Warehouse Specialists (WSI) built a Tier II program on data it can trust, with Encamp as its system of record and guide.

The Challenge: A Small Team and an Outsized Load

For years, Tier II compliance reporting at WSI came down to a small team carrying an outsized load. Chemical Compliance Specialist Austin Sharron and his colleagues were managing chemical inventory data across dozens of facilities and multiple states, by hand, on a deadline that didn’t move.

The process started with exports pulled from WSI’s ERP system and dumped into sprawling spreadsheets, complete with merged cells, blank rows, and inconsistent product names. Container sizes sometimes ended up jammed into product name fields, because there was nowhere else to put them.

Instead of spreading that work across the year, WSI prioritized other operational projects. “November, December, it was kind of just looming in the background,” Austin explained. “Then January through March, it was go, go, go, complete tunnel vision on the Tier II report.” Some state portals added their own pressure: a 15-minute session timer that wiped out unsaved work if the team didn’t beat the clock, even on entries where documenting a single product’s hazards took longer than that.

The crunch didn’t stop there. Beyond Tier II, Austin’s team is responsible for chemical review logs, Section 7 pesticide reporting, and ongoing field questions. It’s a workload that needed room to breathe.

Finding a Partner, Not Just a Platform

WSI first came across Encamp at an industry conference and walked away convinced. The team found Encamp’s platform “heads above everyone else” they’d evaluated. Encamp was thorough, whereas other vendors were still asking WSI to send in spreadsheets and verify every product by hand.

WSI wanted more than software. They needed a hands-free system and a team that would own the details with them. Encamp became the team’s system of record for chemical inventory and the partner responsible for turning that data into accurate, on-time filings across every state where WSI operates.

What Changed: From Year-End Scramble to Quarterly Rhythm

Today, WSI’s Tier II process runs on a quarterly cadence instead of a January-to-March sprint. Product and inventory changes are logged in Encamp throughout the year, so when reporting season opens, the data is already there. There’s no digging and no reconstructing a year’s worth of activity from fragmented records.

“It’s been an absolute lifesaver working with Encamp,” Austin said. “We have quarterly meetings to ensure all data and product updates from the last quarter are updated and then we’re good to go.”

Encamp’s team verifies the data, handles portal access and submission, and manages state and LEPC filing fee payments in one place (which also solved a longstanding headache for WSI’s accounting team trying to reconcile itemized compliance costs).

The result: Austin estimates the new rhythm gives the team back roughly 20 hours a week during what used to be the height of reporting season. “By the end of January, it’s pretty much all said and done,” he said. “So I’ve got all of February to handle everything else,” including Section 7 pesticide reporting and biennial EPA waste reports that used to get bumped every year.

WSI’s chemical inventory has grown right along with the partnership. Austin reports that the team now manages over 1,075 reportable chemicals (closer to 1,500 to 2,000 when non-reportable items are included) across facilities in states like Wisconsin, California, Texas, Pennsylvania, and Iowa.

When a small snag on one report was hit earlier this year, a missing detail on a filing, he said the fix was immediate. “It was a quick reach out to Encamp, and it was an instant response — hey, let’s get this fixed right away, let’s work together on this,” he said. “I always look forward to the meetings, and once I get done, I feel very accomplished.”

WSI’s team describes the shift in blunter terms: What used to be their most stressful hazmat season is now its most predictable one.

The Payoff: A Three-Time Responsible Care Partner of the Year

WSI is one of only a handful of warehousing companies in the country that participate in the American Chemistry Council’s Responsible Care program, a voluntary standard that holds member companies and partners to strict product safety, process safety, and security codes standards, all backed by documentation. WSI has been named Responsible Care Partner of the Year three times, including back-to-back wins the last two years. They’ve also earned a Silver rating from EcoVadis, up from Bronze the year before, placing WSI among the top-rated companies worldwide on that sustainability assessment.

With the time saved with the Encamp system, WSI has been able to focus on bigger goals and has connected that recognition directly to the Encamp partnership.

Reliable compliance data hasn’t just protected WSI internally. It’s also becoming part of how the company talks about itself to customers and prospects. “Our customers expect the top tier out of us,” Austin said. “They like to see us consistently improving, that our score is going up, that we’re working hard to improve ourselves.” Marketing Director Mariana Vieth pointed out that this kind of proof point, showing customers exactly which partners and standards WSI relies on, is becoming a differentiator for WSI.

Looking Ahead

WSI isn’t slowing down, and neither is its compliance program. As the team grows its footprint and takes on new business, they’re exploring Encamp’s other product offerings including waste tracking (hazardous, non-hazardous, and recycling data) and Scout, Encamp’s compliance intelligence built purposefully for environmental programs.

For Austin and the rest of the WSI team, growth doesn’t mean more chaos. It means adding more to a system that already works.

Advice for Peers Considering Encamp

Asked what he’d tell a peer weighing Encamp, Austin didn’t hesitate: “I would say it’s worth it. It might seem like a headache getting the initial setup done, but once it’s done, it’s going to save you so much time. It’s just a simple, one-click adventure.”

 

Move from a Seasonal Scramble to Year-Round Confidence.

Encamp is trusted to protect 30,000+ facilities nationwide from EPCRA compliance risk, backed by 106,000+ Tier II reports filed since 2019. This Tier II season, let Encamp carry the paperwork, the time, and the pressure. Talk to our team about how Encamp can ensure year-round confidence, across every facility and with every agency.