Marketing Commentary from interlinkONE
Marketing. Web-to-Print. Warehouse Management.
The Supply Chain: A Collaboration of Marketing and Fulfillment
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on Monday, December 5, 2011 
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Over the past few years, many service providers in the worlds of print and mail have sought to grow their business by also offering fulfillment services.
While this certainly can prove to be a profitable move, the initial transition may prove to be a bit difficult. Part of that is simply related to logistics — you need space to hold inventory, you need to install shelves, you need to strategically learn where to position materials, etc. However, once a company gets over some of the bumps during the implementation process, they may start riding down a smooth and profitable road.
If you are wondering if your company can also benefit by offering fulfillment services, we have some advice for you.
The Main Secret to Success
In the end, success inside of a fulfillment operation often comes when the lines of communication between it and the marketing/sales departments are open and running smoothly.
Some companies make the mistake of not thinking of fulfillment operations as part of the marketing process. But it absolutely is!
Most of the materials being stored and fulfilled inside of a warehouse are often for marketing activities — for trade shows, for lead follow-up, for presentations, and more. Thus, it is absolutely vital that your supply chain management efforts — which connect marketing with fulfillment — are functioning as well as possible.
Overview of Supply Chain Management
What exactly is supply chain management?
One definition is listed as the “design, planning, execution, control, and monitoring of supply chain activities with the objective of creating net value, building a competitive infrastructure, leveraging worldwide logistics, synchronizing supply with demand and measuring performance globally.”
Now, that may seem slightly confusing or overwhelming to a company that is wondering whether they should get into the fulfillment business.
But the good news is that in all actuality, supply chain management can be orderly, efficient, and successful, especially when marketing and warehouse business departments work together effectively.
A few simple steps that can improve communication and work-flow between multiple departments include:
- Implementing software that both groups can monitor easily — this would include visibility into inventory amounts, order status, and more
- Understanding the supply chain from beginning to end so that there is no confusion as to how each step fits into the wholesale/retail puzzle
- Consistent scheduled face-to-face meetings can go a long way toward promoting a spirit of community between departments
Are you looking to improve your Supply Chain?
If you are looking to offer fulfillment services, or to improve your existing Supply Chain Process, I hope that you find the information above helpful.
Of course, if you’d like to discuss this further, I would love to help! Please feel free to contact me.
Three Ways to Incorporate QR Codes into Fulfillment
Yes, there have been plenty of examples where marketers have put QR Codes on their materials simply because they could. But there also have been a great number of applications of QR Codes that truly provided value to a customer or prospect, and in return, to the company as well.
Here are three ways that companies could incorporate QR Codes into their fulfillment process:
QR Codes that Point to How-To Guides and Instructions
Unfortunately for my wife, I am not too handy when it comes to tools and building. This includes putting together tables, desks, chairs, etc. But here’s one thing that I am good at — scanning QR Codes and watching videos on my phone.
Thus, one way that companies could reach the emerging mobile audience (and help people like me) is to place QR Codes on packages and boxes of the material that they sell and ship.
These QR Codes could point to mobile websites and/or videos that provide step-by-step instructions and online videos that demonstrate how their items should be properly assembled.
QR Codes that Lead to Mobile Surveys and Forms
Social networks have made it easier than ever for people to tell the world if they are happy or not-so-happy with a company or product. Companies could seek to acquire that information directly as well by putting a QR Code on their packages that lead to mobile website surveys.
These surveys could seek to ask the most important questions that a customer may want to answer — “Are they satisfied? Do they need help? What could be done better?”.
This feedback could be provided why the company and its products are absolutely fresh in the customer’s mind… right through their mobile phone.
QR Codes that Make it Easy to Order Additional Materials
When someone needs to order a replacement part or to reorder an entire unit, companies would certainly want to make that an easy process.
This could be done by including a QR Code on packaging that leads to a mobile website. The website could either contain a Form that allows a user to request the item or a response from a sales rep; or it could even include an option for placing an order directly from the phone.
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Tags forms, Fulfillment, Inventory, mobile barcodes, Orders, print, QR Codes, reorder, surveys Growing Business with Inventory & Fulfillment Operations
I wanted to say congratulations to the wonderful folks at H & H Graphics Group in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. (Full disclosure: They use interlinkONE’s software to help manage inventory and fulfill orders for some of their clients.)
They recently received some nice publicity in the Central Penn Business Journal regarding their new warehouse.
Here is the line from the article that absolutely caught my attention: “Although the new facility is smaller in square footage, the business incorporated high-density warehousing, a concept that has increased its capacity by 30 percent, said Mike Williams, director of operations.”
Click here to read the full article >>
Ignite Your Growth Symposium: March 17th
On Thursday, March 17th 2011, I will have the privilege of attending and speaking at the “Ignite Your Growth” symposium in Philadelphia, PA.
This event is being put on by the great people at Today’s Graphics Incorporated (TGI).
There are absolutely a few very impressive items on the agenda… There’s a continental breakfast to kick things off, there will be live music and dancers during lunch, and my boss John Foley will be presenting as well 
If you will be attending the symposium, I’d love to see you there.
Here are the details regarding the presentations that we’ll be delivering:
Presenter: Karen Sheehey
Topic: Saving Time, Energy, and Money with Virtual Warehousing
Times: 11:30 am and 3:30 pm
Description: Would you like to reduce your inventory? Learn how other Fortune 500s are successfully transitioning to virtual warehousing. Karen will discuss real life challenges and benefits being realized by other enterprises that have successfully made the transition.
Presenter: John Foley, Jr.
Topic: Using Social Media to Build Your Business
Times: 10:30 am and 2:30 pm
Description: Explore the business case for social and mobile media–not just for marketing purposes, but as a way to generate leads and build client relationships. Learn what’s new with social media and mobile media and how you can use these tools for prospecting and lead generation.
One Part Looks Like Another
Screenshot from our 'Warehouse Management' module
We recently released a new feature to our ilinkONE Version 8 software that should help to put a little smile on the personnel in your warehouse.
In our Warehouse Management module, administrators now have access to a button that allows them to look up an existing part, and “Save As New”. This should help to reduce the data entry time required when parts are being entered into the system manually.
For example, let’s say that your wonderful (:-)) marketing team has created 6 new white papers. To enter them into the Inventory system, you’ll need to define fields such as Code, Name, Description, Group, Type, Unit of Measure, etc.
While fields such as Code, Name, and Description will vary from part to part, there’s certainly a chance that the majority of your other fields will have the same values as each other (i.e. those 6 parts will all be assigned to the “White Papers” part group).
ilinkONE Version 8 now allows users to enter the full values for the first part… Then, they can simply use the “Save As New Part” button to copy over its values to a new record, and enter whatever unique values are necessary.
