From Free Audit to Paid Contract
A UK 3PL ran 36,000 live orders through the TCS-i Control Hub. Packers got the right box at scan time, the 3PL saved about $0.35 per order on carrier rate cards, and then signed a paid contract.
Where the money was leaking
The 3PL packs orders for several e-commerce brands and ships them on its own carrier accounts. Packers picked boxes by eye, and the WMS suggested boxes from total item volume. Carriers bill by dimensional weight, so every oversized box cost money, and nobody could see which orders or which brands were driving it.
Step 1: a free audit on past orders
Before anything changed on the floor, we ran 626 of their historical orders through the TCS-i engine. 280 of them (45%) could have shipped in a smaller box, and 184 of the WMS's box suggestions were physically impossible to pack. That audit is written up in our Midlands 3PL study. Today anyone can run the same checks on their own exports with the free audit.
Step 2: live at the pack station
We connected to their ShipHero account. When a packer scans an order, the station screen shows the box to use and where each item goes, in 3D. If the screen doesn't match what's on the bench, the packer flags it in one tap so the team can fix the data. From June to September 2026, 36,000 orders went through the Control Hub.
Typical results by order type:
| Order | Box change | DIM weight cut | Saving |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multi-item cosmetics | Box 10 → Box 4B | 4 lbs | +$3.40 |
| Supplements & accessories | Box 14 → Box 6 | 3 lbs | +$2.10 |
| Single-item skincare | Box 8 → Box 8 | 0 lbs | $0.00 (already right) |
Multi-item orders carry the savings. Many single-item orders are already in the smallest box, which is why the average across all orders is about $0.35, or roughly $12,600 over the pilot.
Step 3: a paid contract
After the pilot, the 3PL signed a paid contract in August 2026 to keep TCS-i running at its pack stations.
"The 3D visual takes the guesswork out of packing. Packers see exactly which box to use and how the items go in, so we get far fewer disputes about how an order was packed."
CEO, UK 3PL