Drop-shipping is a useful type of e-commerce fulfillment service where the retailer (you) purchases products and sends them to customers in response to orders—without using a standing inventory. Since you don’t have to maintain inventory stores, drop-shipping margins are usually higher than other methods. However, businesses that use drop-shipping will also face certain challenges that other types of fulfillment services do not readily encounter. Here are two of the more common challenges that drop-shipping can face, as well as the most apt solutions.

Order Visibility

Many challenges with drop-shipping arise in some fashion due to the lack of control you have over the vendor or manufacturer. This can create disconnects in information and make it hard to give customers the visibility on their order that they might want or expect. Solving this challenge, therefore, involves fostering communications between you and the supplier.

Get Clear Lead Times and Availability

Customers will appreciate being told upfront what their expected delivery time might be. In order to provide this information, you need accurate lead times and product availability data from your vendors. Devising systems that can collect this information and update delivery estimates and availability based on these inventory feeds can help inform customers at the point of purchase.

Sync Up

Your order management system has a large role in keeping you informed of what is going on with your vendors. Ideally, you will be able to get vendors to confirm purchase orders and verify your estimated delivery dates. This information can then be put into your own systems and shared with the customer.

Be Proactive

It is imperative that a part of your drop-shipping procedures is to track and follow up on any orders that become late. Contact your vendor and find out what the status is and the new delivery estimate. You also need to contact the customer as soon as possible since they will know when the order is late and some proactive action on your part can go a long way to retaining their good will.

Limited Branding

Since your engagement with the customer effectively ends once they make the purchase, it can be tricky to establish a clear branding image when using drop-shipping. This is an issue since branding your order fulfillment services helps build repeat customers. Without strong branding, you limit your ability to stick in your customer’s mind even if the service itself is excellent. Fortunately, there are ways to overcome this challenge.

Packaging Inserts

Including marketing inserts in your shipments, such as catalogues, brochures, coupons, etc., can help reinforce your brand while offering a sort of call-to-action towards future business. Another approach is to include something fun that can express your brand’s personality and put a smile on a customer’s face. What that “something fun” might be, of course, is up to you, but one example might be seasonal cards or holiday wishes.

Customized Packaging

If your vendor allows it, arrange for custom elements in your packaging. This can include things like labels and package tape bearing your logo or even offering your own custom-printed packaging materials. At minimum, you should be able to include a branded packing slip that contains your logo, contact information, and shipping policies.

Follow Up

Taking the time to follow up with your customer can help offer a more personal interaction with your brand. A follow-up can be in the form of a survey, courtesy call or e-mail, thank-you note, or other method you consider appropriate. In addition to possibly garnering useful feedback, follow-ups help keep your brand at the forefront of the customer’s mind and make you stand out better against competitors.

Look to Lean Supply Solutions for Drop-Shipping Success

Lean Supply Solutions is a third-party logistics (3PL) order fulfillment company in Toronto whose operations are based around the Lean Methodology, a proven philosophy focused on eliminating any operations, equipment, or resources that are not capable of adding value to clients’ supply chains. By striving to ensure that the right products are provided to the right customers at the right time, Lean Supply Solutions is able to offer consistent, accurate, and quality results.

To learn more about the Lean Methodology, outsourcing to Lean Supply Solutions, or to ask any questions, give us a call at 905-482-2590.

“Big data” is the term used to describe data sets that defy traditional methods of analysis due to their complexity, and often, the way they represent human behaviours. Although the crunching of these types of numbers can be daunting, big data analytics has a key role in modern supply chains. Big data is just one part of the rapid rise of technology in supply chain services, and when used properly, it can help inform future demands and optimize current supply chain practices for better efficiency. Here are just some of the ways that big data analytics can shape your supply chain solutions.

Create a Unique Brand Experience

One of the most significant impacts of big data on supply chains is how it can offer information on the customer experience. Call centre logs, loyalty programs, customer surveys, web logs, mobile data, and more can all come together through analytics to create a 360-degree image of your customer’s needs and expectations. By taking these findings and using them to shape your processes and activities, you can deliver a stronger brand experience to your customers. This could be as simple as offering different shipping options and prices or as complex as redesigning delivery routes to more closely align with where the majority of orders are coming from.

