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Sharky Week Day 3 Myth: It’s a Nightmare To Switch To A New Fulfillment Partner

For Day 3 of #SharkyWeek, we’re republishing a recent article to debunk the myth that switching to a new fulfillment partner is a nightmare.

See below for three tips to help ensure your switch to a new fulfillment partner is seamless.

Tips To Successfully Transition To a New Fulfillment Partner

When the time comes to select a new fulfillment partner,  putting out an RFP, visiting fulfillment warehouses, and comparing costs are just the tip of the iceberg. After months of researching and venting direct-to-consumer fulfillment providers, a new set of challenges are about to begin when it’s time to migrate fulfillment operations with the selected provider.  

The good news is if you and your fulfillment partner are prepared, moving fulfillment operations doesn’t need to be a painful process. This blog will give you some helpful tips to ensure that your transition to your new fulfillment center is as smooth as possible.

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Tip #1: Share a logistics profile with your fulfillment provider 

 

It’s critical to create planning sessions with your fulfillment provider to ensure they understand your requirements and how those requirements will fit into their operational processes. There are a variety of areas to identify, but to start here are a few key points that need to be discussed. 

  • Sources of inventory and replenishment lead times
    • To ensure efficient inventory management, your fulfillment provider must be  aware of lead times from various suppliers. Supply and order lead times can have substantial effects on operations performance, ultimately impacting customer satisfaction. 
  • Special product handling requirements
    • Certain items must be packaged properly to ensure the safety of handlers and eliminate any chance for damage, spills, leaks or delays in shipments. Some considerations include the following:
      • Subscriptions, including kitting and packaging
      • Fragile, liquid, hazmat
      • Weights and dimensions
      • Lot or serial number control
      • Temperature sensitive products
  • Omni-channel support (DTC, B2B, Amazon 3P)
    • It’s likely your products are sold at various locations (both across the web and in physical retail locations). Your fulfillment provider must be made aware of which channels they will be collecting orders from, expectations of shipping times (ex. Amazon Prime orders), and if bulk deliveries will be required (B2B).
  • Nuts and bolts of operations
    • There are a lot of misc. items to consider that will be unique to your products and operations. Some to consider include the following:
      • Order volumes, line item volumes
      • Seasonality of peaks
      • How many SKU’s and SKU churn
      • Who will handle customer service and returns
      • Packaging and assembly requirements

Tip #2: Evaluate all of systems that need to be integrated

Before migrating products into a new fulfillment warehouse, you need to ensure your systems communicate flawlessly with your fulfillment provider. Test the capability of sending information to your operations early on– including inventory status, tracking information and receipts. You should also become familiar with your fulfillment company’s reporting capabilities, including the timing and cadence you will receive data reports.

Quality data is key to ensure you have seamless and efficient fulfillment operations, so be sure to run numerous tests for all integrated systems.

 

Tip #3: Preparing for Kickoff

When you are certain that your systems are properly integrated and your requirements are understood it will be time to start the transition. The following items must be provided to your fulfillment provider:

  • Rolling Guide & Item SKU Master Template
  • Provide Pallet Count
  • Provide sample inventory and orders/shipment WMS reports & requirements
  • B2B Confirm assembly requirements, routing guidelines, order submission (portal)
  • Backorder Details (if applicable)

When all items have been shared, your fulfillment provider should provide you with scope to execute all project requirements. This should include (but not limited to) an inventory transfer plan, fulfillment provider cutover/ship clean, and arrival date of inventory (including quantity and SKU). 

OceanX has helped industry leading direct-to-consumer brands successfully transition fulfillment centers

At the risk of stating the obvious, it’s critical to communicate the new fulfillment warehouse location and cutover dates to your carriers, vendors and suppliers. If you’re looking for a fulfillment provider that has experience with successful transitions, let’s chat! 

Changing operations as large as switching to a new fulfillment provider can be a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be. OceanX is ready and able to provide a controlled, well-managed experience that mitigates risk and sets you up for long-term success. 

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