Brian Miller is the CEO of Easy China Warehouse - a company that focuses on Global E-commerce fulfilment. The idea of Easy Chine Warehouse came from the difficulties the founders experienced for themselves shipping and distributing their products to different countries. 

Could you give us an overview of what it is you do, and how long you have been doing it? 

• Miller's business helps e-commerce sellers distribute their products from China. 
• After the manufacturing of a product, Easy China Warehouse either stores the product or ships it via air or sea to a fulfilment centre or directly to the consumer. 

What are some processes that you have automated in your warehouse?

• One of the most important parts of a business - taking orders and fulfilling them. 
• They used to take Excel sheets and plug those into our DHL Shipment Carrier system. It used to be very rudimentary with nothing but a computer and a label printer.
• So they had to look at how to bring in a lower-skilled worker to fill in this step. 
• Miller also had to ensure that there were safety measures in place to protect them. 
• So, they went out and researched different Warehouse Management software. They settled on a software that is very basic but allows you to build your own API or things such as that. 

What would have happened if you had not manually done shipments before automating it? What would be different? 

• Miller explains that you will understand where the pain points are. 
• Once you take excel files and copy them into our system, there can be a lot of errors. 
• This allows you to establish whether or not you need the software and the features you need. 

How many different software did you look at before choosing your software? And how much time did you invest in each software?

• Miller said they looked at 15-20 different Warehouse Management software. 
• He had a base idea of what kind of software they needed, and that they only knew 5% of what they needed to know. 
• Miller explains that the software was more like demos. The software is also pretty expensive, at least for a startup business such as Millers at the time. 
• He says that they went to a lot of companies and those companies had their salesperson explain the ins and outs of the software the company represented, and they would ask questions they felt were relevant to their company. 
• There was an idea of a few carriers that could have been used, and as the company grew, they started going into more detail of what was needed.

How did you decide that an error was going to cost your business money?

• Miller explains that knowing and understanding errors is not only good for optimization but also customer retention. 
• He explains an example that states before he worked with a company in the US that constantly made errors and he would constantly have to message them to remind them of orders that it aggravated him and they lost his business. 
• This made Miller see how much he was making mistakes, despite how hard he was trying. 
• Miller came to the conclusion that software is needed then. 

Which software did you end up choosing after everything?

• Miller said that they needed software that was in Chinese because their whole team was Chinese. 
• They ended up choosing RTB - Ron Tombow - which is a Shenzhen startup that does Warehouse Management software. 

 

What does the process afterwards look like? What does it look like for your business?

• Miller says that the biggest value for them is to scale. 
• The accuracy of orders, shipping labels and billing will allow them to add more people and clients. 
• The biggest effect it has had for them is the ability to scale quickly and rapidly. 

What is a parting piece of wisdom you would like to share with entrepreneurs and other guests?

• Miller says that he always gets into a trap of looking for immediate ROI.
• He says that it would be best if you spend a few minutes getting to know your own software, you will have a better understanding of it and its different features. 
• Also, go back on the software from time to time, Miller suggests you learn the stuff you own now. 

Resources:

Email: [email protected]

Website: easychinawarehouse.com 

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