.” Nigel Keaveney – Owner – Evolve Fulfilment
Order picking with the mobile app
One of the critical features of Mintsoft that Evolve required was warehouse management tools for paperless order picking, which they complete using the Mintsoft mobile app.
Not only does the app help with picking orders quickly through multi-tote and batch picking methods, it also enables Evolve to minimise picking errors to virtually 0%. Nigel said: “You can't really go wrong with order picking. You go to a location, you scan the location barcode with the app and it says if you've gone the wrong location. You then scan the product, scan it into the tote, and if you do any of it wrong, it tells you.”
Furthermore, the app enables Evolve to perform multiple types of picking, that suit their clients product types and order flows. He plans to customise his client order flows by utilising the order rules module, which will also allow them speed up their order picking even further.
3PL accounting
Evolve provide a range of services for their clients, so their 3PL accounting could have been a challenge to handle manually, especially as client numbers and order volumes grow. With Mintsoft’s 3PL features, every client has an account with their agreed rates, and Nigel can generate weekly invoices within minutes, through just a few clicks in the system.
Nigel added: “The 3PL accountancy is very simple. Once it’s set up with the basic charges per client, we can pull the invoice, which is simply laid out for the customer to see. We can also export it as excel with a full breakdown of the exact charge per order. They can go through at a granular level if they choose, just to make sure that everything is exactly as we've quoted them.”
Scalability
It was crucial to Nigel that Evolve had a WMS that was going to be transferrable between warehouses as the business grew. He knew they’d be moving from the shared warehouse space they started out in, to their own facilities and potentially scaling up to even bigger space over the coming years.
“What was also really key and important to us was we knew with our growth we'd be moving from one warehouse to another. Mintsoft is a plug and play, it doesn't matter where you are, so if I move from one warehouse to another, I can create a few thousand extra pick faces, upload the file and then I’m good to go.” Nigel Keaveney – Owner – Evolve Fulfilment
Additionally, Mintsoft offers Evolve’s clients the opportunity to scale too, by enabling multi-channel connections to sales channels they may have previously been fulfilling themselves, or haven’t sold through before. Nigel is able support his clients through expansion to new channels and grow Evolve through the increasing order volumes.
“I recommend Mintsoft to any 3PLs, whether it’s ones that are starting up like I have done, or ones that are growing or scaling. It doesn't have to be 3PLs – anybody who's got their own brand that are dispatching their product themselves. For the cost and the ease, it's a great bit of kit.”
What’s next for Evolve Fulfilment
Evolve’s next steps include looking to expand their client-base even further, at a steady pace so they can maintain their customer experience. They also hope to expand their physical warehouse space over the next 1-2 years, and also take on more full-time staff.