Benefits of product fulfillment

The terminology product fulfillment can be either referred to as order or service fulfillment, depending on whether you are selling a product or providing a service. In either case, it means completing the sales process, inclusive of delivery, or the provision of specified services that usually involves assembly or providing the services to subscribers. In this instance, we are referring to order fulfillment.

The first evidence of any reference to or research targeting the strategies of product fulfillment came in 1988 when a man named Mather published his thesis on what product fulfillment actually entailed. He broke this down as the “P:D” ratio with “P” being the production lead-time and “D” being the demand lead-time. The latter is the amount of time that a customer is willing to wait to get their product.

Product fulfillment strategies

A manufacturing and distribution firm has several options where strategic order fulfillment is concerned as well. They include:

Assemble-to-Order (ATO) – the customer’s product is manufactured using a pre-existing components inventory that meets their specifications.
Build-to-Order (BTO) or Make-to-Order (MTO) – although a standard design is typically used, it must still be constructed according to customer specifications.
Digital Copy (DC) – a single digital master maintains the inventory of the product, which becomes a digital asset of the company.
Engineer-to-Order (ETO) – the product is designed and developed according to customer specifications but this strategy is more common with larger construction projects are one-time products such as Formula One race cars.
Make-to-Stock (MTS) or Build-to-Forecast (BTF) – the product is designed and built according to sales forecasts and then sold to customers as a finished product. This is most commonly done in the grocery and retail industries.

Benefits of outsourcing your fulfillment needs

Today, the outsourcing of product fulfillment carries with it a wide array of benefits for the client or customer including continuity orders, merchant accounts, orders processing, payment processing, pick and pack, and warehouse storage services. However, it also includes other elements such as:

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
inventory management
operational efficiencies
reverse logistics

Unfortunately, one of the elements that is oftentimes neglected or overlooked is that outsourcing your product fulfillment needs requires that you have a business partner who understands your brand, culture, and product. This is where Global Response can play a significant role in your business operational needs. Our process management, recruiting, technology, and training are designed and developed to seamlessly represent and extend the uniqueness of your brand identity.

Global Response is your complete business and product fulfillment partner regardless of what your program or project happens to be.

Although you can have certain expectations regarding our services, we can still customize them to facilitate your specific operational needs. For instance, we can develop a new website complete with shopping cart, which will enhance your sales and delivery. How about having a call center with always-friendly agents that will attract new business while at the same time processing your sales orders?

If you would like more information regarding our services, please contact Global Response at 800.967.0030. We will be happy to assist you in any way we can.