Marketing Commentary from interlinkONE
Marketing. Web-to-Print. Warehouse Management.
The Importance of Warehouse Management Software
Posted by 
on Monday, January 23, 2012 
at 12:20 PM 
in 
On a daily basis, I have the opportunity to engage with companies of all different shapes and sizes that provide inventory and fulfillment services.
Some of them are fulfilling thousands of orders a day for their company’s sales force; others are providing fulfillment services for their customers. Many of them are packaging and shipping marketing and sales collateral — binders, brochures, books, trade show displays, etc. — while others are fulfilling product orders that were placed by consumers.
But no matter what their situation might be, they nearly all face the same challenges.
Common Challenges in Warehouse Management
Companies that provide the service of managing inventory, a warehouse, and the fulfillment process often face the following questions:
- How accurate are their inventory counts?
- How can they monitor and improve their turnaround times?
- How can they automate their daily tasks?
A company’s ability to answer and accomplish those items is often directly related to the warehouse management software that they choose to use.
Succeeding with Warehouse Management Software
Many companies understand the importance of managing their warehouse inventory correctly, but too often they settle for simplistic programs such as Excel, Access, or Word documents to track their inventory flow.
While there are benefits to using these programs for specific tasks, they fail to add efficiency, consistency, and quality control to the process. This where the importance of using proven warehouse management software comes to light.
Not only can focused, inventory management software make organizing and tracking shipments and product output easier on your employees, but it can also help you generate valuable reports and analytics for your company and for your customers.
Also, by using an online software application, you can often get very close to a real-time inventory count situation, which should absolutely help to reduce unnecessary frustration in regards to backorders.
There are many other benefits that can come from fully utilizing an online, warehouse management software application.
If you are interested in how interlinkONE could help you out in that regard, register for a free demo of our solutions! Or, please click here to read more about our software.
Tags 4 Tips for Managing Inventory During the Holidays
While for many people the holidays are fraught with excitement, many companies – especially fulfillment service providers that manage a large amount of inventory – can fall into disorganization and stress during this season.
Fortunately, warehouse management does not have to be a nail in your proverbial coffin. Here are few tips to help you keep your warehouse running at peak shape throughout the holidays:
Consider Inventory Placement
If there are specific items — perhaps seasonal or clearance-related — that may prove to be far more popular than others during the holiday season, you may want to strategically place them in the warehouse to optimize everyone’s time.
Yes, this may mean that you need to do some heavy-lifting to move them now; but that should help you save a lot more time in the long run when people are grabbing those items to fulfill orders.
Use Web-based Software, Not Excel Files
If you are tracking purchases, inventory amounts, and orders through an Excel file, I have a better option for you: online software!
Web-based software for accepting, managing, and fulfilling orders can be affordable and easy to use.
Sure, moving to a different system may mean that your team needs to learn a new process; but the benefits far outweigh any temporary speed-bumps during the transition. Here are a few:
- Access the system at any time, from anywhere, via any web browser
- Automatically generate pick tickets, shipping labels, and more
- Set up automated email alert notifications in regards to backorders, reorder points, shipping notices and more
P.S. Looking for a web-based solution? I know of a great one that you might want to look at 
Keep the Lines of Communication Open
During the holiday season, sales and marketing teams are doing all they can to generate as much business as possible. This may mean that they are dreaming up and implementing ideas at the last-minute — including discounts and other promotions.
If you are responsible for ensuring that your warehouse can fulfill orders on-time during the holiday season, make sure to keep an open line of communication with the marketing and sales departments. You may need to be aggressive (and perhaps even a bit annoying) in order to be sure that you know about any promotions that will affect your workload.
Remember the chaos will pass by eventually
Sales is an ebb and flow business. The busy holiday season may no doubt mean longer days & nights, as well as many stressful moments as you work on packaging and shipping orders.
However, keep in mind that everything your doing will help your company… and that your hard work in getting an order out the door on time will put a smile on the face of someone, somewhere.
And of course, don’t forget that the busy season only lasts for so long.
How In-Plant Printers Can Offer Value-Added Services
I am happy to announce that we will be delivering a webinar on Tuesday, November 15th to members of the In-Plant Printing and Mailing Association (IPMA).
There is no doubt that in-plant printers face different circumstances than commercial or quick printers. However, many of the same trends in the worlds of marketing and communications affect their business too.
To put it simply, many of them are finding that print volume, print sales, & margins have gone down.
Some of the reasons for this may include:
- Many of their organization’s prospects and customers are turning to social networks and the web as the primary way they find information.
- Smartphones are changing the way people interact and communicate with brands.
- As budgets tighten everywhere, organizations may see outbound marketing as something that is too expensive, with not enough ROI.
With circumstances like those a reality, in-plant printers are looking for ways to increase the value that they can offer to their organization.
During the webinar on 11/15, we will share strategies and tactics that printers can take advantage of to just that. We will present opportunities for offering value-added services in the form of:
- Mobile Marketing – QR Codes, mobile websites, and more
- Social Media Integration
- Online Ordering, Electronic Fulfillment, and Inventory Management
This webinar is available to members of IPMA. Please click here for registration information >>
Immediate Ways for Marketers to Deliver More Value
The CMO Council released a report earlier this year that is absolutely fascinating.
One of my favorite charts within the report has to do with what marketers can do now to improve impact and increase value on their marketing and sales support content. Here are the top answers to that question:
When I see those answers at the top of the list, I instantly think of one major thing: interlinkONE’s software could help these people out!
Now, if only the CMO Council would let me know which companies had those pain points
Of course, those types of problems exist in companies of all shapes and sizes… even those that were not included in the CMO Council’s survey. If your company happens to feel a bit of pain with one of those items, please feel free to contact the team here at interlinkONE. We’d love to help you out.
With features such as electronic fulfillment, online ordering storefronts, variable data publishing capabilities, release and expiration date logic, and more, our ilinkONE Version 8 software is packed with features that provide solutions to common supply chain problems.
We’d love to get the chance to show you how we can help!
Tips for Finding Success in Warehouse and Inventory Management
Recently, interlinkONE’s Jason Pinto talked about a challenge that many sales reps face — being able to find & order collateral quickly when they need it.
I believe that challenge affects many companies across countless number of verticals and industries. Thus, there is a tremendous business opportunity for service providers that can offer solutions in regards to warehouse and inventory management.
If you are a print, mail, or fulfillment services provider that is looking into possibly offering those types of solutions, you may be looking for best practices. Well, you can absolutely start by looking at MFSA (Mailing and Fulfillment Services Association).
I had the opportunity to sit with Ken Garner, the CEO and President of MFSA recently. He shared the following tips for service providers that are looking to offer warehouse and inventory management solutions.
Tips from Ken Garner of MFSA
- Find market leaders who have done this successfully and are willing to share. Peer groups are important resources.
- ID the best in class vendor suppliers who can help and have a proven track record for transition.
- Develop a detailed comprehensive plan. Don’t do it for the sake of doing it. Have a direction, a goal, and a strategy for achieving it
- ID any required skill set internally or outsourced so you aren’t flying blind
- Consider engaging a qualified consultant
