Order fulfillment services, (a.k.a third-party fulfillment) are prevalent throughout the GTA. This is hardly surprising given that Toronto is home to many small businesses in need of fulfillment services. With such a selection of fulfillment partners to choose from, however, it can be tricky to narrow down the candidate that could work best for you. Here are some ideas of what to keep in mind when deciding.

Understand the Fulfillment Centres Cost Structure

Different warehousing and fulfillment services will have varied cost structures, and each one is generally styled towards a different type of business. Some arrangements might have larger storage fees but small or no pick-and-pack fees, which can work well if you have a small number of products but a large amount of variance in how they are ordered. On the flip side, low storage fees with the addition of pick-and-pack fees might be the better option if you need a lot of storage but products don’t require much manual work when ordered. Be aware of how costs are distributed and what kinds of value-added services can be obtained in order to make the most of your investment.

Look for Distribution Centres with Centralized Location

The location of a distribution centre is integral for e-commerce fulfillment companies since it directly affects how quickly products can be delivered to customers. In addition to being a key part of customer satisfaction, delivery speed also affects the type of shipping options you can offer. The ever-popular next-day deliver option, for instance, is reliant on your distribution centre having the geographic position needed to get products moving quickly. Additionally, customers tend to expect free or lower shipping costs if a delivery takes a week or more to arrive, which can further eat into potential profit.

How Is Order Shipping Handled?

The exact process a third-party fulfillment service uses when shipping products is also worth paying attention to. Location matters a great deal in determining delivery speed, but it is not the only factor. How and when shipments are picked up, routes used, plans for unexpected developments, and more should all be evaluated to see if the practices meet your needs and expectations.

Compare Service Level Agreements

A service level agreement (SLA) is a guarantee of how the order fulfillment service will handle orders, ship goods, and otherwise carry out its role in your business arrangement. SLAs should ideally report on elements like order accuracy, inventory shrinkage, the percentage of orders that get shipped same-day, and other key bits of data you deem appropriate. The SLA reports should also be provided regularly since they are integral to keeping your partner accountable.

Look to Lean Supply Solutions for a Fulfillment Services Partner

Lean Supply Solutions is a third-party logistics 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, 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 416-748-8982.

Most businesses will experience seasonal fluctuations in customer demand. The most obvious example of this is the rush many retailers experience between Thanksgiving and Christmas, followed by a slowdown as consumers get more restrictive in their spending. Handling these sorts of seasonal swings is important for maintaining agility and efficiency among your operations. Third-party logistics (3PL) service providers are a useful way to help accomplish this goal. Incorporating 3PL into your distribution, warehousing, and fulfillment services can give you the resources and talent needed to stay ahead of seasonal swings and come out on top. Here’s how.

Inventory Management

When demand is steady, you usually have a good idea of what your inventory levels are and what the normal rates of products getting shipped will be. During upswings, this all goes out the window. If unprepared, you can easily lose track of inventory levels as consumer demand ramps up. Product shortages can arise with surprising speed, and the need for rapid response goes up with every additional channel you sell through. This is why 3PL services invest heavily in inventory management systems. In real time, these systems will show accurate shelf and warehouse counts and update immediately when something is sold or shipped. Some systems even let you customize alerts so you will be automatically warned if certain stock is running low.

Transparency among Partners

The bigger your supply chain, the more moving parts it will have and the more partners you potentially work with to help get your products to their destination. Swings in consumer demand and inventory require increased activity among all parties involved, and your supply chain partners are no exception. Open transparency is integral to success in these matters. A constant flow of information and communication allows everyone to stay on the same page and quickly respond to situations and shifts as they unfold. 3PL providers can help facilitate this through the use of web portals, providing a single hub from which information can flow.

Real-Time Visibility

This ties in to the above point since all the inventory level knowledge and communication can’t help if no one knows where a product is at any given time. Real-time visibility on the supply chain lets you track shipments and deliveries and help relay this information back to the customer. Such features are highly appreciated by consumers, who can take comfort in the power to know exactly where their orders are and what their estimated arrival times will be. Real-time visibility is also important for ensuring your inventory management activities are agile and accurate. Seasonal swings are hectic enough without having to second guess your own numbers.

Respond to Seasonal Swings with Lean Supply Solutions

Lean Supply Solutions is a 3PL 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, 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 416-748-8982.

As businesses grow and expand into new and transnational markets, supply chains must naturally expand to accommodate them. This is not always a smooth process and managing the disruptions and potential problems is a key part of effective supply chain management. Here are some tips that can help improve the logistics of such an expansion and enable you to preserve the sustainability of the supply chain.

Protect Gross Margins

Any business bases its operations on a careful balance of income and expenses, and supply chains are just as much a part of this as any other element. Expanding and maintaining a global supply chain involves expenses from multiple sources and runs the risk of creating a fog that hides the true impact on your company’s income. Staying conscious of what expenses are being endured, where these costs are coming from, and their impact on your funds is essential for maintaining supply chain sustainability. Clearly mark out what your comfortable margin of error is for income and expense and take strict care not to cross it in order to avoid jeopardizing net income.

Enhance Flexibility with 3PL Partners

Many businesses opt to take care of supply chain matters in-house. While a viable choice, it is one that restricts the flexibility of operations. This inherently limits the ability to adjust or improve practices for getting products to customers in faster, more efficient ways. Consider making the switch to third-party logistics services in order to get the dedicated, professional expertise and resources that can enhance supply chain visibility and adaptability.

