Principles of eCommerce Fulfillment

This is Chapter 1 of 13 in our eBook on eCommerce Fulfillment for 3PL Warehouses. See the link below to download the full ebook.

We’ve identified six key principles that should be considered with 3PL eCommerce fulfillment operations. The objective is to constantly work on creating a smarter, repeatable process. Each decision that is made needs to respect and adhere to the following principles:

1. Drive System Automated Decisions
2. Reduce manually entered data
3. All work is performed in batches
4. Find opportunities to consolidate steps together
5. Account for value-added services
6. Isolate exceptions

Automate Decisions

Automated decisions indicate an autonomous program that is repeatable. A series of pre-defined decisions based on common factors will drive efficiency, which is needed for profitability.

Reduce Manual Entry of Data

This is paramount to automation. There are only so many hours in a day and one person cannot be punching data into a system. Humans are way too expensive and unreliable for data entry. Therefore, the reduction of manual input is the key to accuracy and long-term efficiency.

Perform work in batches

Performing work in batches is important because it saves time if you do the same series of steps for a group of tasks, rather than perform the same series of steps for each individual task. By doing tasks in batches drives volume efficiencies and allows the cost of labor to be spread out over a larger array of tasks.

Consolidate Tasks

As an example, if you consolidate tasks from 6 steps to 5 steps, you’ve reduced one step in each transaction. Over 1,000 transactions, you’ve saved 1,000 steps. Therefore, finding 1 small step to merge or eliminate will add up over the full volume of transactions.

Providing Value-added Services

This cannot be discussed enough. This is where 3PLs can get creative in the types of services they can offer that drive real value and profitability. Simple things such as QA inspection and re-labeling, or more complex tasks such as Backorder Management and Reverse Logistics (Returns Management) can be major feathers in the cap for a 3PL.

Isolate Exceptions

By isolating exceptions, you lower the risk of work stoppages due to order discrepancies allowing you to move them aside and process separately. This allows you to handle the exceptions in a careful and tactful way while avoiding any slowdowns allowing the bulk of the error-free orders to flow smoothly through the system.

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