400% growth, zero bottlenecks: Au Vodka's automation story

Quick summary

When your brand is the fastest-growing in the UK, "business as usual" simply won't cut it. For Au Vodka, the ultra-premium spirit instantly recognisable by its signature gold bottles, explosive growth brought an equally explosive challenge: a massive influx of orders that threatened to overwhelm their lean team and operational efficiency.

Success brings a new set of challenges

Au Vodka's order volumes rose by 400% since their early days of business, quickly becoming difficult for staff to manually manage. This led to significant time wasted in departments that needed to focus on their core objectives. From 20 orders to now 100 individual orders a day, the sheer volume of manual order processing, data entry, and communication caused delays, impacted team morale and threatened customer satisfaction. 

They needed a solution that could keep pace with their growth without compromising their meticulous brand standards or their rapidly expanding network of retail partners like Morrisons, Sainsbury's, Tesco, and Costco.

An integration partner that could scale with them

Faced with the need for immediate and scalable automation, Au Vodka explored various integration solutions that would enable them to integrate directly with their retail trading partners. Their decision to partner with Crossfire came down to a few critical factors: exceptional customer service, the proven ability to seamlessly integrate with their Cin7 Core system, and the overall value for money that Crossfire's fully-managed service offered.

"My first call with the Crossfire team was key," shares Luke Ward, Management Accountant at Au Vodka. "They had a clear outline and business plan for us, including time scales, pricing was amazing & the overall service and support really was key to our decision." 

Over three phases, Crossfire integrated Au Vodka with 14 different trading partners, including their distillery, 3PL, and a growing list of major UK retailers.

Effortless integration implementation

Every retailer has their own compliance requirements, from order formats and shipment notices to invoicing and labelling, and getting them wrong can lead to chargebacks, delayed payments, or lost shelf space. Au Vodka had the foresight to select an integration partner which not only has proven experience with these retailers but also a service model that took care of the end-to-end job of integration, providing the assurance of a successful rollout without distracting from core business operations.

The process of working with Crossfire proved to be remarkably smooth. "It’s so easy to work with the team," Luke emphasises. “The software is easy to use, and timings are on point every time with accuracy. Communication is key for us, especially with the time difference between countries. It hasn’t felt like that, though. Everything is so accurate, and communication is at the top level." This seamless collaboration ensured that even with a demanding rollout schedule, Au Vodka experienced minimal disruption.

Fluid operations, global ambitions

Since automating their processes such as Sales/Purchase Orders, invoices and ASNs, Au Vodka has seen transformative results across their operations and customer relationships:

• Improved customer satisfaction: Au Vodka observed significantly "better relations with our customers who are satisfied with our order processing, accuracy & invoice timings," reflecting a direct positive impact on their client relationships.
• Streamlined operations: Operations became notably smoother, with Luke noting, "Everything has become more fluid, different departments can track everything themselves & it just gives us a different angle & communication process within our company." What once took up to 4-5 hours to complete some manual orders, plus an entire day to resolve customer communication issues, is now seamless. 
• Accuracy and timing: Crossfire's automation ensures orders are processed and invoices sent with unparalleled precision and speed, providing critical factors for sustained growth. Au Vodka’s accuracy rating increased from 85-90% to 100% with orders approved and ready to be distributed instantly after automation.

The biggest surprise for the Au Vodka team was "just how simple everything was." Crossfire's specialists provided the support needed to transition into integration processes that were entirely new to the company, making it feel effortless.

What's next: Fully automated future

Au Vodka is now ready to expand even further, built on Crossfire's solid integrations. "Continuing to implement more customers through Crossfire & the potential to add API’s through," Luke states, looking ahead. "We really want to be fully functional in automation, it will free up time & give us so much accuracy, which is key to our goals as a company." This commitment to full automation will be pivotal as Au Vodka continues its journey to become a truly global brand.

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