3 Order Fulfillment Problems and Ways to Correct Them

Picking and packing orders are essential to having a good fulfillment center. It is because getting a customer's order correct is needed if you want them to keep returning to your business. If you get an order wrong, it shows up late or damaged people will be less likely to buy more stuff in the future. People don't want to go through the process of getting the correct thing when they expected it in the first place.

Incorrect Order Picking

Incorrect order picking is the number one reason why orders are incorrect. If the picker grabs the wrong quantity the order will be wrong from there. If the picker grabs less than they need the customer will have to get the right amount at a later date. This causes problems for the customer because they have to go out of their way to get what they ordered. If this happens the customer will likely stop buying from the supplier and the fulfillment center might lose the supplier's business. On the other hand, if the picker picks too many of one product the fulfillment center's count will be wrong. The main problem this causes is it makes the center think it can fill more orders than it really can. This leads to longer wait times which can make customers unhappy if the product doesn't come on time. There are plenty of ways to make sure the order picking is correct. The first is to make sure the pickers count the orders after they pick the cart. Another way is to get the packers to count just to double-check everything is right.

Long Pack Times

Long pack times create problems for the customer. Some customers expect to get their packages at a certain date. They might be giving the products they ordered as gifts or needing them for a certain event. If they don't get the products in time it can make them very mad. A way to make sure your products get there in time instead of waiting to be packed is by getting machines to pack them. At Givingtons we have three different machines that can pack orders to send out to customers. Each of these machines can easily pack 2,000 to 3,000 orders a day. Some orders however can't be put through those machines. If the product or products are too big to go through the machine or the products need a special box it can increase packing time. The main way to solve this problem is to have a good amount of packers and packing stations.

Orders Arriving Damaged

The last problem of order fulfillment is orders arriving damaged. There are two reasons a product can arrive damaged. The first is the picker picked a damaged product and the packer packed it and shipped it. The other reason for a product arriving damaged is it was damaged in shipping. There isn't much a fulfillment center can do about the products being damaged in shipment, but there are some things a fulfillment center can do about picking a damaged product. A picker needs to pay attention to the products they are picking. If one is damaged they need to grab another one and take the one that was damaged to the bin so someone can put it in the system so the count is correct. The packers can minimize the possibility that an order gets damaged in shipment by putting packaging materials into the empty space, so things don't move around.

Conclusion

All in all, the fulfillment center wants to get a customer their order fast and safely. A fulfillment center wants to get the orders correct so they don't have to pay the extra shipping fees to get the correct things. If the customer is happy the fulfillment center is happy.