Many original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and businesses encounter problems during the fulfillment stage that hinders growth and hampers profits.
OEMs and businesses that have reached their fulfillment capacity can leverage a reliable pick, pack, and ship service to reduce costs, increase order accuracy, and most importantly, consistently deliver a defect-free finished product on time that exceeds customer expectations.
What is Pick, Pack, and Ship?
Pick, pack, and ship is a fulfillment process that encompasses collecting the requested products for an order, choosing the appropriate box and packaging materials, and then shipping the end product to the customer. The foundation of pick, pack, and ship services relies on four major steps:
- Order receiving
- Order picking
- Order packing
- Order shipping
Highly functional end-to-end fulfillment services will offer added-value kitting solutions to further maximize cost savings and streamline supply chains. Kitting services typically precede pick, pack, and ship services and involve taking different individual products that are often sold together and pairing them together for the customer. Kitting individual items into bundles provides the flexibility to pack and ship them together, reducing shipping costs and assembly times.
How Outsourcing Pick, Pack, and Ship Services can Benefit Businesses
Businesses and OEMs that leverage a reliable pick, pack, and ship service can integrate a professional team of fulfillment specialists to handle all of their unique needs. From increasing order accuracy to reducing operational costs, a custom fulfillment solution is positioned to bring businesses benefits they simply cannot ignore.
Increase Customer Satisfaction
Maintaining modern-day customer satisfaction is a growing challenge for OEMs and businesses with the expectations of excellent service and speedy delivery set from fulfillment behemoths like Amazon. A robust pick, pack, and ship service ensures customers receive defect-free products in less time with less waste, greatly increasing customer satisfaction.
Additionally, when a customer has a positive delivery experience they are more likely to become repeat customers and better yet, become brand ambassadors for your business. These brand advocates use word-of-mouth to recommend your services, furthering a positive reputation founded on customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Reduce Costs
There are several ways a reliable pick and pack fulfillment service works to save OEMs and businesses money. These cost-reduction opportunities include:
- Reducing shipping errors
- Maximizing asset utilization
- Eliminating unnecessary waste
Product fulfillment and distribution partners can offer further cost-savings by utilizing their bulk-buying power when procuring inventory to offer better deals leading to greatly improved profit margins. The right fulfillment service provider will uphold Lean manufacturing, adhere to 6S philosophies, and leverage advanced process management software to continuously search for cost reduction possibilities to operate as efficiently as possible.
Streamline Fulfillment Operations
A qualified fulfillment service speeds up delivery, reduces waste, and consistently optimizes supply chains to maximize cost savings. These services enable goods to be stored, picked, packed, and shipped all under one roof. This vertically integrated process greatly shortens time to market.
Outsourcing picking, packing, and shipping needs to a trusted third-party fulfillment service provider enables a quick response to fluctuating demands and ensures customers get their orders on time and as ordered.
Enable Business Growth
When OEMs and businesses outsource their pick, pack, and shipping needs, they delegate supply chain management to a reliable team of fulfillment specialists that quickly alleviates the hassles of fulfillment, freeing up critical time that can be spent on scaling business operations.
A reliable fulfillment service will have additional warehouse space available to ensure they have the capacity to handle increased requirements as companies grow. The partner will enable OEMs and businesses to quickly increase customer orders without having to increase square footage or hire additional labor.
Improve Order Accuracy
Businesses and OEMs that outsource their fulfillment needs have advanced equipment and added-value capabilities at their disposal. Specialized equipment such as shipping scales and automated pallet wrapping machines enable efficient kitting and packing of finished products. From inventory management and multi-channel fulfillment to worldwide shipping and returns handling, advanced picking, kitting, and packing capabilities improve time to market and guarantee quality assurance.
Stop Spending and Start Scaling with Reliable Fulfillment Services
Nothing hampers profitability more than an inefficient fulfillment process. Businesses and OEMs that take the time to understand their fulfillment limitations can partner with an experienced contract manufacturer to implement a customized pick, pack, and ship solution that boosts efficiency and ensures on-time delivery for high-quality finished products.
