Furniture Bank is on a mission to double the number of people it assists. SATOV is helping optimize operations to meet that goal
Toronto charitable organization Furniture Bank has an ambitious goal: it wants to double the number of people it helps. But it also has a challenge: to achieve this without increasing costs or expanding its warehouse space.
Founded in 1998, the organization provides donated furniture to refugees, those fleeing domestic violence and others building new lives. It serves almost 3,000 families and 5,500 individuals—many of them children—with nearly 30,000 pieces of furniture per year.
SATOV offered to help Furniture Bank increase its throughput. Our analysis found several opportunities to optimize the function of the warehouse: rigorous quality checks would free up warehouse space by disposing of unusable donations, more structured supervision would increase productivity, and warehouse racking would improve space utilization. In all, we found eight significant ways to streamline Furniture Bank’s warehouse operations. With these changes, Furniture Bank could realize an increase in throughput of up to 32{a23d3e3aff46d689b50c88cc1d7606a7a28ed4b695b585c6bb0ea43784184748}, with an increase of up to 15{a23d3e3aff46d689b50c88cc1d7606a7a28ed4b695b585c6bb0ea43784184748} the following year, without increasing staff.
“We were incredibly impressed with the heart, dedication and professionalism that the SATOV team brought to our project,” said Executive Director Susanna Kislenko. “Their review of our operations, both present and future, and their ability to hone in on the critical levers that have not been brought to light before, have given us an unprecedented lens that will enhance Furniture Bank in a significant way. Thank you to Eric Matusiak and team, we are so grateful for the generous gift you have given us.”