When considering outsourcing a fulfillment center, companies search for a technologically compatible fulfillment partner. They want a company that can deliver seamless and integrated fulfillment, logistics, and supply chain solutions. Technology allows all of this to happen in a cohesive manner and allows customers to view and interface with data online. Fulco Fulfillment, Inc. (FFI) is a leader in e-commerce fulfillment. We support our customers’ online visibility with control and easy-to-use technologies by aligning our technical services to meet their business objectives.
FFI delivers a powerful suite of solutions including:
- real-time reporting with live access to data
- custom distribution wireless scanning solutions
- easy e-commerce integration options
Real Time Custom Reporting For Fulfillment and Access to Data
Around the clock access to real-time data is an essential part of fulfillment. At FFI, customer reports can be automatically exported from our order management system and forwarded to the relevant decision maker. Accessible reporting captures data and allows users a password-protected login to view classic reports and data sheets, including:
- Order Reports
- Product Reports
- Offer Reports
- Shipping Reports
- Territory Client Structure Reports
- Product History Reports
- Products Shipped
- and much more
Empower your sales and marketing team while maintaining control over brand assets
Without the proper tools, managing sales force logistics can be extremely challenging. FFI enables literature fulfillment customers to automate the decision making associated with collateral distribution while limiting the need for manual review of orders. Sales and marketing managers can automatically control/limit recipients’ access to products. They can set-up product-specific and budget-based controls. Order limits can be set by access levels and approval management is available for rush/expedited shipments or even restricted products.
For fulfillment clients, peace of mind is having a partner with a state-of-the-art warehouse management system which includes inventory email alerts and lot code / serial tracking capabilities. While product version / lot tracking products may be modified or changed over time, these changes are easily tracked by a Version ID—giving clients the ability to define versions and set parameters in the OMS which dictate how versions are handled.
E-commerce Integrations for Inventory and Warehousing
As a warehousing, inventory, and order management company, we’ve learned through working with e-commerce customers that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution to data transfers. One thing is for certain though: there are better ways to transfer and share data between systems other than entering it by hand. For example, CSV (comma-separated values) files are one way. A CSV is a universal file type that many systems support and merchants feel comfortable managing when it comes to exporting and importing text files of their data between systems.
Ease of integration is an important benefit for companies outsourcing fulfillment.
Indeed, some systems require CSV as an alternative to an API or a direct database connection because file-based integration allows data to be passed between different databases or operating systems, without necessarily connecting directly to them.
And since CSVs are plain-text files, it’s easy for a web developer or other members of the team to create, view, and validate the data as a spreadsheet. All you need is a header row at the top and subsequent rows of data, which can be manipulated and easily shared across different systems.
There are several cases where transfer via CSV order files has proven very useful. However, APIs have emerged as a newer way for two systems to communicate or integrate with each other. APIs are a great solution for many use-cases, but they are not the only solution. There are several cases where a transfer via flat files has proven very useful, as well.
API Systems Integration
An API (Application Program Interface) is a set of code that allows two software programs to communicate with each other, creating a streamlined and paperless flow of goods from receiving to shipping. Using code, an API spells out a standard, predictable way for a developer to write a program requesting services from another system or application.
Veracore, FFI’s order management system, integrates with numerous platforms via real-time API or batch mode order integrations with both web-based and legacy platforms. For example, Veracore’s shopping cart and marketplace integrations include: Amazon.com; Ultracart, BigCommerce, Shopify, Volusion, Magento, and WooCommerce.
As an alternate option, FFI also partners with DropStream. This partnership allows FFI to provide our e-commerce customers with automated integrations to over 60 e-commerce systems, including online shopping carts, marketplaces, and ERPs. DropStream allows our customers to be totally connected to these integrations and automated order fulfillment workflows. E-commerce orders are imported directly into our Warehouse Management System (WMS), and tracking numbers are exported directly to our e-commerce client’s online shopping cart.
In summary, e-commerce customers can receive orders via three different ways:
- shopping cart integration
- upload an order file (CSV)
- manual order entry
Custom Distribution Wireless Scanning Solutions for Order Fulfillment
With time-saving mobile barcode readers, accuracy and streamlined shipping of e-commerce purchases are greatly improved. Barcode scanning verification and wireless scanning pick-and-pack services read a pre-printed SKU (stock keeping unit) or barcode appearing on each inventoried product. Each product is given a unique SKU which helps minimize errors and automatically updates the inventory system as goods are shipped. This eliminates manual changes and physical counts which waste valuable production time. For e-commerce clients, the real-time updates from the scanner to the order management system (OMS) helps them maintain real-time visibility and a more accurate inventory.
Choose a Fulfillment Provider that You are Technologically Compatible With
Fulco Fulfillment, Inc., works with e-commerce businesses of every size, with a wide variety of product profiles and pick-and-pack demands. We’re used to handling difficult circumstances and exceeding expectations by helping our clients fulfill their client promises and delivery demands. To learn more, contact us.