Choosing the right system helps fulfillment house redefine customer service

Companies that can't find a software package to perform a particular job generally take one of two paths. They build their own custom application, or they buy a package that does something close to what they want and customize it to their needs.

Direct Fulfillment, a third-party logistics provider based in Robbinsville, N.J., was in the latter camp, but it found that the buy-and-customize approach has its limitations. The biggest problem was that all of the customizations turned Direct Fulfillment's off-the-shelf package into something more akin to a proprietary system, and as time passed it became more difficult to adapt the system to changing business demands.

Determined not to find itself in this situation again, Direct Fulfillment was more selective in its next system search. It started by compiling a list of criteria wherein finding the right functionality was ranked the top priority. "Our old system was an inventory order management system," says Mary Teehan, the company's IT director. "We really needed a warehouse management system."

Direct Fulfillment packages and delivers products for direct-mail marketing companies. It also handles order fulfillment for companies that sell small consumer goods, such as coffee cups and other gift items, over the Internet.

Direct Fulfillment got its warehouse management functionality in a package called Warehouse Advantage from HighJump Software, a 3M Company, and Teehan says it got much more. "This system has taken our ability to service clients to a whole new level," she declares.

Warehouse Advantage now is the core component of Direct Fulfillment's IT network. The other components are a Microsoft SQL database and another HighJump package called WebWise that's used to build interfaces for people who need to get data from the HighJump system over the Internet. These components reside on separate Hewlett-Packard ProLiant servers.

Teehan says WebWise is one of several HighJump tools that allow Direct Fulfillment to build what amount to custom applications for serving clients, as well as for improving in-house processes.

Warehouse Advantage is the foundation for those applications, providing the ability to track the movement of each piece of inventory from its arrival at the Direct Fulfillment warehouse until it reaches a customer's site. Each day this package also takes Direct Fulfillment's current orders and converts them into pick lists that direct warehouse workers to prepare orders in the most efficient manner.

"We created pick lists with logical paths before," Teehan says, "but it was all done manually. We were averaging 20 to 30 minutes for picking an order. Now our pick time is down to nine minutes per order."

The reporting tools that come with Warehouse Advantage also make it easier to create reports that allow management to analyze how operations can be improved. "For instance, we know our fastest and most accurate pickers," says Teehan.

Then there is the WebWise link, which is used to build separate interfaces for each customer to check information on orders and other account details over the Internet. There's even a link to Direct Fulfillment's transportation management system—built with help from HighJump consultants—so customers can find out about orders that are in transit.

"This has put us into a different arena with our customers—giving them accurate information in real time," Teehan says. "When you're in batch mode, you can't trust the accuracy of your inventory. Now we can show them exactly what's available."

With the new system streamlining its order handling and reporting, Teehan says Direct Fulfillment has been able to branch out into new services such as assembling products for clients before shipping them. That just shows what can happen when you choose the right system for a job instead of one that's just close enough.