Mar 01, 2022

Enhancing visibility in your supply chain can boost productivity and  efficiency, thus making the order fulfillment process faster and more accurate. An accelerated order fulfillment process leads to higher customer satisfaction since the customer no longer has to wait the previously-acceptable 5 to seven business days to receive their orders. As customers grow more accustomed with fast and accurate shipments, warehouses and distribution centers must now prioritize end-to-end operational visibility within their space. Nevertheless, only 6% of companies report complete visibility of their supply chain. 

Improper visibility can lead to drastic supply chain disruptions such as out-of-stocks, delays, and bottlenecks - all show to inflate operational costs by 62% when left unchecked. Improper visibility also results in significant replenishment delays for storefronts, crippling business relationships and dependability. Studies show that 34% of businesses have shipped an order late due to selling a product that wasn’t in stock, breaking consumer trust. To curb these consequences, today’s distribution centers are streamlining inventory visibility in these five ways, ultimately enhancing the entire order fulfillment process.

1. Eliminate communication breakdowns - Streamlining effective communication in your warehouse provides higher visibility and better service. Effective communication helps create a smoother flow of information, so your warehouse is provided with real-time updates on critical delivery, manufacturing, and shipping information. When your networks fail, operations suffer, and so does your bottom line. Keep your workforce connected and productive with expert assistance from Heartland’s AlwaysConnected services to create a tailored connectivity environment that reduces dropped sessions and interference. 
   
2. Automate data capture - Relying on manual data capture solutions for accurate inventory wastes time and money besides limiting worker functionality. Furthermore, as supply chains become ever more globalized and dynamic, real-time data sharing is crucial to keeping operations flowing smoothly. Unlike siloed manual operations, automated data capture through enterprise devices like Honeywell’s mobile computers, can accelerate data capture and facilitate sharing with crucial departments on a shared platform. 
   
3. Make sure deployed devices are running smoothly and up to maintenance schedules - Ensuring your devices are properly managed brings visibility because when your devices are constantly running, your workers are more productive and more aware of where items are. Heartland’s AlwaysOn suite of managed services empowers your workers with the expertise to keep your assets running efficiently and effectively. 
   
4. Establish real-time order verification - Instantly notifying your workers when orders are verified helps them effectively move on to the next task and secure that the orders are correct. This boosts accuracy in your order fulfillment process by ensuring your workers know exactly when an order is verified or isn’t. 
   
5. Facilitate new employee training - Implementing advanced and user-friendly technology can speed up training times and boost productivity. Speeding up training times makes your order fulfillment faster because you don’t have to wait for workers to get accustomed. For example, our Heartland/Honeywell Advantage helps accelerate solution rollouts with on-site training and assisted deployment, so your teams can quickly adopt new solutions with their current devices and add new technologies as needed without a complete solution redesign. 

Speeding up and increasing the accuracy of your order-fulfillment process helps prepare your warehouse for increasing demands. Contact us today for a free assessment of your inventory solutions.