Kitting With Specialty Fulfillment
In a competitive online market place there are only a few differentiating factors between companies. The kitting process helps our clients win online. Our kitting facility can help virtually any company big or small. Specialty Fulfillment Center works with your organization to ensure your order fulfillment is the best possible.
How Kitting Works For E-Commerce
Typically bulk finished products are shipped from manufacturing facility to our kitting warehouse. The bulk shipments are broken down into individual pieces in preparation for the kitting process. During the kitting or assembly process a new product is created and unique SKU is assigned for inventorying purposes. Individual SKUs’ streamline the warehousing and fulfillment processes for e-commerce end users. Orders that require a variety of pieces take more time to assemble during the fulfillment stage of an online order than pre-assembled ready-to-ship item. Kitting complementary products speeds up fulfillment giving your customers what they ordered faster.
Does Kitting Make Sense for Me?
Examining internal processing and manufacturing can often expose kitting opportunities that can be executed at the factory level. However, many companies have no control of the manufacturing process. Partnering with Specialty Fulfillment can streamline your kitting processes by sending your manufactured products directly to our kitting facility. These are a few of the common indicators that kitting may work for your company.
Complementary Products
If your company makes products that require other products to work properly, consider kitting. Kitting complementary products will eliminate costly returns, reduce unhappy customers, shave unnecessary inventory, increase working capital, and improve overall efficiency.
Common Orders
Watch for repeated orders that include the same products and SKUs. This is often an indicator that customers would prefer to order these products as a kit. When a pattern of identical orders is identified this is often an opportunity for kitting. Contact Specialty Fulfillment and we can help with the necessary steps for the kitting process.
Required Labeling
When importing or exporting products there are often a variety of government regulations on labels. This can be a perfect time to kit your products and make them compliant at the same time. Kitting often requires a totally different label to include the grouping of individual products. At Specialty Fulfillment we have seen everything and typically can help solve any problem.
How Kitting Drives Down Costs
Initially our supply chain experts work with you to identify and execute lean manufacturing principles to eliminate waste. In many cases our our kitting warehouse is less expensive than our client's manufacturing company. Our clients save money by working with Specialty Fulfillment to relabel and repackage their products.
Kitting Improves Accuracy
Any time a company falls short of customer expectations the situation is categorized as a defect according to Six Sigma guidelines. Kitting reduces the chances of missing complementary products which increases customer satisfaction. When products need multiple parts in order for immediate use by customers we suggest kitting them to avoid the chances of an unsatisfied customer. Defects create the expenses of returns, negative reviews, and lost customers just to name a few.
Kitting Reduces Overproduction
Producing more than customers demand leads to unnecessary inventory carrying costs. These costs can be avoided by kitting complementary products. Kitting, assembly, labeling, and packaging using a made-to-order philosophy benefits everyone. Our clients have improved forecasting accuracy, smaller inventories, lower inventory costs, and happier customers as a result of kitting with Specialty Fulfillment.
Kitting Eliminates Non-Value Added Processing
Value Stream Mapping can identify kitting opportunities that can increase customer satisfaction and simplify fulfillment. Eliminating individual steps during fulfillment reduce costs and improve shipping accuracy.
Kitting Lowers Shipping & Transportation Costs
Shipping products is an essential part of every e-commerce company. Kitting at Specialty Fulfillment Center eliminates excess shipping costs associated with transporting products individually. Reducing shipping waste increases profitability and creates a competitive advantage for our clients. We have saved our clients hundreds of thousands of dollars by streamlining their shipping processes.
Kitting Lowers Inventory & Reduces Motion
Excess inventory consumes working capital which limits the ability to grow. Kitting is an effective way to eliminate inventory and minimize motion in the supply chain. Kitting in an assembly line will reduce errors and simplify inventory saving money. At Specialty Fulfillment, we can assist you in splitting inventory to create additional revenue streams attached to a variety of spin-off products.
What Does Kitting With Specialty Fulfillment Require?
Our first step is to identify the positives and negatives of kitting your products. At Specialty Fulfillment we more concerned with the success of your organizational goals than our financial gains from the kitting project. Therefore, we require the kitting project to meet a goal for your company. This often means looking at the kitting project from every angle to locate the best possible outcome. To aid in the kitting process, Specialty Fulfillment has created a professional self assessment analysis to help you identify areas of opportunity.
Does Kitting Add Value?
Every kitting project should create value for your customer. Many kitting projects have multiple stakeholders including wholesalers, resellers, retailers, and end users. Before deciding to commit to a kitting project the first question is always customer facing. How will this improve how customers think or experience my product.
Does Kitting Create Economic Benefit?
If the kitting project cost will exceed the benefits of the project then we may recommend our clients forgo the additional costs. There are times when kitting a group of products increases the product costs. At Specialty Fulfillment we can assist you in structuring the kitting project to minimize costs. In a highly competitive commodity market this may push the profit margins down if done incorrectly. Although this is typically not the case, we always suggest examining your competitive position in the market. If kitting the product will reduce the reactive cost of shipping, inventory, returns, and unhappy customers then the project may appear to ad front end cost but in the end makes a company much more profitable. At Specialty Fulfillment we always suggest a thorough investigation before kitting.
Does Kitting Increased Customer Satisfaction?
In the world of e-commerce customer satisfaction can make or break a company. E-commerce customers place a large portion of their purchasing decision on the reviews of other customers. Negative digital word-of-mouth can destroy an online company quickly. Conversely, positive reviews can bolster consumer confidence regarding your company and drive online sales. Kitting can be a great way to improve the relationship between companies and customers.
Does Your Product Have Additional Parts?
If customers are consistently leaving negative reviews regarding a product that requires other parts to work it could spell disaster. If you notice any negative reviews, customer comments, or excess returns caused by missing parts kitting may be your best option. Kitting these products together can improve overall customer satisfaction.
Additional Instruction Need?
A kitting project could be as simple as adding additional instructions. Often customers can be confused about how a product is intended to function. Kitting additional instructions can be a great way to improve the customer experience with your product.
Improving Packaging While Kitting
Improving the packaging can often produce happier customers. When kitting products into a more visually attractive or functional packaging can make a huge impact on satisfaction. Additionally, customers will often pay a premium price for a well packaged product versus a big brown box. We specialize in making the right impression on your customers.
We Can Help
If you are trying to make the decision to work with Specialty Fulfillment Center on your next kitting, labeling, or assembly project, contact us a kitting analysis and price quote.