Sam Anderson founded OFEX, an order fulfillment company in Kent that picks, packs, and ships for growing businesses. They assign each client a dedicated buddy team and stay in constant contact via email, WhatsApp, and phone. Kent's location near Dover, Folkestone, and major airports cuts shipping times and costs.
Hi guys, it's Laura, and today I'm here in Kent to chat to Sam and the team at OFEX about all things picking, packing, and posting. Let's head inside.
Hi there, my name's Sam Anderson and I'm the founder of Order Fulfillment Experts, otherwise we trade as OFEX. We're in our 9th year now, and from very modest, humble beginnings when I was doing absolutely everything, from picking and packing and out in vans, and we've now sort of grown to a permanent team of 6, and we're also growing quite rapidly and looking to take on new staff very imminently. So the sorts of people that come to us are people who have already got their feet under the table in terms of their business, and it's really starting to make an impact, and they're probably getting to the stage where they're a little bit overwhelmed with the number of orders they've got to pick, pack, and post themselves. Perhaps they're really fed up of queuing at the post office. That's our ideal customer. They come to us and they say, oh, We're not growing our business, we're working in it instead of on it. And from that stage, we're very used to sort of that hand-holding process of taking people who are very used to having control and doing it all themselves to setting up systems, procedures, and letting them sort of relax and pass it over to us to be able to do the picking and packing and postage. And the way that we find that works really well is by making them feel as though they're part of our business. So like we're an extension of them, their logistics department if you like, but we also assign a portfolio of customers to a buddy team. So they then take ownership of those customers and they are in constant contact with them on a day-to-day basis about their orders, either via email, WhatsApp, the telephone. So we're very used to people being quite cautious about it and we help them through that process. Once they've done that, they can spend all their time on their sales and marketing and their business then does take off. We really are very lucky because we all grow and work together. In terms of where we're based, we're actually based in Kent and we're equidistant between the ports of Dover and Folkestone with the Eurotunnel and also the other ports in terms of the airports as well and Felixstowe as well. So that means once the goods come into the country from wherever they're coming in from, then it reduces the transit time and costs to get it to their distribution point. So yes, it really can be from global. So if anyone's at the stage that they think that they're ready to outsource their business, then the best thing to do is to really just have a very informal chat at first and just to explain where they are with their business and what their requirements are. We would then work out whether we're a good fit, and we'd send out our information pack and they can have a look at it, and they can, you know, have a look around the warehouse either virtually— I can do a tour on Zoom— or they can You can come in, obviously, if it's safe.
Well, I must admit, I really never thought of this as being the sort of business that could add a personal touch, but they absolutely do, because Sam and her whole team here are so, so friendly. They really understand that your business and your products are like your baby, and that handing that off to an order fulfillment team can actually be a little bit nerve-wracking. So they're going to make that as easy and as comfortable as possible for you so that you can concentrate on growing the rest of your business. So if you need that order fulfillment house so you can concentrate on your business, then make sure you're looking no further than OFEX. I'll see you next time.
