Before I get started in what is effectively a #TedTalk as a LinkedIn post, which happens to not be about #tariffs, I will be at Manifest: The Future of Supply Chain & Logistics! Would love to get together while I'm out there. Find me in the app and schedule a meeting, use the swipe feature and see if you get lucky, either way - let's connect!!!
What if you could reduce your E-Com picking system interaction time by 50%? I'm not talking about Lully, keep reading.
I'm not sure what this post is beyond:
- a free dive into the things that keep Mike up at night
- justification for having an IE embedded into your software teams
E-Com has blown up, but in my mind, the WMS world hasn't kept up. Sure, there's a number of WMS's that are geared ENTIRELY around E-Com fulfillment (ShipHero, Logiwa are a few of the names you'd recognize) - but that doesn't mean they've solved all the nuanced problems related to ecom. I HAVE to believe this, otherwise Lully wouldn't exist, right?
So what is it that is actually unique about E-Com fulfillment?
There's two big changes compared to B2B:
- Lines per Order 🔻
- Units per Line 🔻
Drives complexity and labor 📈
You're probably thinking... "We know!!" But do you? Have you actually stopped to think about the elemental steps of picking an order?
Assuming you are discrete or cluster picking, the Standard WMS Picking Flow:
Feels about right, ya? Been doing that for years, ya? But remember, our Units Per Line in E-Com is LOW, typically hanging around 1.
What would happen if we scanned each unit, instead of counting and recording? If for each order line, each time you scan a unit, the system automatically recorded a quantity of 1?
Well, you'd reduce your RF system work by about 50%.
Lully is "just an api"...today...so we can't benefit from this insight. But you can! Go pester your WMS provider. Tell them 2 things:
- "We want Lully"
- "We want this scan each process for our e-com picking"
Think I'm wildly wrong⁉️ Did I miss something ❓ Take it to the comments.