TransLution brought enterprise-scale visibility, productivity and inventory control to a specialist electrical distribution business- without enterprise-scale investment.
The challenge
A&A Electrical, part of the Dewhurst group, supplies lift and electrical products to customers who rely on quick quotations, accurate stock availability and next-day delivery — around 1,000 order lines and 200 sales orders every day. But before TransLution, the warehouse ran on paper. Orders were printed, picked and packed by hand, and delivery labels were handwritten. There was no way to see who picked or packed an order, when it was finished, or where errors and delays crept in. The team had no real-time information, no meaningful KPIs, and work routinely ran two to three hours past the end of shift.
“It was all manual… You couldn’t see who picked and who packed unless you went out
Luis Joao, A&A Electrical
somewhere and eventually found that paperwork in a file.”
—
Why A&A Electrical chose TransLution
A&A Electrical evaluated several popular off-the-shelf scanning packages, but none offered the flexibility the business needed. TransLution stood out because it could be adapted around A&A Electrical’s actual processes rather than forcing the business to change how it worked. That flexibility let the team go well beyond basic scanning and build a connected, automated warehouse.
The results
Lower overhead costs
£150,000–£200,000 in estimated annual savings
Across dispatch automation, automatic label printing, reduced overtime, improved inventory control and fewer operational inefficiencies, A&A Electrical estimates TransLution contributes between £150,000 and £200,000 in savings every year.
Automatic label printing
£50,000–£54,000 saved per year
Previously, a 10-box order meant hand-writing 10 labels – company names, addresses and postcodes – a slow, inconsistent task. With TransLution, labels now print automatically in seconds. This single change is estimated to save £50,000 – £54,000 a year by cutting wasted time, overtime and manual effort.
£50K–£54K saved per year
Automatic label printing alone — one of the fastest, most measurable wins of the project.
Automatic dispatch notes
60% of dispatching now handled automatically
Once picking and packing are complete and stock is issued, TransLution creates the dispatch note automatically. Around 60% of dispatching now runs through the scanning process with no manual admin, letting the dispatch team operate with one person instead of two.
Higher productivity, less overtime
Same output — and the team leaves earlier
The warehouse team used to stay two to three hours past the end of shift to finish picking, packing and dispatch. Today they complete the same volume of work and often leave before the scheduled shift end.
Better inventory accuracy
~88% reduction in stock loss / discrepancy value
Daily cycle counts replaced the old once-a-year stock take. Staff scan products, locations and quantities, and the system flags discrepancies clearly for review before posting — cutting stock loss and discrepancy value by roughly 88% and giving the team confidence in the figures they rely on for quoting and fulfilment.
88% lower stock loss
Daily cycle counting catches discrepancies throughout the year instead of once at annual stock take.
Faster, easier stock takes
From ~20 people for a full Saturday to ~6 for half a day
Because daily cycle counts surface discrepancies year-round, the annual stock take is no longer a full-day, high labour exercise. A&A Electrical can prepare in advance, manage exceptions through the system and complete the final count with a far smaller team.
“We were having anywhere between 18 and 20 people coming in to do a whole Saturday count… with TransLution now we have maybe about six people for half a day.”
Luis Joao, A&A Electrical
—
Visibility and KPIs
Full traceability: who did what, when
Scanning during picking and packing records who performed each action, when, and which sales order it relates to. TransLution created a reliable data layer behind the warehouse, so the business can query information, build reporting and track performance, allowing them to see exactly where productivity or process issues exist. Stock movements between locations are now a quick scan of product and new location, replacing paper-based transfers, and a TransLution-built dashboard flags what needs to be manufactured when stock is unavailable.
Greater customer confidence
More reliable promises, fewer stock surprises
With more accurate stock information and faster fulfilment, A&A Electrical responds to customers with greater confidence and reduces the risk of promising stock that isn’t physically available – supporting satisfaction, reliability and new sales opportunities.
A scalable solution for the wider group
Already extended into other Dewhurst businesses
The success at A&A Electrical has opened the door to similar scanning processes across the Dewhurst group, including manufacturing environments where scanning supports material issuing, production tracking and operational visibility. For A&A Electrical, the greatest strength is that TransLution gives a smaller business access to warehouse processes comparable to far larger organisations – without the same investment.
“TransLution is that bridge between enabling a small business like ours to actually operate in the same way as a big business like Amazon without that massive investment.”
Luis Joao, A&A Electrical
—
In summary
What started as a need for scanning has become a core part of daily operations. By applying TransLution across picking, packing, dispatch, label printing, inventory management, cycle counting and stock movements, A&A Electrical has improved productivity, reduced manual work, strengthened inventory accuracy and gained far better control of its warehouse – a business that now operates faster, with greater confidence and visibility, while saving significant time and cost year after year.
