Three Types of Software to Utilize in the Fulfillment and Delivery Process
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As a business grows, keeping track of orders can get a little bit messy. Fast.
What worked when you were shipping a few dozen orders a day may not work when you’re dealing with hundreds. Suddenly, your team is checking several spreadsheets, answering customer emails about missing orders, and trying to work out what’s happening in the warehouse.
Delivery can – and will – become especially complicated. If you’re working with local providers, like Indianapolis Couriers, for example, you need accurate information moving between your sales, warehouse, and delivery teams. The right software makes that process much simpler.
Keep reading on to learn the three types of systems worth considering.
- Order Management Systems (OMS)
An order management system helps you keep track of what happens after a customer places an order.
Instead of relying on different systems or manual updates, an OMS gives your team a clearer picture of orders from the moment they’re placed through fulfillment and delivery. You’ll see:
- Which orders are new,
- Which have been processed,
- Which are ready to ship,
- And which have already gone out the door.
This is particularly useful when using an omnichannel approach – which means you’re selling through multiple channels. If customers can order through your website, an online marketplace, or a physical store, keeping everything organized in one place becomes so much more important.
A good OMS also reduces some of the repetitive work involved in processing orders. This gives your team more time to deal with problems that actually require human attention.
- Warehouse Management Systems (WMS)
Once an order reaches the warehouse, someone has to find it, pick it, pack it, and get it ready to leave. That’s where a warehouse management system comes in.
A WMS helps businesses keep track of inventory and organize what’s happening inside the warehouse. Depending on the software, it’ll help employees in several ways. Finding products. Managing stock levels. Organizing picking routes. Keeping track of incoming and outgoing shipments.
The real benefit is visibility.
If your team doesn’t know exactly what is in stock or where an item is located, orders become delayed. Customers don’t really care why an order is late, though – they just know they haven’t received it.
Better warehouse organization helps prevent those issues before they reach the customers.
- Analytics and Reporting Tools
Data is useful. But only if you actually use it.
Analytics and reporting software shows you what’s happening across your fulfillment and delivery process. You might discover that certain products are frequently delayed. Or certain delivery areas take longer than expected. Or even orders tend to get stuck at the same stage.
Those details? They give you something to work with.
Instead of saying, “Delivery seems slower lately,” you look at the numbers and ask why. Maybe a particular warehouse process needs revamping. Maybe certain routes need to be reconsidered. Or maybe you’re consistently running short on a popular product.
To conclude, the three systems above each solve a different problem. They are, however, much more useful when they share information. This is what you should aim to achieve if you want to improve fulfillment and delivery.