Pay Your Dues

This point is meant both figuratively and literally. Global supply chains involve partnerships with different local businesses and services and you will inevitably purchase goods or services from them. Take the time to work out financing options that can ensure you will be able to pay back your obligations in a timely and appropriate manner. This is not only a good practice in general, but it’s also one that improves relations with partners since it shows that you respect your obligations and make the effort to meet your financial duties.

Keep Management Processes Updated

One of the tricky bits of any business is that management practices can become habitual. This is a problem when conventions of supply chain management shift and you need to update your practices accordingly. Keep tabs on changes to industry standards and specifications and make the effort to update management processes accordingly. Only by understanding and meeting modern demands can you stay competitive in a modern market.

Enhance Global Supply Chains with Lean Supply Solutions

Lean Supply Solutions is a 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 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, 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 416-748-8982.

There are a few different definitions of supply chain segregation floating about, and most are unnecessarily verbose and complex. The basic idea behind supply chain segregation is to split up your services in order to create more profitable one-to-one relationships with customers. In essence, supply chain segmentation moves away from a “one-size-fits-all” model and more towards one where services are tailored based on what makes the most sense for a given segment of customers. By definition, this is a more involved process than the status quo, but it is also one that can enhance logistic management and improve supply chain profitability if done well. Here are some ideas on how to begin segmentation.

Perform Regular Demand and Cost-Service Analysis

One of the main elements of supply chain segmentation is to figure out your different categories of customer and what services are or are not in demand. For instance, if there are certain services that are rarely used by customers purchasing certain products or by customers within a certain geographic area, it might make sense to consider discontinuing the options for those segments. Conversely, if something ends up being in high demand, you might want to focus efforts on refining and improving the service for that segment instead. These types of decisions are not inconsequential, so it’s important to make sure you have good data supporting your approach. Find a reliable costing model and make use of it in your assessments in order to get a proper view of the situation.

Use Differentiated Inventory Policies

You likely already use elements of supply chain segmentation in your inventory policies without even realizing it. Every distribution center has different levels of demand for your products, and inventory levels that satisfy one location might leave another with unsold items or a shortage of items. Recognizing which products and quantities serve the needs of an individual location best is one way that segmentation can help improve costs. To take the process one step further, assessing whether a product is most effective in a finished or partially assembled state is another method of finding segmentation opportunities.

Differentiate Customer Replenishment Programs

Your customers have different types of replenishment needs and your activities should be able to meet these needs. Some customers, such as those involved in consumer electronics, may have a mixture of retail, enterprise, and online distribution. An enterprise customer would be better off with build-to-stock or configure-to-order arrangements. Retail customers might want vendor-managed inventory, and so on.

Embrace Continuous Learning

Supply chain management is an ongoing and ever-evolving process. As technology and practices change, new opportunities can arise, which should be recognized and taken advantage of. At the same time, existing operations need to be monitored for opportunities that could be used to create further improvements and efficiencies. Having a dedicated team for this sort of continuous analysis and learning is always a good idea, since it ensures a commitment to the ongoing refinement of your processes.

Embrace Supply Chain Segmentation with Lean Supply Solutions

Lean Supply Solutions is a 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 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, 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 416-748-8982.

Packaging is often an afterthought in supply chain management, which is a shame because it can have a surprisingly large impact on costs and efficiency. A supply chain cannot be optimized unless packaging is also optimized, and this goes for any repackaging in the supply chain as well. Seemingly slight adjustments in a package’s dimensions can dramatically improve how products are stored and transported, enhancing efficiency overall. Here are some tips to consider when evaluating your packaging practices and supply chain services.

How to Optimize Supply Chain Performance with Better Packaging or Repackaging

Build New Packages to Target Design Deficiencies

Whether you are building a package from the ground up or are expanding on an existing design, take your cues from the best practises within your industry as well as consumer feedback. Is there a way a design could be tweaked to use fewer materials or have lower weight? A bag-in-container might be a good approach for non-solid or semisolid products, but a rigid container could offer net gains for transport and storage space, for example.

Target Packaging Components during Manufacturing

Packaging has its own manufacturing process just like any product. Even if you don’t want to change your packaging design, you should consider looking at how the packaging is made in order to look for possible forms of optimization. Are there any bottlenecks or extraneous steps that can be eliminated? Reducing the steps involved both speeds up production and reduces waste after all. There are various types of technology—such as cube molds for plastic packaging—that could be looked into for enhancing economy of scale and offering transportation benefits.

Find Efficiencies in Packaging Procurement

Streamlining how your package components are sourced becomes more important the larger your business’s reach becomes. Generally speaking, you will find the most efficient approach to be getting a supplier who has a similar reach as you. This can prevent situations where, for example, you have five or six different suppliers just to keep up with your own operations. Having multiple suppliers can still be turned to your advantage in the form of applying targeted efficiencies to your markets.

Standardize Product Package Designs

One useful way to adjust packaging is to standardize package sizes and/or shapes across multiple products. This lets you streamline manufacturing, reduces changeover times, and offers higher line utilization. You are also at less risk for wastage since any excess packages can be redirected to other products with minimal fuss.

Aim for Sustainability in Your Supply Chain

Going green isn’t just about helping the planet—it can also help your bottom line. Energy-efficient production, like using materials with lower manufacturing temperature requirements, or energy-efficient machines can produce very real and tangible savings. Recyclable materials and reusable packaging helps keep your packaging agile and adaptive. Taking sustainable steps can also be used for public relations and help your business earn goodwill from the environmentally-conscious.

Enhance Packaging in Your Supply Chains 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 416-748-8982.