Enhances Traceability

The use of data analysis in supply chain management is particularly well-suited for enhancing the traceability of your products. One of the most time and money-intensive activities a company can perform is trying to integrate and process disparate databases in order to track down products that have to be recalled or retrofitted. This is an intensely data-driven activity by definition and it is therefore fortunate that big data analysis is designed to work with such large, normally unwieldy sets of information. When used in this manner, big data will help to reduce the level of risk exposure in your supply chain.

Offers Stronger Demand Forecasts

Big data analysis pulls information from a multitude of sources in order to produce reliable and accurate findings, predictions, and demand forecasts that might otherwise get missed. For example, big data elements like on-shelf-availability, transaction data, purchase orders, competitor pricing, and social media monitoring can combine to detect shifts in customer demand and make appropriate forecasts about how this will impact orders down the line. This information can then be used to adjust inventory levels or production in order to avoid shortages or overstocking.

Look to Lean Supply Solutions to Harness Big Data Analytics in Chain Management

Lean Supply Solutions is a third-party order fulfillment company in Toronto whose operations are based around the Lean Methodology, a proven philosophy focused on eliminating any operations, equipment, or resources that are not capable of adding value to clients’ supply chains. By striving to ensure that the right products are provided to the right customers at the right time, Lean Supply Solutions is able to offer consistent, accurate, and quality results.

To learn more about the Lean Methodology, outsourcing to Lean Supply Solutions, or to ask any questions, give us a call at 905-482-2590.

Supply chains continually grow alongside your business, and the two typically build on top of one another over time. While effective, this tendency can lead to situations where processes and systems are not able to keep up with the eventual scale of your operations. Another problem is that solutions and arrangements that made sense at their time of implementation can begin to struggle with more modern realities. An important part of supply chain management is being able to recognize when this time has arrived and to take the steps necessary to bring about a revolution. By revising, replacing, and rejuvenating your supply chain, you can stay on the cutting edge of business success.

Enhance the Tech Side of Your Supply Chain

The technology used in your supply chain plays a large role in how agile and responsive operations can be. Even if you already have existing digital supply chain systems, it’s worth considering whether they are still up to the task or can stand to be improved or replaced. Take the time to do your research into in-house or best-of-breed, or third-party options and see what can meet your needs (present and predicted future) best. When making a technological transition, it is also important to make sure to get as many parties as possible on board. This can include your own workers as well as suppliers. Change is naturally disruptive, so everyone needs to understand the little bumps that will occur before the system is fully implemented and smoothed out.

Get Real-Time Visibility

This is a subset of the above point, but it’s worth emphasizing on its own. Being able to have real-time visibility of your supply chain is an advantage that cannot be underestimated. Not only does it let you spot and react to orders and events in real time, but you can use this information to keep customers better apprised of the status of their purchase. Between letting you stay agile and keeping customers happy, it’s easy to see why real-time visibility is going to become an expected feature of supply chains.

Collect Supporting Data

In addition to it simply being a good idea to have a data backup, collecting supporting metrics is often the first step in improving your supply chain. Without knowing information like inventory order rates, warehousing costs, inventory costs, data on shipping routes, and so on, you can’t find the spots that are most in need of improvement. Having this information on hand also makes it reusable so you can incorporate it into your new systems and/or future projects. Knowledge is power, after all.

Make Sustainability Part of the Supply Chain Strategy

The idea of a sustainable supply chain is worth embracing as part of your revolution both from public relations and practical standpoints. Taking steps to minimize energy consumption, packaging materials, and maintaining a robust reverse logistics process are all able to help you save and recoup costs while doing a bit more to help the environment. These achievements can, in turn be used to enhance your appeal among customers and garner goodwill and interest.

Look to Lean Supply Solutions for Effective Supply Chain Management

Lean Supply Solutions is a third-party order fulfillment company in Toronto whose operations are based around the Lean Methodology, a proven philosophy focused on eliminating any operations, equipment, or resources that are not capable of adding value to clients’ supply chain. By striving to ensure that the right products are provided to the right customers at the right time, Lean Supply Solutions is able to offer consistent, accurate, and quality results.

