An order management system that replaced a third-party shipping tool
A fulfillment operation shipping more than 6,600 parcels a month ran every order through an outside shipping tool that pulled orders in bursts. We built the operation its own order management system. Orders now arrive in about 31 seconds instead of about an hour.
- Order prep: 28 hrs a week → 0
- 31 sec order intake (was ~61 min)
- 0 missing orders
The problem
Every order waited in the online store until a third-party shipping tool pulled it in. A typical order took about an hour to show up, and one in ten took nearly two. Managers built every batch by hand, printed paper pick lists, then typed each job a second time into the labor system. The operation's routing rules and its monthly bill both lived in another company's software.
The workflow we replaced
Before
- Orders wait in the store until the shipping tool pulls them in bursts
- A manager builds each batch by hand
- Pick lists are printed on paper
- Each pick and pack job is typed again into the labor system
- Missing items surface later as customer complaints
After
- Orders arrive straight from the store within a minute
- Every open order is checked against the store every 15 minutes
- Orders are sorted automatically into four batching lanes
- Picks appear on screen in walking order, with scans instead of paper
- Packing only prints a label once every unit is scanned
The solution
An order management system owned and run by the operation itself. It takes orders straight from the store, checks itself against the store around the clock, and includes the batching, picking, and packing tools needed to retire the outside shipping tool.
What it does
- Direct order intake. Orders arrive from both retail and wholesale stores every minute.
- Constant cross-checks. Every open order is compared against the store on 8 points every 15 minutes, and anything that needs a person is flagged.
- Automatic batching. Orders sort into four lanes (Expedite, Individuals, UPS, USPS) and release when a batch is full or has waited 30 minutes, with fraud-flagged and bad-address orders held back.
- Paperless picking. One card per product, in walking order, that says exactly how many to grab and which totes they go in.
- Scan-checked packing. The print button only unlocks once every unit in the order has been scanned.
- Built-in safety limits. A cap on batches per run, a limit on open batches, and a hard stop if order data is stale.
- Customer privacy on the floor. Crew screens hide customer email, phone, and street address.
The impact
- Hours spent on order prep
- 28 → 0 hrsHours spent on order prepPer week, before and after. Order prep is now fully digital and runs on its own. Only orders that need a person are flagged.
- Typical order intake
- 31 secTypical order intakeDown from about 61 minutes when orders came through the outside shipping tool.
- Head start on every order
- ~1 hourHead start on every orderOrders reach the operation's own system about an hour sooner.
- Missing orders
- 0Missing ordersIn the latest full cross-check of 135 open orders against the store.
- Every order accounted for. The system checks itself against the store every 15 minutes, instead of trusting a one-way feed.
- Rules the business owns. Routing and batching logic now live in the operation's own system and can be changed from its settings screen.
Measured from the client's own records. Services used: Software development and implementation, Operations and workflow auditing, Systems that scale with you.
Questions about this project
Can a small business have its own order management system?
Yes. When an off-the-shelf tool charges per month and controls your routing rules, a system shaped to your operation can replace it. We tell you honestly when buying is the better choice.
How do you switch without disrupting shipping?
We run the new system alongside the old one and count, not guess, that both agree before anything is turned off.
What happens to orders that need a person?
They're flagged for review instead of slipping through.
Losing time to a workflow like this?
Free · 2-3 specific findings · No obligation
More of our work
Customer service and employee accountability
Tracing every customer complaint to its root cause, in minutes
When a customer reported a missing or damaged order, nobody on the warehouse floor heard about it, and finding out who packed it meant searching three systems by hand. We built a mis-shipment tracking system that traces each complaint to its batch and packer automatically, and alerts managers a median 13 minutes after the ticket closes.
150Complaints connected to their batch and packer
Labor management, scheduling, and HR
A labor management system that replaced spreadsheets and paper procedures
A fulfillment floor ran on spreadsheets, paper procedures, and verbal handovers, so nobody could see who did what or how fast. We built one labor management system that records every batch, task, and hour by person, and removed 345 manager sign-offs a month.
260 → 480Picked items per hour