Sep 26, 2023

It’s one of the happiest sensations. You find what you’re looking for online. Perhaps it’s a pair of shoes, imported food, or the newest phone on sale, you add it to the cart, expecting to hold your find in the next three to five business days... but just for a few more dollars, you could have it in as little as three hours. While the price increase might discourage some from finalizing the purchase, research estimates large distributors can see up to 1.5 million people choose same-day delivery per month. As a result, top decision-makers cite ultra-fast shipping as a sure way to grow revenue. Tested deployments support their conclusion. Studies conducted by same-day delivery analysts at Roadie found that major retailers can generate as much as $1 million more in sales after successfully implementing same-day shipping in two weeks. It is no surprise then that competitive brands are striving to have the fastest shipping ETAs on the market, but achieving this goal requires the right kind of tools.

As the expectation for ultra-fast shipping increases, crucial parts of the supply chain are still navigating constraints that directly impair delivery. Fulfillment disruptions and demand spikes are often the culprits behind productivity breakdowns and increased stress. If warehouse assets lack quick responsiveness and adaptability, these challenges may creep up unannounced, causing severe disruptions and delays. Common obstacles such as material shortages and inconsistent fuel prices aren’t always foreseeable, affecting the delicate system that supports ultra-fast delivery. Although it is impossible to predict incoming disruptions, businesses can best prepare by addressing lagging data-sharing systems and technologies. By eliminating lagging systems from the supply chain, warehouses safeguard unbroken productivity, preventing costly consequences such as:

• Lost customers – Stock counting is vital to display the correct number of available products to a customer. When data capture systems fail to correctly transmit stock quantities to your IMS, you run the risk of displaying inaccurate numbers and stockouts, which cost businesses $1.1 trillion per year globally. Moreover, frequent stockouts can ultimately harm brand identity, forcing customers to choose competing businesses for their needs.
• Higher return rates – An estimated one in five e-commerce purchases will be returned, mostly due to subjective reasons at the discretion of the customer. For the big distribution center processing over a million orders, a 20% return rate makes a giant difference on the bottom line. Return expenses have totaled up to $550 billion in previous years after factoring in labor and transportation costs; however, failing order validation systems -especially those relying on manual touchpoints- largely contribute to inaccurate fulfillment.
• Communication breakdowns during routes – The more accessible accurate data is, the less likely disruptions will impair productivity. This holds true regarding last-mile delivery, where route changes and delays must be notified as quickly as possible. Businesses struggling to maintain dependable communication across the shipping process have witnessed annual losses as high as $2 billion due to wasted resources, unsatisfied customers, returns, and/or product spoilage.
• Lost employees – Lastly, inefficient technology can take a toll on worker satisfaction as teams must scramble to meet deadlines with stalling tools. Increasing stress levels contribute to turnover rates, costing businesses nearly $7,000 to replace one experienced worker. On the other hand, intuitive automation systems can help eliminate repetitive tasks while accelerating processes without burdening workers with lagging signals.  

Who (or What) is Behind the Lag?

Removing lagging technology systems can strengthen profitability, yet identifying the cause behind delays may require a deeper look into your workflows as many factors may be hindering system performance. While it is recommended you set up a workflow overview to pinpoint underlying challenges, the following causes are prevalent across industry groups:

• Outdated technology – This may seem elementary, but outdated technologies often find their home in major distributors due to their familiarity amongst fulfillment teams and automation’s upfront costs. Legacy and consumer-grade devices may seem easier to use at first, but as leading decision-makers will tell you, their maintenance costs far outweigh modernization. Moreover, outdated technologies may lack versatility, requiring your teams to learn multiple tools whereas optimized tech can streamline workflows into one terminal. To help reduce upgrade costs, device rental options have become popular since they let teams test new systems without acquisition headaches.

• Missed software and application updates – With every software and application update comes a set of protections and benefits crucial to your business, yet many choose to delay updates out of fear it will take too long and stall productivity. Besides putting your data at risk of a cyberattack, missed updates exclude workflows from necessary improvements, creating bottlenecks along with vulnerabilities. By setting up a mobile device management plan, businesses can monitor, prioritize, and roll out OS updates silently to keep protecting networks and leverage enhancements.

• Inadequate connectivity system – “Bad connectivity” are two words you don’t want to hear in your warehouse. Dropped signals can force teams to have to restart entire workflows. Consistent dead zones create a delay in updating cycle counts. If the dead zone is anywhere near the receiving dock and storage, this can be further damaging as incoming stock counts may not display correctly. While a preliminary network assessment helps ease implementation, ongoing network fine-tuning is also beneficial as you can target areas with higher networking demands and adjust your system to accommodate changing numbers of devices and workers.
• Incompatible data management systems – Often a product of rushed planning, conflicting data sharing and management will cause lags between systems as workers must transcribe inventory data onto a new platform. API integration can help bridge gaps by unifying reporting into a scalable plan. Custom forms and system design can also further help address this issue. For example, Android’s open application ecosystem and popularity amongst leading tech providers allow you to tailor an application and potentially deploy it across your workflows for a standardized data capture process accessible by warehouse teams and administrators.  

The demand for ultrafast fulfillment and maximized accuracy leaves no room for lagging systems. Distribution centers seeking to lead the charge in supply chain transformation cannot overlook the role technology plays in accelerating accurate fulfillment. Before implementing new technology systems, consider setting up a workflow evaluation to precisely target lagging connections and match operational demands to a scalable system that protects efficiency, no matter the challenge.