Issue link: https://resources.axway.com/i/990611
3 axway.com The best way to manage perfect order fulfillment consistently is to assess it from the customers' point of view. Extend your evaluation criteria beyond whether or not goods are shipped or arrived at their destination on time. Add more customer-centric parameters to the equation: did the shipment arrive in pristine condition? Was it complete and accurate? These finer degrees of granularity are important, but they require that you track and measure order fulfillment not just at the highest levels of order progression, but also according to specific "line item level" subcategories. Perfection is not always linear Order fulfillment in the most general sense starts at point of sale and ends at final delivery to the customer. As Figure 1 below shows, it's essentially a straightforward, linear progression that is often measured at a few rather broad stages along the supply chain. Figure 1. A traditional linear order fulfillment progression But a closer look shows that several requisite steps may need to be performed before any high-level stage can be considered complete. For example: Order preparation — consists of receiving the order request, checking the order, confirming it, scheduling it and booking it Product manufacturing — includes dispatching to various production units, sourcing to suppliers (a full order-to-cash cycle) and other steps Shipment preparation — requires inventory management, pick processes, order packing, plus part and product warehousing Shipping and delivery — involves transactions with third-party transport and logistics partners, handling product returns and other activities Where third-party partners are involved, performance needs to be measured and managed against not only their individual service level agreements (SLA), but also the consumer SLAs that define whether the customer experience is perfect or lacking. With this in mind, the idea that perfect order fulfillment can be managed and achieved with visibility into internal systems such as ERP or order management systems alone is not tenable. Perfect order fulfillment demands that you satisfactorily mesh multiple partners into a multi-tier supply chain with seamless, end-to-end visibility internally and externally at much more granular levels. Order preparation Product manufacturing Shipment preparation Shipping and delivery