To learn more about the Lean Methodology, outsourcing to Lean Supply Solutions, or to ask any questions, give us a call at 905-482-2590.

Risk is an unavoidable element in any enterprise, and shipping and warehousing operations are no exception. Although there are many ways to reduce your exposure to different types of risk, these potential sources go up dramatically the larger and further-reaching your supply chain becomes. Global supply chains come with an inordinate amount of moving parts, each of which is subject to different risk factors. As the size of the supply chain services grow, so too does the cost of any one part going down or suffering fault. Consequently, it is integral to have a risk management process for your global supply chain that can not only reduce your vulnerability to risk but also let you recover quickly should an adverse event arise.

Upgrade Your Warehouse

Two of the larger risks in global supply chain management concern quality and inventory. Long global supply lines make it harder to respond quickly to quality concerns since tracking down the problem becomes a more involved process. A long global supply chain can also cause a surprising amount of additional inventory that can catch warehouse operators by surprise.

Upgrading your warehousing operations helps manage both of these sources of risk. Quality control is part of inventory management during warehousing, so enhancing this area of logistics management will let you recognize potential problems before they reach customers and start the investigative process promptly. Warehousing upgrades also help manage excessive inventory. This can be accomplished by expanding storage space or by devising more efficient means of handling goods. In both cases, your costs associated with the extra inventory will manage to go down.

Get a Disaster Response Plan

Chances are, you already have a response plan in place if your main warehouse or similar location is struck by a flood, earthquake, fire, or other disaster, but what about the rest of your supply chain? Proper supply chain management means taking a good, hard look at the flow of goods throughout your chain and identifying points of vulnerability from natural disasters like earthquakes or tsunamis, especially in Asia if the past five years are any indication. You won’t be able to avoid getting hurt if part of your supply chain is struck by disaster, but you should not be left scrambling to come up with a response since “in the moment” is one of the worst times to have to formulate a plan.

Use Real-Time Tracking and Visibility

This is related to the above point about disasters. Information is crucial to recognizing and solving problems, and delays in obtaining that information can dramatically increase the cost of any given risk. Being able to harness visibility tools for global shipment and component tracking, ideally in real time, lets you get an immediate view on your current situation. Should a risk manifest itself, being able to get accurate, real-time data of when, where, and how much of your supplies are impacted is key to reacting appropriately.

Work with Strong, Competent Suppliers

Global supply chains are, by definition, subject to the market conditions of multiple countries. Your suppliers may do business with you, but they are as vulnerable to local factors as anyone else. One of the risks that supply chain management must address is the potential impact of this vulnerability. Working with suppliers you trust and know to be well run and financially sound helps reduce the uncertainty associated with this additional risk. Being able to trust that your supplier will still be able to operate in the event of market shocks or legislative changes helps maintain the integrity of your overall supply line.

Look to Lean Supply Solutions for Effective Supply Chain Management

Lean Supply Solutions is a third-party order fulfillment company in Toronto whose operations are based around the Lean Methodology, a proven philosophy focused on eliminating any operations, equipment, or resources that are not capable of adding value to clients’ supply chains. By striving to ensure that the right products are provided to the right customers at the right time, Lean Supply Solutions is able to offer consistent, accurate, and quality results.

To learn more about the Lean Methodology, outsourcing to Lean Supply Solutions, or to ask any questions, give us a call at 905-482-2590.

Warehouse management systems (WMS) are used by warehousing and distribution companies, shipping companies, e-commerce businesses, and so on. When a WMS is properly implemented, it can provide a valuable inventory management system that lets workers and managers keep an eye on inventory levels, shipments, and the overall flow of goods in and out of the warehouse. Unfortunately, not all WMS are created equal, and simply having a warehouse management system doesn’t necessarily mean it is meeting your needs properly. Here are some warning signs that can suggest your WMS may be due for a change.

It Can’t Handle Specialized Inventory Tracking

There is a difference between a WMS being able to track inventory and being able to track your inventory. No two companies handle the exact same products, and some companies may have a number of goods that require specialized tracking measures that your WMS can’t support. For instance, if a subset of your goods has the potential to expire, it’s important that your WMS is able to track shelf life and deliver notifications if an expiration occurs—but it also can’t demand this type of information for every product it records. Your WMS may be able to track quantity and location of stock, but some goods warrant the tracking of lot and serial numbers as well. If you find that you need to come up with workarounds for specific products you stock, then it may be time to upgrade.

