How Epic Eliminated $17 Million in Costs and Transformed Education Logistics with Automation
In Brief
Automated Warehouse System: EWOCS, Drives $17 million in Annual Savings
Epic Charter Schools faced rising costs, poor service, and operational delays in managing critical student learning assets through a third-party vendor. As a trusted, long-term technology partner, Resource Data worked closely with Epic to design and implement the new Epic Warehouse Operations Control System (EWOCS), an automated warehouse and logistics system.
Working with Resource Data, Epic saved $17 million in annual operational costs by replacing the third-party vendor with the EWOCS automation warehouse system. The new system also reduced annual shipping costs by $1.5 million, improved delivery times from weeks to just two business days, and reduced warehouse staffing by 50% with automated workflows while simultaneously tripling order volume.
Key Takeaways
Cutting Costs by $17 million and Improving Logistics for Education Systems
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$17M Annual Cost Savings from Vendor Replacement
By replacing a third-party vendor with an automated, in-house system, Epic reduced operating costs from $20 million to $3 million, saving $17 million in annual costs.
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80% Reduction in Shipping Costs
Selecting EasyPost as a shipping vendor and leveraging pre-negotiated carrier rates reduced shipping costs from $1.5 million to $300K, $1.2 million less.
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3x Increase in Order Volume with 50% Less Staff
Automation enabled Epic to triple order volume while reducing warehouse staffing by 50%. Automated shipping workflows generate labels instantly, allowing staff to simply print and apply labels, eliminating manual steps, and accelerating fulfillment.
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Faster Delivery Improves Student Access and Funding Stability
Delivery times improved from weeks to days, ensuring students receive learning equipment and devices such as Mifi routers quickly. This allows students to remain engaged and attend classes, while protecting Epics federal funding tied to student participation and attendance.
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End-to-End Automation Reduces Manual Work and Errors
EWOCS automates order processing, inventory selection, shipping, and asset tracking, reducing manual effort and improving accuracy across operations.
Epic Charter School
Epic Charter Schools is a large-scale, charter school education provider supporting over 24,000+ students through distributed learning. Each year, Epic manages over 180,000 technology assets – including MiFi routers for monthly home internet access, Chromebooks, calculators, and docking stations, and processes over 33,897 student orders through its Learning Fund platform. These assets, including digital assets, are essential to enabling student participation, especially for students without internet at home; this maintains Epics’ federal funding.
Resource Data has served as a long-term technology partner to Epic, collaborating not only on improving software solutions but also on business process improvements. This close partnership enabled proactive identification of inefficiencies and the opportunity to modernize Epic’s assets and logistics operations in-house.
The Challenge
Costly Delays and Shipment Inefficiencies Threaten Student Access to Learning and Supplies
Epic Charter Schools relied on a third-party vendor to manage asset inventory, warehousing, and shipping for critical student learning equipment. Over time, this model became unsustainable due to high costs, poor service, and limited responsiveness. Epic spent approximately $20 million annually on vendor services, plus $1.5 million on shipping. At the same time, they faced significant data quality issues, with nearly 190,000 assets requiring “cleanup” due to inaccuracies or duplicates.
These inefficiencies had direct business and student impacts. Delivery times extended up to five weeks, limiting students from learning or participating in classes as a result of no quick access to learning supplies, directly putting Epic’s federal funding at risk. Delays affected hundreds of students, and Epic faced losses around federal funding. These challenges created risk of financial loss, reduced efficiency, and ongoing disruption to the student learning experience.
Our Approach
12-System Integration Layered on an Accelerated Timeline
Resource Data worked closely with Epic to evaluate their existing vendor model and define a path toward a more efficient, internally managed solution. Rather than building a traditional application, the team designed the system as a backend integration layer—connecting 12 systems and orchestrating automated workflows without a user-facing interface.
Due to the early termination of the vendor contract, the solution had to be delivered on an accelerated timeline. The team focused on core features, deciding what needed to launch, and what could be refined later. Using a mix of custom integrations and selected commercial tools, we delivered a scalable solution quickly and reduced disruption to students’ academics.
The Solution
An Automated Integrated Logistic System: Epic Warehouse Operations Control System (EWOCS)
To replace a costly and inefficient vendor model, Resource Data implemented the Epic Warehouse Operations Control System (EWOCS). This integrated logistics solution and warehouse management system automates and streamlines asset management, inventory control, warehouse operations, and order fulfillment end-to-end. Instead of a single application, EWOCS is a backend ecosystem of multiple systems, APIs, and automated workflows, allowing data to move seamlessly across platforms.
EWOCS connects multiple platforms such as Incident IQ, Learning Fund (student purchase platform built by Resource Data), Logiwa, EasyPost, PowerSchool, and Epic’s internal systems. As part of the solution, Resource Data helped Epic select EasyPost, the shipping platform, and negotiated low carrier rates and built-in compliance capabilities. This reduced shipping costs, simplified label generation, and eliminated the need to build complex shipping logic in-house, accelerating implementation and improving overall operational efficiency.
