This week we learned about the fulfillment process. A typical order fulfillment process consists of the following steps.
- Order is received and the customer is notified about the order.
- Order is sent to the warehouse.
- Order is picked up from the warehouse.
- Order is packed and prepared for shipping.
- Order is shipped.
- Customer is notified about the shipping status.
- Customer receives the order.
Some of the challenges faced during a fulfillment process are :
1) Demand Planning: Planning in advance for the demand of a product.
2) Inventory Management: Having real time inventory levels is essential and can fasten the fulfillment process by having adequate stock.
3) Supply Chain Execution: When items are out of stock or low on stock it is necessary to order new items as quickly as possible so as to reduce the fulfillment time.
4) Logistics Planning: Determining how long it will take to deliver the item to the customer once it is ready to ship is Logistics Planning.
The perfect order metric (POM) is one of the most critical metrics in fulfillment.
The Warehouse Education and Research Council’s (WERC) definition of the perfect order metric is that a perfect order is delivered:
- Complete;
- On time;
- Damage free;
- Correct documentation and invoicing.
Source: https://logisticsviewpoints.com/2014/11/10/a-critical-fulfillment-metric-the-perfect-order/
Case study on the perfect order which mentions about the measuring index for a perfect order and also the benefits of a perfect order.
http://www.werc.org/assets/1/workflow_staging/Publications/647.PDF