Your Customers Are Complaining

The frontline experience is often the first indicator that your WMS may not be performing up to snuff. If customers are increasingly complaining of order inaccuracies or late deliveries, then you need to find out if your WMS is part of the problem. There is no universal reason why a WMS may be negatively impacting your ability to meet customer needs. A few examples can include: a legacy WMS causing bugs or errors due to compatibility or interface issues, a legacy WMS lacking useful stock control features that more modern systems include, the WMS not delivering information in an intuitive fashion, or the WMS’s interface being confusing and leading to input errors. A good WMS is capable of producing an order accuracy rating of 95% at minimum. If you are falling below this number, it’s worth considering if your system might need a change.

You Have No Idea How It Works

A warehouse management system is an integral part of logistical operations and inventory control, so it is vitally important that it is actually understandable. The people who use your WMS should be able to comprehend how stock is input, identified, shipped, and sorted without resorting to shrugging their shoulders and saying, “That’s just how it works.” This is a problem that crops up most often in legacy WMS but is not unique to them. As operations grow and your business expands, the WMS ends up becoming a homebrewed mix of solutions stacked on top of solutions. While effective at the time, this results in a confusing jumble that can be especially impenetrable for any new employees and also raises the risk of serious errors arising. If it is becoming difficult to make heads or tails of how your WMS works, then it may be time to switch out for a more streamlined and user-friendly system.

Look to Lean Supply Solutions for Effective Warehouse Management

Lean Supply Solutions is a third-party order fulfillment company in Toronto whose operations are based around the Lean Methodology, a proven philosophy focused on eliminating any operations, equipment, or resources that are not capable of adding value to clients’ supply chains. By striving to ensure that the right products are provided to the right customers at the right time, Lean Supply Solutions is able to offer consistent, accurate, and quality results.

To learn more about the Lean Methodology, outsourcing to Lean Supply Solutions, or to ask any questions, give us a call at 905-482-2590.

Distributed order management is a way for retail businesses to broker order fulfillments across the services of multiple parties while providing a global, integrated view so that inventory management can be intelligently sourced. More precisely (and less confusingly), distributed order management is a system that lets retail owners get an eagle-eye look at their supply chain, coordinate and compare orders from different suppliers (including third parties), and even get real-time visibility on orders in transit. In a sense, distributed order management is the retail version of the inventory management systems that order fulfillment services use to track shipments and stock across multiple platforms. Therefore, taking advantage of distributed order management lets retail businesses maintain a high level of flexibility and effectiveness in their fulfillment processes. Here’s how.

Manage Multiple Fulfillment Processes at Once

Understanding the benefits of distributed order management is easier if you compare it to how the traditional systems work. Traditionally, order management systems assume a relatively static company and are tied to a limited number of suppliers. This means that retailers have to use multiple systems to see all of their suppliers, may be unable to view third-party options, and lack the adjustability needed for flexible business practices.

In sharp contrast, distributed order management forms a central hub from which your order fulfillment activities can flow. In addition to being receptive to third-party options, distributed order management lets you compare price points between suppliers and even split orders between parties in order to optimize potential savings. Workflows can be defined and differentiated for alternate types of orders and demand can even be sensed and monitored for how it can influence ordering.

Cross-Channel Integration

Distributed order management systems are an excellent way to unify disparate sales channels and their associated systems. This makes inventory sourcing a much faster and overall more effective and efficient process. Products can be sourced from different channels or even other store locations quickly and with full visibility. Perhaps most importantly, this cross-channel integration means that your information will be more accurate overall. One of the inherent hazards of multiple channels using distinct systems is that they may not all be on the same page. Inventory accounts from one system may deviate from another, be slow to update, or simply not reflect the real-world status of stock. Unifying these channels allows for a single, true picture to emerge and be used.

