Against the backdrop of the Covid crisis, consumer goods company Estrid was struggling to keep up with consumer demand. Prioritizing supply chain transparency and flexibility enabled the business to navigate disruption and continue its path to rapid growth.

Like many other subscription-based digital companies, razor and body care brand Estrid, was facing increased pressure on its global supply chain as a consequence of the pandemic—struggling with supply and demand mismatches, blank sailings, cancelled flights, and more. Given that Estrid is a subscription based business, running out of stock is not an option as it will lead to subscriptions being delayed and unfulfilled. Yet these challenges did nothing to slow the digitally native company’s ambitious growth plans. Estrid knew it needed to find a solution—and fast—if they were going to continue meeting customer expectations while delivering on its business expansion goals.

Working with Flexport gave them the transparency and flexibility needed to fulfil orders and navigate disruption across their supply chain.
“Everything that was promised, Flexport delivered. The improvements in tracking shipments became clearly visible. This led to a sense of clarity and confidence in our day-to-day operations", said Lena Zavrazhnova, Supply Chain Lead at Estrid. “It has been the perfect solution for a digitally native brand that provides subscription-based products, bringing us the insights to understand exactly what is happening with shipments—in real-time.”

Managing disruptions with data-driven insights

Reaching Sweden's ports typically requires transshipment from Germany or The Netherlands, increasing potential delays and the need for visibility at every step. When the worldwide container shortage struck, this slowed exports even further. With demand for air freight consequently increasing, and freight prices rocketing, Estrid turned to Flexport for help.

Using the Flexport platform enables Estrid’s logistics team to track each shipment and have visibility into estimated arrival times. To manage any disruptions, they now have a control tower—complete with a dedicated place to communicate details on every shipment—meaning all relevant teams have immediate access to critical shipping documents and data whenever required.

“Flexport has empowered us for success. The wealth of supply chain data we now have access to has significantly improved our planning and reporting. Along with improved data analytics and metrics, we have also experienced a noticeable difference in how we measure success and stay on top of our revenues. We can more accurately measure improvements in productivity, which has helped us cut unnecessary costs,” said Emma Tranarp Mann, Head of Supply Chain at Estrid.

Flexport has also enabled Estrid to keep its partners informed of key shipments, by providing tracking links that enable visibility for selected parties outside of the company, yet within Estrid’s supply chain. Metrics can be reported easily—including transit times and cost per weight—and invoices can be managed swiftly and efficiently.

Visibility and Efficiencies

The challenges posed by the pandemic meant that shipping processes had to be as nimble and efficient as possible to mitigate bottlenecks. Prior to working with Flexport, Estrid relied on a manual logistics system that made day-to-day work labour-intensive and time-consuming. Additionally, managing shipment visibility and reporting was difficult, with daily orders and shipments managed using multiple systems including Google Sheets, Outlook, and Excel.

“Due to the nature of our small in-house team, capacity was often maxed out, with team members covering multiple tasks at once, each faced with high volumes of work,” explains Lena Zavrazhnova. “Being able to manage orders, ease-out daily management, and ensure timely arrival of shipments has really helped slacken the pressure that each team member was feeling.”

Communications and documents in one place

The Estrid team immediately benefitted through onboarding their critical supply chain documents into a centralized, secure platform that made accessing information quick and easy for the whole team.

“Before Flexport, we would process orders through excel and communicate with suppliers via email. As a growing company, this was not a sustainable way to run a business,” explains Lena.

“We now have a single source of truth that provides our team with access to everything in one place. Making everything much easier, relieving daily stress and pressure during busy times.”

The integrated dashboard enables the company to easily respond to issues, both internal and external, and keeps all discussions in one place for greater visibility. This has helped Estrid streamline its freight process by removing its reliance on complex email chains and spreadsheets, while improving the visibility of each shipment.

“Our inboxes became cluttered with logistics emails. Flexport has helped streamline the onboarding process by offering an easy-to-use interface that captures all necessary information in one place, which makes the process a lot easier, time-effective, and more secure.”

“This has enabled us to grow our customer base and work seamlessly with our supply chain partners to ensure disruptions have little impact on the momentum we’re building.”