What is fulfilment?

Fulfillment refers to the complete processing of an order. Depending on the business model, this includes goods receipt, storage, order picking, packing, dispatch, delivery and returns processing.

What are the objectives of fulfilment?

The aim is to ensure reliable, timely and cost-effective order processing. To achieve this, stock levels, staff, storage locations, packaging materials, transport capacity and delivery dates must be coordinated.

Which areas are covered by fulfilment?

Fulfillment includes, amongst other things:

• Goods Receipt
• Warehouse management
• Order picking
• Packaging
• Dispatch planning
• Returns management
• Capacity planning
• Transport Coordination
• Resource planning

How does fulfilment work?

Once an order has been received, stock levels and availability are checked. This is followed by order picking, quality control, packaging, preparation for dispatch, handover to the carrier and, where applicable, the processing of returns. The individual steps vary depending on the product range, warehouse structure and delivery model.

Practical example of fulfilment

A parcel delivery company expects a significantly higher volume of orders ahead of a promotional day. It plans to deploy additional staff for order picking and packing, books extra collection slots with the transport provider and adjusts the available storage space to accommodate the expected volumes.

Fulfillment and Resource Planning

The Resource planning is a key component of fulfilment. Staff, warehouse capacity, vehicles and dispatch resources must be scheduled efficiently.

Transparent resource planning improves capacity utilisation and reduces bottlenecks.

Production planning and fulfilment

For manufacturing companies, fulfilment combines the completion of an order with storage, order picking and dispatch. Production and delivery dates must therefore be co-ordinated effectively.

Staff deployment planning in fulfilment

Staff deployment planning allocates warehousing, packing and dispatch tasks to available staff and shifts. In doing so, order volumes, qualifications, working hours and expected peaks must be taken into account.

Fleet planning and dispatch coordination

For in-house transport, vehicles, drivers, loading times and delivery windows are coordinated with the shipments ready for dispatch. When using external service providers, the focus is on collection times, handover points and dispatch status.

Software as a support tool

Software can support fulfilment planning by providing centralised information on deadlines, availability, resources and responsibilities. The most suitable solution depends on the specific process, the available data and the existing systems. One example is fulfilment planning with Visual Planning®.