Enhanced Customer Experience

Retail is under constant pressure to improve profits and reduce costs, so trying to keep excess inventory to a minimum is a common way of improving the bottom line. Unfortunately, this places businesses at increased vulnerability to unexpected developments or the fallout from demand predictions being off. This results in stores commonly facing out-of-stock moments and lacking a reliable way to get the customer what they want. Distributed order management helps solve this problem in a few different ways. First, it has a unified view of your inventory and supplies, so you will never be caught unawares. Second, you can use cross-channel integration to track inventory at other store locations, alternate suppliers, or even goods that are in transit to the store. This expands the options you have for getting the customer what they want and locating and shipping your available-to-promise inventory.

Look to Lean Supply Solutions for Efficient Distributed Order Management

Lean Supply Solutions is a third-party order fulfillment company in Toronto whose operations are based around the Lean Methodology, a proven philosophy focused on eliminating any operations, equipment, or resources that are not capable of adding value to clients’ supply chains. By striving to ensure that the right products are provided to the right customers at the right time, Lean Supply Solutions is able to offer consistent, accurate, and quality results. To learn more about the Lean Methodology, outsourcing to Lean Supply Solutions, or to ask any questions, give us a call at 905-482-2590.

For any business, but especially e-commerce ones, your longevity is going to be determined not just by how many customers you attract but by how many you are able to convert into regular, loyal patrons. Logistics management and logistics efficiency can both play an important role in this task, primarily because of how central the shipping experience is to the e-commerce customer. The delivery is the most direct form of interaction between an e-commerce business and the customer after all, so it makes sense that logistic performance would have a lasting impact on their goodwill and willingness to buy from you again. Here are some things to keep in mind when looking to see if your logistics strategy can give a good customer experience.

Be Specific and Be Transparent

Be direct and clear about what your shipping options are, their terms and conditions, and any associated costs. This is not the time or place to try some marketing twists and make customers sort out the difference between “Light Speed,” “Quick Speed,” and “High Speed” delivery. Be concise and to the point and ideally your page should be able to give an estimated delivery date for each option you have available. Clearly lay out how much each shipping option costs, as well as any conditions you may have for free or reduced shipping costs. This also applies to any reverse logistics services or logistics strategy you may have—make sure terms and conditions for returns are clearly laid out and understandable.

Once the order is placed and the shipping process has begun, customers will appreciate being kept updated on its progress. Any effective supply chain service will have a way of tracking your shipments, ideally in real time, and letting customers have access to this information for their orders can go a long way to improving their experience. People don’t like unknowns and the piece of mind these trackers can bring should not be underestimated.

Use a Good Information Management System

An information management system is any software that helps you coordinate and/or monitor supply chain activities, warehouse inventory levels, order tracking, customer orders, and so on. An integrated information management system enhances logistical efficiency by providing a central hub through will all information flows and can be accessed. On the customer end of things, a good information system means that your website will have up-to-date stock counts, be able to process orders faster, and can help keep customers informed on the status of their deliveries.

Automate Your Communications

Automating your communications technology is a basic step that helps streamline and speed up the order fulfillment process. Being able to relay orders between departments, inform customers of the status of their order or any delays, and otherwise take actions without requiring manual sign-off or initiation can be a huge enhancement to logistical efficiency. Naturally, there will be some processes that can’t or shouldn’t be strictly automated, but if there are ever any tasks that are simply “take info from point A and give it to person B” then you’ve got a great candidate for automation.

Maximize Your Storage Space

Your storage space should ideally have a “Goldilocks” relationship with your inventory needs—not too big, not too small, but just right. Being unable to store enough inventory to regularly meet customer demand only leads to shortages, delays, and lost opportunities to enhance the customer experience. Engaging in a warehousing solution or third-party partnership that lets you expand your inventory as needed is an effective form of logistics management that is worth consideration by any ecommerce business.

Look to Lean Supply Solutions for Logistically Efficient Order Fulfillment Services

Lean Supply Solutions is a third-party order fulfillment company in Toronto whose operations are based around the Lean Methodology, a proven philosophy focused on eliminating any operations, equipment, or resources that are not capable of adding value to clients’ supply chain. By striving to ensure that the right products are provided to the right customers at the right time, Lean Supply Solutions is able to offer consistent, accurate, and quality results. To learn more about the Lean Methodology, outsourcing to Lean Supply Solutions, or to ask any questions, give us a call at 905-482-2590.

