Optimized Order Fulfillment Operations

Solutions for the life cycle of order fulfillment equipment and processes

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Order fulfillment is critical to customer satisfaction

Efficient order picking systems are the foundation of customer satisfaction. Picking systems have more impact on customers than virtually any other part of your operation. We help clients create order fulfillment systems that:

• Increase picking accuracy: This is critical for reducing returns and customer dissatisfaction.
• Increase order quality: This means you can spend less time and energy on damaged products, bad shipments or quality control.
• Amp up throughput without adding costs: Your capacity shouldn't be strained by seasonal spikes or sudden growth; it should be able to adjust to those circumstances.
• Reduce operational costs: If you can create more efficiency at lower cost, your order picking system will become a profit center with the ability to drive growth - not just adapt to it.
• Scale for future needs: Your system should be able to adapt to new product lines, SKU changes, and demand.
• Help you deal with labor fluctuations: Labor in distribution centers tends to be in flux. Good order fulfillment systems help reduce the problems related to that.

Order fulfillment is part of every operation - manufacturing, distribution and more

A common misconception about order fulfillment is that it only consists of catalog or commerce operations that pump carton quantity orders to consumers - the kind you might see at an Amazon.com, retail distribution, a 3PL, or other distribution center. And while we assist many ecommerce and direct-to-consumer order picking operations, we have also helped manufacturing, retail fulfillment and other types of operations increase order efficiency.

Almost every operation fulfills orders, whether a manufacturing operation that sends finished materials to other plants (or parts of the same plant), or a small scale warehouse. Sometimes these order fulfillment systems are serving an in-house assembly operation.

• Ergonomics 101

  A plant re-design can multiply productivity. Ergonomics has not been a prime plant design consideration for many operations, but that is changing as companies discover that ergonomic design is also productive design.

• The Logic of Facility Layout

  Good plant & warehouse layouts always develop from the general to the specific, never the other way. In facility layout, all parts make up one interconnected whole. The goal is to optimize the work flow within a plant layout.

• Fishbone DC Design

  University researchers at Arkansas, Auburn create more efficient and productive distribution center design models utilizing new pallet rack layouts.

• Accurate Operations Information

  When evaluating a customer's needs, we probe for an understanding of the operation in its entirety. Each aspect of the operation affects the others. Making a change in one area may have a profound impact on another area.

• Packing & Manifesting Optimization

  The order packer's work is the face of your company, and packing needs to be given special attention in a customer-focused order fulfillment operation. The order packer is the last line of defense for preventing incorrect or damaged shipments.

• The Packer's Point of View

  Order transportation and staging are two areas where you can increase your packing efficiency dramatically: Study the flow carefully. The objective: pick & pack an order while minimizing the amount of worker time, space, motion, and materials consumed.

• When Should you Expand?

  The signs are right in front of you, when it comes to the need to expand or refurbish your facility. It can be overcrowding, revenue loss, product damage, or crippling seasonal spikes. How can you read these signs? When is it better ro relocate?

• The Typical Warehouse

  Warehouse and storage buildings are used to store goods, manufactured products, merchandise, and raw materials. What does the typical warehouse look like? How does yours compare?

• Split Case Picking Methods

  In a split case picking system, individual items are picked from bins or open cartons. This method is sometimes called each-pick or piece picking operations. This article provides a break down and comparison of methods and equipment.

• Warehouse Leasing Costs

  Industrial rental rates can be deceiving and difficult for the layperson to understand. It is because of this that we must be sure to get clarification on how landlords quote rent.

• Cross Docking Fundamentals

  Crossdocking is a warehousing system where inbound shipments are offloaded and reloaded onto outbound transportation with minimal storage requirements.

Warehousing Insights: Material Handling Topics from our Blog

• Carousels & Ecommerce: Feel It Coming Back Again
• Light-Directed Assembly for Manufacturing
• Conveyor Merges and Sortation: Low Volume Alternatives
• Order Fulfillment is the First Line of a Great Customer Experience
• Ways to Increase Order Picking Speed
• Shoptalk: EDC’s Advanced Order Fulfillment System Upgrade
• How to Convey Poly Bags & Envelopes
• Warehouse Management Headaches and How to Relieve Them
• Dealing with Warehouse Labor Shortages
• A Warehouse Manager’s Guide to Safe Product Flow

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