Gold Coast Eagle Distributing

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Gold Coast Eagle Gains Flexibility, Cuts Overtime

Gold Coast Eagle was running around the clock to keep deliveries moving out the door on time. The company’s employees were having to work overtime, resulting in turnover and excess labor costs. The situation was dire enough that managers and salespeople were working in the warehouse to get shipments out on time.

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“It put a strain on our sales department and our managers, including myself, having to come in and build the orders where we had a lack of employees,” says Steve MacMunn, operations manager at Gold Coast Eagle. “We have to get the product built or the pallets built, loaded on the truck, and delivered. If not, we don't make money, and then the rest of us don't get paid.”

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Gold Coast Eagle didn’t just need more people quickly, it needed operational flexibility to keep up with demand.

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Trying a new approach to labor

After meeting with local Veryable representatives, MacMunn decided to start building a labor pool of on-demand workers using the platform. This approach involves posting work opportunities to the platform, selecting from the workers who bid, and then saving the ones who perform well to a labor pool, which is like a bench of players for a sports team.

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“We've hired people and they've only lasted a week and they're gone. And those are the problems with the night warehouse work,” says MacMunn. “With our business, being able to know the person and know what they're capable of means a lot. And in building the labor pool, I started bringing in a new person and giving them a couple of days to see how they did and get them trained. If I choose them down the road, I already know they're trained.”

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This approach to building a labor pool was key for the company to build flexibility into their operation, knowing they could instantly scale their capacity when needed. Plus, for MacMunn, forming relationships with workers in the labor pool was important, not only for him as a manager, but for his employees as well. “I think it helps immensely to have people who know what they're doing and people who are familiar with the other people, especially our employees and managers. They already know what to expect, even when they're bidding,” says MacMunn. “You get to know these people and their names. They know me, they know what I do, and they know I'm out there talking to them. I like to put my face to the name and vice versa. So it's not just, ‘Hey, how are you doing?’ It's, ‘Hey, Dennis, how are you today?’”

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"Where before, we were having a hard time getting everything done and getting the trucks out on time, now we're getting them out not only on time, but early ... and some nights, very early. It's been a huge difference.”

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Operational results

“We're getting our orders built and we're getting them built on time, so they can be loaded on time, so they can be delivered. And we're not wasting a ton of money to get it done,” says MacMunn. “Where before, we were having a hard time getting everything done and getting the trucks out on time, now we're getting them out not only on time, but early ... and some nights, very early. It's been a huge difference.”

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Beyond the improved rate of on-time deliveries, the company has reduced its overtime drastically. This has not only saved the company money, but has also reduced turnover and overtime costs. “Where before our Gold Coast eagle employees were having to work a lot of overtime and six-day weeks with managers coming in, we've gotten all of that squashed … so people have a better quality of life at home.”

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Gold Coast Eagle has seen great operational benefits as they built out their labor pool using Veryable’s on-demand labor platform. Beyond that, they received guidance along the way from the local Veryable team on how they could get the most out of adopting a new approach to labor. “It's really been a good, strong partnership. It’s not just fly by night, you're going to use my product and never see me again,” says MacMunn. “They kept with us as a partner, and I really think that's huge. That's the way we are as a company at Gold Coast Eagle. So I just want to say everybody that I've worked with has been great.”