The efficiency of your supply chain services is rooted in how well you streamline processes and balance costs. It can therefore seem odd to try and expand into seemingly unnecessary areas, like green supply chains. This is understandable, after all a supply chain is not the first thing people think about when looking for green approaches, nor is a sustainable supply chain going to make the most dramatic impact on the environment. However, this overlooks some very real net benefits that can be seen when incorporating sustainable elements into your supply chain. By going a little bit out of the way, you can end up with a more effective—and in some cases, more efficient—set of processes over all.

How Do You Make a Supply Chain Green?

It may help to first explain why we actually mean when we talk about sustainable supply chains. The central element is reduction of waste and your carbon footprint. For instance, shipping takes a large number of packaging materials, some of which are made from plastic—which in turn is made from oil. By taking steps to reduce packaging materials used or switching to materials made from sustainable materials, you can help lower the impact of your own operations. Another example can be taking steps to synchronize deliveries and minimize vehicle travel, which can lower emissions. Lastly, having a good returns policy that lets you reuse, refurbish, and recycle products can save unnecessary waste from landfills.

The Benefits of Going Green

Improvements in Financial Performance

One thing that can get overlooked when thinking about sustainable supply chain services is that they are largely connected to reducing inefficiencies. Saving on packaging materials, transportation costs, and recapturing value from returned products all have very clear benefits to your bottom line. Most of the time, the only difference in a cost-saving and green initiative is the stat at which you end up measuring. A reduction in packaging costs often translates to an increase in renewable packaging. Have your partnered with another company to share shipping costs and space? You’re now effectively carpooling and reducing oil use and emissions. Realizing the way that green initiatives can improve your bottom line is often just a matter of changing your thinking.

Enhancing Your Brand Image

Taking the initiative for green supply chain strategies will earn dividends among your customer base. Today’s modern consumers are also environmentally-conscious ones. They will respond well upon learning that a company is making an effort to go green and do its part to help the environment. You can try and sell this angle by offering reports on how much material or fuel has been saved or by how much emission has been reduced. If you know how your competition handles its practices, you might even be able to offer direct comparisons.

Get Green Supply Solutions with Lean Supply Solutions

Lean Supply Solutions is a third-party logistics (3PL) fulfillment company whose operations are based around the Lean Methodology, a proven philosophy focused on eliminating any operations, equipment, or resources that are not capable of adding value to clients’ supply chains. By striving to ensure that the right products are provided to the right customers at the right time, Lean Supply Solutions is able to offer consistent, predictable, and quality results. To learn more about the Lean Methodology, outsourcing to Lean Supply Solutions, or to ask any questions, give us a call at 905-482-2590.

A kitting process in manufacturing is when a collection of parts and materials are grouped together in a single kit that has its own SKU number. These components are then delivered directly to the point-of-use, usually a specific part of the assembly line. It can help to think of kitting as pre-washing plates for a dishwasher, or how a hygienist will clean and prep your teeth before the dentist shows up. Making use of a full kitting process in a warehouse can be an impressive boon to your operations and efficiency. Here’s why.

Reduces Warehousing Requirements

Warehousing and distributions services base their costs in part on how much space your items take up. A kit containing multiple items with a single SKU will not only take up less shelf space than items stored separately, but it is considered a single item for shipping costs as well. Kitting processes in warehousing also introduce a useful level of standardization into the supply chain that helps simplify cost modeling. After all, the contents of each kit are predetermined, which makes calculating and predicting costs much easier than if the components had to be drawn separately. Kitting also makes it a lot easier to track inventory levels since you only have one item to focus on.

Enhances the Manufacturing Process

For manufacturers, the key benefit of kitting is that it reduces material handling and processing times at the point-of-use. Think of it like cooking. Without kitting, you are spending time finding each ingredient or utensil as the recipe calls for it. With kitting, you have everything you need arranged by the stove and you can get down to business without interruption. Kitting also reduces the number of deliveries to the point-of-use and the material storage space needed for assembly lines.

