Tecsys Inc., an industry-leading supply chain management and omnichannel commerce software company, announced how its warehouse-in-a-warehouse ecommerce fulfillment solution enables retailers and brands to execute ecommerce fulfillment flawlessly while leaving existing wholesale and distribution models and legacy systems largely intact.
“We are delighted to formalize our proven warehouse-in-a-warehouse model for ecommerce fulfillment, making ecommerce and DTC order fulfillment easier to manage,” says Guy Courtin, vice president of Industry and Advanced Technology at Tecsys. “There are fundamental differences in the order fulfillment processes required to support larger, wholesale-focused warehouses and those designed to optimize picking and packing of ecommerce orders. Omni™ WMS is perfectly suited to help reduce errors and improve operational efficiency through this process.”
The warehouse-in-a-warehouse model is gaining traction as brands and retailers seek to meet the quickly evolving demands of customers and improve online order fulfillment processes by continuing to leverage existing fulfillment centers and infrastructure. It is when one facility runs multiple distribution operations that are decoupled from each other; for example, a brand owner fulfilling wholesale orders and ecommerce orders from the same location, each operation running on its own respective WMS.
This strategy allows for more effective use of space and resources as it divides storage areas dedicated to ecommerce fulfillment orders destined for parcel type orders from areas designed to store pallets for case picking. The area, reserved for the ecommerce fulfillment function, is then optimized for more efficient picking, packing and shipping of online orders, allowing for faster turnaround times for ecommerce order management. This scalable approach also provides future flexibility where automation can be easily introduced into the picking and packing workflows.
Tecsys recently implemented the warehouse-in-a-warehouse model for a global luxury cosmetics and beauty brand retailer seeking to drive ecommerce order fulfillment efficiency by leveraging the space in their existing fulfillment center as part of their omnichannel fulfillment strategy. The move to Tecsys’ Omni™ WMS with available cluster picking introduced the company to digital system-automated workflows that would reduce its current ERP-driven processes by more than 90%.
“Realizing that the existing WMS was working for its legacy wholesale business but struggling to provide the agility and flexibility to pick and pack online orders coming from their omnichannel business, they needed something optimized for ecommerce fulfillment,” explains Frank Seiferth, senior director, Retail Product Management at Tecsys. “Within its new warehouse-in-a-warehouse, the cosmetics company can toggle between cluster picking and batch picking, depending on the order profile.”
“In today’s world, fulfillment is everything. In order to compete, brands and retailers need to ensure their fulfillment operations are fast, cost-effective and accurate,” adds Courtin. “Legacy warehouse management systems weren’t designed for ecommerce. The quickest and most reliable path toward this reality is an out-of-the-box, low-risk, ecommerce warehouse management system that can integrate seamlessly with an existing operation.”
