Our clients include some of the leaders in desktop 3D Printing, printing accessories, as well as 3D Printing pens and toys. 3D printing companies face unique challenges in e-commerce fulfillment. Here’s what we’ve learned and how we can help.
- Bulky products – handling & shipping: A desktop 3D Printer can weight 30+ lbs, not to mention the resin and component parts. Managing inventory, picking orders, and moving product throughout the warehouse when the product is bulky can require equipment and operations designed for handling those size items. Because of the high unit value of items, shipping options such as delivery signature confirmation can make a lot of sense. And bulky items usually trigger dimensional weight pricing from carriers, so you’ll want a 3PL with a high dimensional weight divisor if you ship using their account. Resins can also require special material data safety documentation when shipping, especially internationally, so you may need your 3PL to help navigate those requirements.
- Multi-warehouse fulfillment: Due to the bulky nature of products, and the relatively low sku catalog size generally seen in this industry, multi-warehouse fulfillment can make a lot of sense. Splitting inventory between warehouses can dramatically reduce shipping costs, while maximizing your footprint for two-day ground delivery.
- Multi-channel Integration: You can choose to have your 3PL connect directly to each channel or use an order management software and connect your 3PL to that. Either way, you need a partner with pre-existing integrations and that is willing to work with your specific business needs. The 3PL will have a preferred way of integration, but a degree of flexibility and a willingness to build new features to accommodate your needs are important. EDI integration capabilities can also be important, if you plan to sell with big box retail stores.
- Inventory Accuracy & Security: 3D Printing products and accessories can cost several thousand dollars so inventory accuracy and security are both key. On the accuracy side, check with your 3PL on how they measure accuracy and what their operational procedures are that maintain it. For security, a 3PL must have the necessary measures in place such as video monitoring and workforce screening. It also helps to visit and build a relationship with your partner so you know you can trust them. Additionally, for high end products, unit-level inventory tracking can be a business requirement and help provide visibility into the supply chain.
How Excelsior does fulfillment for the 3D Printing Industry:
- Customer service driven: Whatever your industry, your relationship with your 3PL is critical. You’ll have unique requirements and issues that arise as you grow, and we get that you need to be able to talk with us regularly, sometimes frequently. We’ve built ourselves on the service we provide, and pride ourselves on it. If you need us to inspect 500 units of a potentially defective item, expedite an order to a special customer, re-package one product with a newer version of packaging, or whatever else, we’ve got your back.
- Integrate with any channel: Check out all our integrations here. Or build your own with the Excelsior API. If you need something you don’t see, we’re eager to help you solve it, just ask.
- Scalability and Startups: Some of our biggest success stories are customers that started with 20 orders/day and can now hit peaks of 5,000+ per day. We take a service driven approach and love working with young companies, implementing the logistics infrastructure now, that your business will need in 3 years.
- Shipping: We have warehouse facilities in Massachusetts and California, which will allow you to reach 70-90% of your customers with cheaper shipping options that still arrive in two days or less. We ship with all the major carriers – UPS, FedEx, USPS, DHL, and many freight forwarders and can offer you steeply discounted rates. We also allow you to ship on your account or any third party account should you prefer.
- Inventory Accuracy: We have several operational systems in place designed to maintain the highest inventory accuracy: ASN based receiving with automated checks for receiving accuracy, a replenishment process that uses older stock first and maintains PICK versus OVERSTOCK bin accuracy, periodic cycle counting procedures, and a quality control scan on outgoing orders (provided products are accurately barcoded).
- High value items: Excelsior staff are willing to go the extra mile to ensure inventory integrity and extra security are available if needed. This could mean storage in locked rooms, extra security cameras, or even just more frequent cycle counting. Additionally, we can institute serialized inventory management on any of your products that have unique serial numbers. This enables unit-level inventory traceability. Here’s how serialized inventory tracking works.
- Returns: Excelsior’s return processing services will help you streamline this crucial yet often overlooked component of the logistics lifecycle. We provide inspection according to your specifications, capturing of return reasons and any comments, automatic notifications and easy access to all your data either through our web portal or API.
- Product Assembly & Kitting: We offer optional product assembly, bundling and kitting services whether it’s for a one-time project or ongoing product line. Some clients choose to delay final product assembly until the last possible step, giving greater inventory flexibility. Others may need to re-work a product by removing one component item and adding another newer version. Our kitting services give you this flexibility.
- Presentation & Branding: Along with fulfillment speed and accuracy, presentation is an important factor in the delivery experience your customer will have. We’ll help you create a delivery and un-boxing experience that suits your brand and leaves a lasting impression on your customers. We can do this by allowing customization options in the packaging step of the fulfillment process, such as using your branded tape, stickers or custom packaging, handwriting thank-you notes, following special item placement rules, or any other ideas you come up with.