Better Inventory Control

Let’s continue with the cooking analogy for a moment. Imagine if your recipe calls for some milk. Without kitting, you’d go to your fridge and get the milk, except you suddenly discover that the carton is leaking or worse, the milk is expired. Now you have to delay carrying out the recipe to get a replacement. Alternatively, you might find out that you don’t have any milk at all or are running low and will need to get more in order to finish the other recipes you have planned later in the day. With kitting, both of these scenarios would not occur. This is because any shortages or quality-control issues would be resolved prior to this point when the kit is first assembled.

Look to Lean Supply Solutions for Kitting and Order Fulfillment Services

Lean Supply Solutions is a third-party order fulfillment company in Toronto whose operations are based around the Lean Methodology, a proven philosophy focused on eliminating any operations, equipment, or resources that are not capable of adding value to our clients’ supply chain. By striving to ensure that the right products are provided to the right customers at the right time, Lean Supply Solutions is able to offer consistent, accurate, and quality results. To learn more about the Lean Methodology, outsourcing to Lean Supply Solutions, or to ask any questions about kitting and fulfillment services, give us a call at 905-482-2590.

When used in the context of product fulfillment services, the term “accuracy” refers to a collection of quality measurements that reflect how well your order fulfillment process has met a customer’s need. In the world of e-commerce fulfillment, an order is considered “accurate” if the correct product is delivered on time, to the correct customer, and in the expected condition. This represents, in essence, the basic promise between your business and the consumer. Many elements of accuracy are handled at the warehousing and distribution levels, before the product actually ships out. Everything from shipping labels to pick-and-pack procedures to packaging materials can play a role in how accurate your shipments will be and, in turn, how strong the customer experience will be.

Accuracy Is Key to Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty

With new customers, your first impression will go a long way towards influencing how likely they are to return and shop again. This applies as much to ecommerce fulfillment as it does to brick-and-mortar shops. If you go to a restaurant and the waiter is slow, gives you the wrong food, or if the chef burns your order, are you likely to return again? How about if you buy a lemon from a car dealership? What if an online store doesn’t deliver your Christmas presents in good condition or only gets them on your doorstep in the new year? All of these scenarios represent the same essential situation and outcome: a failure of accuracy and a customer who is not likely to return. With existing or regular customers, it is important to maintain accuracy. Although a good history with your business can earn you some leeway and benefit of the doubt, all it takes is one bad experience to start souring the relationship. The perpetual flipside to e-commerce is that it is very easy for customers to start shopping elsewhere, which makes loyalty an incredibly valuable thing that should not be jeopardized.

Accuracy Reduces Costs

Even if you don’t care about customer satisfaction (good luck with that!), maintaining a high level of order accuracy can have other impacts on your business that need to be kept in mind.

Minimize Reverse Logistics

An effective reverse logistics and returns policy is something that every business should have but is not something they ever want to need. Each step of the process, from shipping the product back to repackaging and refurbishing, incurs its own costs. Although the purpose of reverse logistics is to recapture value, it is always better to be in a situation where your customer doesn’t want to return the product in the first place. Naturally, accuracy helps with this goal.

Avoid Re-Shipping

Reshipping a returned product is another part of reverse logistics, but it bears separate mention because it has other impacts on your business. Shipment carriers have a finite amount of space available, so there is a very real opportunity cost that is felt whenever you are returning products or sending a customer a repaired or replacement item. Every item that undergoes shipping and packaging as part of reverse logistics is taking up space that could have been spent on another, more profitable order. Maintaining high accuracy helps limit how often this sacrifice has to be made.

Technology and Accuracy

There are numerous ways to help improve order accuracy. Some methods are process-based while others are rooted in technology. Bar codes, for instance, can be combined with robots and sensors to quickly identify and place or retrieve items. Warehouse management systems can help provide configurable and flexible integration of the workflow to help monitor and drive accurate performances.

Look to Lean Supply Solutions for Accurate Fulfillment Services

Lean Supply Solutions is a third-party order fulfillment company in Toronto whose operations are based around the Lean Methodology, a proven philosophy focused on eliminating any operations, equipment, or resources that are not capable of adding value to clients’ supply chains. By striving to ensure that the right products are provided to the right customers at the right time, Lean Supply Solutions is able to offer consistent, accurate, and quality results. To learn more about the Lean Methodology, outsourcing to Lean Supply Solutions, or to ask any questions, give us a call at 905-482-2590.