boAt Slashes Picking Time 50-80% & Recovers 4% Revenue Loss

Industry: Retail & Consumer Packaged Goods, Manufacturing | Services: Digital Operations

Client Overview

Founded in 2015, boAt is a rapidly scaling global electronics and wearables brand (headphones, earphones, chargers, cables). With 12,000+ SKUs across 108 locations, boAt sought to operationalize tighter inventory control and eliminate revenue loss tied to warranty misclaims.

The Challenge

Complex Inventory and Warranty Operations Causing Revenue Leakage and Service Delays

While boAt continued to establish market leadership and global presence, they faced significant operational challenges in inventory and warranty management, which impacted their bottom line.

• Inventory Complexity: Managing over 12,000 SKUs across 108 locations presented logistical hurdles, making stock tracking, transfers, and inventory management cumbersome.
• Revenue Loss Due to Warranty Issues: Incorrect warranty claims and returns accounted for 4% of annual revenue losses, significantly impacting profitability.
• Operational Inefficiencies in Picking: Identifying and locating the correct products during the picking process led to delays, affecting order fulfillment times.
• Inaccurate Inventory Reporting: The absence of precise, location-specific inventory data hindered effective planning and optimization.

Sutherland Solution

eSeal Platform Enables Real-time Visibility, Automated Validation and Smarter Operations
To address these challenges, Sutherland implemented its proprietary Supply Chain Visibility platform, offering a comprehensive suite of features tailored to address boAt’s business challenges. Accurate validation processes during warranty claims and return pickups significantly reduced erroneous claims, mitigating revenue losses. Enhanced inventory visibility provided precise, location-specific reports, enabling optimized planning and inventory holding across all 108 locations. By leveraging eSeal, picking turnaround times were reduced by 50–80%, streamlining order processing. SKU segregation through ABC analysis and optimized location reservations further improved stock management efficiency.

Seamless integration of eSeal with boAt’s existing ERP systems, including SAP, ensured real-time inventory updates and smooth operational workflows. Additionally, eSeal’s in-built modules for stock taking, stock transfers, and inventory reporting enhanced accuracy while reducing manual interventions, delivering a comprehensive solution for boAt’s complex inventory and operational needs. In short, Sutherland delivered:

1. Embedded validation logic during warranty pickup and claims to reduce false claims and revenue leakage.
2. Real-time inventory tracking by location, enabling precise stock transfer and reservation logic.
3. Picking time acceleration via optimized slotting, SKU segregation (ABC), and location reservations.
4. Deep integration with boAt’s SAP ERP for live updates; modules for stock takes, transfer workflows, and inventory reporting.
5. Reduced manual touch and improved accuracy across all operations.

The Outcome

Faster Fulfillment, Smarter Warranty Control, and Cost Recovery

The implementation of eSeal brought significant operational improvements and measurable outcomes for boAt:

• Reduced Warranty Claims Losses: Accurate validation processes minimized revenue leakage due to incorrect claims.
• Improved Inventory Accuracy: Real-time inventory reports enabled better stock management, reducing overstocking and understocking scenarios.
• Enhanced Picking Efficiency: Picking turnaround times decreased by 50–80%, boosting fulfillment speed and customer satisfaction.
• Optimized Inventory Holding: Location-specific inventory insights and SKU categorization reduced holding costs while ensuring product availability.
• Seamless Operations: Integration with ERP systems eliminated data silos, ensuring smooth operations across all locations.

Sutherland’s eSeal transformed boAt’s inventory and warranty management processes, addressing key operational pain points and delivering significant efficiency gains. By optimizing stock management, reducing revenue losses, and integrating with existing ERP systems, boAt is now better positioned to maintain its leadership in the competitive wearable electronics market.

That’s digital outcomes achieved and measurable results delivered!