What We Achieved:
- Provided competitive rates for parcels, enabling Encompass Elements to maintain strong margins while providing accurate shipping budgets for its clients
- Met logistical demands, including surges in volume, technical consulting and ensuring deliverability of new packaging materials
- Delivered packages nationwide in an average of three days, along with detailed tracking reports that helped Encompass meet the high reporting standards of its clients
Overview of Encompass Elements
Encompass Elements is a premier direct mail and fulfillment services company with a 153,000-square-foot distribution and printing facility in New Castle, Del. It provides global fulfillment of literature, sampling products, promotional materials, point-of-purchase displays and customized kits. A certified woman-owned business, Encompass serves a roster of diverse clients, including retail giants, healthcare providers and consumer packaged goods companies.
Dynamic Campaign Requirements and Demanding Fulfillment Clients
Encompass started collaborating with OSM Worldwide seven years ago when the company had an opportunity with a health insurance company to distribute wellness products to its members. The project involved shipping over 100,000 lightweight packages, and the prospect wanted Encompass to find a cost-effective delivery solution. Encompass researched shipping companies and discovered OSM and its efficient last-mile networks for small-parcel delivery. The OSM Premium Network® is optimized to handle packages from under a pound to 15 pounds, so it was a great fit. The insurance company hired Encompass for fulfillment, marking the beginning of a rewarding relationship built on trust and open and honest communication. As Encompass supports a wide range of clients, it must navigate complex shipping challenges, including:
- Stringent Pricing Pressures: Working with large companies requires Encompass to maintain extremely tight margins while delivering high-quality service.
- Variable Shipping Volumes: The operation is designed to handle sharp swings in demand, from large-scale monthly fulfillment programs exceeding 130,000 units for national retailers, to fast-turn initiatives like flash sales and product sampling campaigns that require immediate, scalable transportation capacity.
- Weight Sensitivity: Many marketing campaigns involve parcels of varying weights, where even minor fluctuations could tip the scale and significantly increase shipping costs if not managed precisely.
- Reporting Requirements: Subscription clients increasingly demand detailed delivery reports to ensure campaign success.
The Benefits of Partnering with OSM Worldwide
OSM provides a consultative and flexible transportation framework tailored to Encompass Elements’ specialized fulfillment needs. The company offers highly competitive pricing for parcels, allowing Encompass to maintain profitability and offer lower, more transparent shipping costs to its clients.
The relationship is anchored by a dedicated account manager at OSM, who has worked with Encompass since day one, providing responsive communication and solving challenges as they arise. The collaborative approach starts from the moment Encompass considers a new fulfillment project.
OSM’s service goes beyond flexible pickup, optimized processing and efficient routing. Their logistics consulting supports Encompass and its clients across marketing parcel campaigns and environmentally friendly packaging initiatives. For marketing parcel campaigns, OSM helps Encompass review client samples to ensure they do not exceed dimension and weight requirements. For clients considering environmentally friendly packaging options, OSM runs the new packaging through its sorters to identify potential breakage risks or padding needs before a full launch.
OSM’s ability to provide flexible transportation solutions has enabled Encompass to take on clients with fluctuating shipment volumes. With large-scale campaigns, for example, OSM’s transportation team has staged multiple trucks as volume became ready for pickup. OSM separated the volume on skids by region, crossdocked at its facility in York, Pa. OSM transferred the packages to the optimal facility in its network, skipping zones and reducing time-in-transit across the country.
“I really like the three-day average nationwide delivery time of the OSM Premium Network,” said Bill Scannapieco, chief operating officer at Encompass. “The network ensures that I’m not paying unnecessary ground and accessorial fees.”
On the back end, OSM provides detailed data files and straightforward billing, allowing Encompass to easily bill back shipping costs to its individual clients. OSM’s customer service team also uses its end-to-end tracking technology to generate the timely delivery reports that Encompass’ subscription clients require.
“Our partnership has yielded significant operational and financial benefits,” Scannapieco said. “We have transformed shipping from a logistical hurdle into a competitive advantage, ensuring that high-value consumer samples and products reach residential addresses efficiently and cost-effectively.”
Want to read more? Check out our case study with leading 3PL provider QuickBox Fulfillment. Our partnership helped reduce transit times and shipping costs while improving reliability and supporting higher-than-forecast peak volumes.