Any company that depends on fulfilling customer orders needs to constantly be on the lookout for how to improve this process. Better order fulfillment means you can handle more orders, guarantee quicker deliveries, cut down on unnecessary overhead, and enjoy greater overall customer satisfaction. So consider the below tips for improving your company’s order management. Even if you’ve already implemented some of these, see if there aren’t any missed opportunities worth investigating.
Reverse Engineer the Process
This is a great method for improving just about any process within your company. Too often we only think about the end result. In the case of order management, that means we’re focused on getting that package out the door. However, if you only thinking in that one direction, you could be setting yourself up to ignore some pretty big windfalls in terms of improving things.
So try going backwards through the process so that you can ensure that each step is necessary and makes sense. Look for unnecessarily long lead times as well and see if your new perspective can help cut them down to size.
Ask Those Who Handle It
Chances are your order management process involves a lot of people doing their part. It might be instructive to ask them what they think of the overall process and where they think it could be improved. You may be surprised how many of them are sitting on some helpful advice and have just been waiting for someone to ask.
It can also be helpful to show workers who handle one component of the process how workers who handle another operate. If worker A sees how worker B handles the step before them, for example, they may be able to share an insight on what would help them work faster, better, etc.(e.g., their step may involve inspecting the package, so why would the person before them do it too?).
Be Sure You Understand the Process
Of course, you could be sitting on some quality advice yourself, but not know about it because you don’t fully understand your own order management scheme. A lot of people in management have this problem, even if they began on the ground floor. For this reason, it’s always smart to go back and revisit how your order management process actually operates.
Keep in mind, too, that simply because you’re familiar with how it’s supposed to be handled doesn’t mean that’s what’s actually happening. Workers sometimes take liberties with procedures—often with perfectly respectable motives—that cause unnecessary problems you may not know about.
So conduct regular checks to ensure you know what’s going on. Do so at least on a biannual basis, though checking quarterly is probably best.
Incentivize Workers
Reward systems are an important part of just about any department. Whether it’s paying people with commission or giving them bonuses, incentivizing workers is a great way to ensure that they are always working their hardest.
When it comes to order management, your workers are probably the MOST® influential aspect of the entire process. While there are a number of ways to gauge their work ethic, rewarding them for hitting ambitious benchmarks is a time-tested method.
Implement Back Office Software
Another great method for getting the MOST® from your workers, your hardware, etc. is using back office software. You can even improve the results you get from other forms of software this way.
Back office software is designed to make order management, amongst other things, much easier. You can automate essential tasks and track others with analytics that will show you where you could potentially improve.
Never get complacent where order management is involved. It’s too important a part of your company’s success to just assume it’s working as it should be. Instead, see if the above advice can’t help you get even better returns from this necessity.
Source:
https://www.wipfli.com/BlogPost_Mad_Blog_102913_OrderManagement.aspx
