The Best Way to Shape Up What You’re Shipping Out
For those not yet familiar with the term “what is kitting and fulfillment” that we covered in a recent post. Let’s say you know very well what the term means, but perhaps you simply aren’t sure how kitting and fulfillment services could help your business. This post is for you.
For starters, I’d like to point out hundreds of businesses that have emerged in just the last few years. They use a business model that is built entirely around the concept of kitting and fulfillment. I’m talking about the monthly subscription boxes that have surfaced in almost every category. You’ve seen them for clothing, beauty products, dog toys and treats, personal grooming, snacks, meal preparation, and too many more to even mention—I don’t want to lose you here, but here’s a fun list next time you want to kill some time exploring.
These businesses have one common element; the assembling of different, but complementary items in a single package. Obviously, they don’t do it one box at a time. The items are selected, acquired, collected in one place and put into the boxes with “production line” efficiency. Easy to see that doing it any other way would be a logistical nightmare. But is it possible your business is doing “kitting and fulfillment” inefficiently without realizing it?
Getting Serious About Kitting and Fulfillment
Most businesses do kitting and fulfillment in some way. They send out promotional items, literature and more, but may not call it by that name. You should take advantage of kitting and fulfillment services if your business incorporates any of the following shipping scenarios:
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Order Fulfillment
Efficiency and accuracy determine success in manual or automated picking. Kitting helps both. You can pack items that are frequently shipped together in advance. When you pack them all at one time you minimize the time and money spent. It also means better response time and less chance of errors at fulfillment.
Want an extra advantage? Use a kitting and fulfillment partner with years of experience to help you add this efficiency to your process seamlessly.
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Printed Materials
What business doesn’t send materials to customers and prospects? Typically, a business will standardize the response. They designate certain catalogs, flyers, brochures or other materials for mailing based upon certain input. Web contacts, phone requests, or trade show leads can each suggest different contents. Preparing folders or packets in advance for each result in quicker, mistake-free process.
Kitting and fulfillment services also benefit onetime promotional mailings. A system specifically designed to collect and package multiple items does it more effectively.
Want an extra advantage? Choose a kitting and fulfillment partner with unquestioned printing resources. That way, that partner can print some or all of the items quickly and economically as needed or as part of the process to streamline it even further.
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Promotional Items and Product Samples
Do you send samples of new or existing products, or use promotional items as a new business or relationship-management tool? If so, kitting and fulfillment services will help. Regular employees are challenged to source promotional products, ensure their quality, take delivery on a timely basis, and pack them with appropriate informational and merchandising materials.
Chances are your business systems were never designed to handle large mailings or the constant “drip-drip-drip” of following up random contacts. Kitting and fulfillment services fill this exact gap.
Want an extra advantage? Align with a kitting and fulfillment partner that comes with a large and proven network of promotional product suppliers and relationships to ensure that things happen when they need to.
Your Extra Advantage: Superior
Superior provides all the “extra advantages” mentioned earlier. Our roster of print and promotional product resources can make a huge difference in creating or gaining the materials you need to package together. And our experience in this area allows us to maximize your cost-savings. Advanced technologies like Corporate Kiosk™ can help manage inventory keep the process running smoothly.
Our back-to-back Best of Print and Digital wins and ISO certification adds extra assurance that our systems can deliver what we promise. Without that, all the benefits of kitting and fulfillment are at risk, so don’t take a chance on an unproven partner. Contact Superior today, and learn what our kitting and fulfillment services can accomplish for your business.