Features
System Automation Scales 3x Growth in Order Volume
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Orders Process Automatically from Start to Finish
Student orders placed through the Learning Fund automatically trigger EWOCS workflows, initiating fulfillment without manual input. The system processes orders, assigns inventory, prepares shipments, reduces errors, and speeds up delivery.
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The Right Devices and Accessories Are Automatically Selected for Orders
EWOCS automatically selects and packages the correct matching accessories, such as chargers and docking stations based on the device chosen and predefined rules. This ensures accuracy while removing guesswork for warehouse staff.
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Shipping Labels are created for instant ship off
EWOCS sends order details to EasyPost to generate compliant shipping labels with optimized carrier rates. Warehouse staff simply print and apply labels, saving time, and simplifying the process.
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Warehouse Staff Only Pick, Pack, and Ship
Orders arrive fully prepared, with inventory selected, packing decisions made, and labels ready to print. Staff only need to pick, pack, and ship, reducing effort and enabling the team to handle significantly higher order volumes.
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Every Asset Is Automatically Tracked from Order to Return
EWOCS automatically tracks each device throughout its lifecycle, from when it is assigned to a student to when it is returned or retired. This ensures accurate records without manual updates and gives Epic full visibility where every asset is at any time.
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Returns Are Simple for Students
EWOCS automates return label generation and the asset return process. Students receive a QR code that can be scanned by USPS, allowing carriers to handle labeling, cost, and processing. This process makes it easy for students to return devices like MiFi’s and Chromebooks without requiring any additional steps.
Results
$17M Savings, 80% Lower Shipping Costs, 3x Growth
EWOCS delivered major financial and operational improvements for Epic Charter Schools. Epic reduced annual operating costs from approximately $20 million to $3 million, saving $17 million annually from day one. Shipping costs also dropped from $1.5 million to $300,000 through the selection of EasyPost and negotiations for low carrier rates.
Operational efficiency improved significantly. Epic reduced warehouse staffing by 50% while tripling order volume and processing tens of thousands of shipments annually. Delivery times dropped from weeks to only 2-3 days, ensuring students receive devices quickly and protecting the risk of federal funding loss tied to attendance.
What's Next
A Mature System Built for Ongoing Performance
Over the past two years, Resource Data and Epic refined EWOCS through improvements in data quality, process efficiency, and shipping workflows, including hazmat compliance. Today, EWOCS is a mature, stable system operating on a scale. Resource Data continues to support EWOCS with ongoing updates and enhancements to ensure reliable performance and continued operational efficiency.
Start by defining core workflows (order processing, inventory, shipping) and identifying the systems that need to be connected. Then, build an integration layer—typically using APIs—to orchestrate data flow across platforms. In the Epic case, Resource Data connected 12 systems into a unified backend ecosystem, enabling automated workflows without relying on a single application.
Successful integration requires a clear system architecture, API compatibility, and strong data mapping between platforms. You also need to prioritize security, scalability, and minimal disruption to operations. In practice, this means connecting tools like inventory systems, order platforms, and shipping providers so they function as one coordinated system rather than isolated tools.
APIs enable systems to communicate in real time, automatically triggering workflows without manual input. For example, when an order is placed, APIs can assign inventory, generate shipping labels, and update tracking data instantly. In the EWOCS system, APIs connect platforms like EasyPost and inventory tools to automate fulfillment end-to-end.
The main challenges include transitioning data, ensuring continuity of operations, and building internal capabilities quickly. Organizations also face time constraints, integration complexity, and risk during the switch. In Epic’s case, the team had to deliver a new system on an accelerated timeline after ending a vendor contract, while maintaining service for students.
Design the system as a modular, API-driven architecture that can handle increasing volume without major redesign. Automation of core workflows, like order processing and shipping is critical. In the EWOCS example, automation allowed Epic to triple order volume while reducing staff, demonstrating how scalable systems rely on workflow automation rather than manual effort.
Deployment timelines vary based on complexity, but accelerated implementations can be delivered in months when focused on core functionality first. A phased approach—launching essential workflows and refining later—helps reduce time to value. In Epic’s case, the system was delivered quickly due to urgency, with improvements added post-launch.
Maintaining accuracy requires centralized data governance, automated validation, and consistent synchronization across systems. Automation reduces manual entry errors, while integration ensures all platforms reflect the same data. In the Epic case, automation helped clean and manage nearly 190,000 assets, improving data reliability significantly.
It can be more cost-effective when long-term operational costs of outsourcing are high and workflows can be automated efficiently. While upfront investment is required, in-house systems provide greater control and lower recurring costs. Epic reduced annual costs from $20 million to $3 million after replacing a third-party vendor, demonstrating significant savings potential.
Automation accelerates fulfillment by removing delays in processing and reducing errors. Orders move seamlessly from placement to shipment, resulting in faster delivery times. In Epic’s case, delivery times improved from weeks to just 2–3 days, ensuring students received devices quickly and improving overall satisfaction and engagement.
Automation eliminates repetitive tasks like order processing, inventory selection, and label creation by handling them automatically. Staff only need to pick, pack, and ship. In the EWOCS system, workflows generate shipping labels and assign inventory instantly, reducing manual effort and enabling higher efficiency with fewer employees.