Fulfillment Engines is the most flexible warehouse execution system (WES) available for e-commerce retailers and third-party logistics (3PL) providers.
With Fulfillment Engines, customers can:
*20% reduction based on typical facility performance. Fulfillment Engines can provide a no-cost assessment of the expected benefits for a specific facility using your own data.
A typical warehouse flow can be broken down into three phases: (1) inbound operations, (2) fulfillment operations, and (3) outbound operations. A WES orchestrates distribution center processes and resources to optimize fulfillment operations.
A typical WES works by helping operators execute order picking, sortation, consolidation, and packing efficiently. Some may also manage replenishment. Many WES products offer real-time rules execution based on demand and business logic defined by operators. For example, how to allocate labor at the start of an order wave or handle processing of exceptions. A WES often works alongside a customer’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) or warehouse management system (WMS) and/or warehouse control system (WCS) to execute all three warehouse flow phases.
Warehouse operators may deploy one or more of the following tools based on their order volumes and operational sophistication:
Small operations often can get by with manual processes and spreadsheets. As order and inventory volumes grow, the built-in tools of an ERP or an e-commerce platform such as Shopify may suffice. As operations continue growing, a dedicated WMS can be useful to manage inbound inventory shipments and order processing. As operations add automation, they may deploy a WCS to control equipment. Eventually, when the number of decisions and level of coordination exceeds the capabilities of a WMS, a WES may be required to orchestrate processes and resources efficiently.
Fulfillment Engines is the most flexible WES available for e-commerce retailers and third-party logistics (3PLs) providers.
For a typical facility, Fulfillment Engines reduces labor costs by 20% or more in just weeks. The software maximizes resource utilization and allocates labor dynamically to help customers ship all orders on-time and correct, and meet operational SLAs cost effectively. Fulfillment Engines uses real-time decision making and continuous flow/waveless processes to eliminate waste from inefficient wave transitions. It can support and optimize manual operations, automated operations, and hybrid operations.
Fulfillment Engines improves facility flexibility and agility. It does not depend on pre-defined order profile and channel distribution assumptions. The software adapts your operations seamlessly to changes in order volumes, channel volumes, and number of items per order to maintain optimal efficiency. It offloads dozens of tactical decisions from supervisors to improve efficiency. The system keeps logs of all decisions made by the software. Authorized supervisors can be notified of decisions and override decisions if necessary.
Fulfillment Engines helps customers manage exceptions efficiently by reducing delays and saving supervisor time through automated exception handling. Fulfillment Engines can detect and resolve common exceptions (e.g., short picks, missing items/totes) automatically, with little or no supervisor involvement.
Fulfillment Engines WES has a centralized orchestration engine which manages tasks and resources in your facility. It offloads dozens of tactical decisions from supervisors to improve facility flexibility, agility, and efficiency. It can support and optimize manual operations, automated operations, and hybrid operations.
Fulfillment Engines does not require resources such as inventory or putwall cubbyholes to be pre-allocated or reserved. Inventory is always prioritized for the most urgent orders to help facilities meet SLAs and improve on-time shipping performance. Orders are processed using continuous flow, waveless operations. As soon as an order completes, a new order is activated to maximize resource utilization continuously. Fulfillment Engines also offers automated exception handling to proactively detect and resolve exceptions (e.g., short picks, missing items/totes) automatically, with little or no supervisor involvement.
Warehouse workers are given instructions via the Fulfillment Engines mobile application (an Android application designed to run on popular Zebra terminals or other hand-held devices and computers). Fulfillment Engines support discrete-order, cluster, and batch picking operations. Orders can be consolidated at unit sorters, putwalls, pick carts or pick totes.
Fulfillment Engines integrates with an existing WMS in a similar fashion as pick to light systems. The WMS continues to manage inbound operations, including receiving and put away, and outbound operations such as shipping. Fulfillment Engines takes over and optimizes fulfillment operations, including replenishment, picking, sortation (if applicable), and packing.