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Every Second Counts On Workflow for

Batches of 1

How To Make Sure You Make Money from Mass Customisation & Dropship Fulfilment

September 2019

Andrew Talbot

@customgateway

_____________________________________________________________________________________ Every Second Counts On Workflow for Batches of 1 of 36

Contents

Introduction 3

Core Principles 4

Types of On Demand Products 4

Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) 5

The Fourth Industrial Revolution 7

Main Advantages 8

Estimated Time Savings Possible 9

Receiving Orders 10

Order Management 11

QC Query 11

Bulk Edit 11

Artwork Updates 11

Sorting Orders & Customer Service 13

Managing Proofs & Samples 14

Job Sheets & Barcodes 15

Integrated Labels 16

Stock Picking & Automated Purchasing 17

Automating Artwork 18

Batching Artwork 19

RIP Integration 20

Cloud Print & Printer Integration 21

QC & Branding Scanning 22

Batch Sub Status 23

Despatch Scanning 24

Retailer Branding 25

Multi Line or Part Orders 26

Consolidating Orders 27

Offsite Suppliers 28

Invoicing & Accounting 29

Dashboards & Reporting 30

Product Management 31

Stock Management 32

Hardware & Infrastructure 33

Summary of How Technology Helps 34

Workflow Options 35

Industry Examples 36

References 36


Introduction Our mission at Custom Gateway is to “Enable Mass Customisation & On Demand Fulfilment” so this white paper is all about a subject very close to our hearts - making sure it is profitable as well We started our business providing front end software to make it easier to visualise and sell customised products and have evolved into providing a platform for managing mass customisation workflow as well Mass customisation can be defined as applying the principles of mass production to individually customised products We soon realised that the principles that were so important for effective mass customisation were very similar for all types of on demand fulfilment so although this white paper has a bias towards mass customisation workflow it also deals with the challenges of other types of on demand products too (see next page for details of the different product types) Every day we talk with and visit companies all over the world either selling or supplying customised or on demand products and we have used all these experiences and insights to hopefully create a white paper that can be used to benchmark and improve your own on demand workflow & production It is certainly fair to say that without IT systems it would be very difficult to make a profit from mass customisation and it is the integration of the various IT systems you will need that is one of the main drivers for reducing time / costs when processing an order This white paper breaks the order process down into 20 main sections and for each one we provide some technology solutions, possible time savings and potential pitfalls to look out for. We will also aim to provide some straightforward explanations to concepts that are important to on demand fulfilment like computer integrated manufacturing, lean manufacturing and smart manufacturing As the name of the white paper suggests every second you can save on processing an order does count when you multiply it by the thousands of small transactions being processed Our platform processed almost 20 million transactions last year so if you imagine we helped save only 1 second on every order that would mean we had still saved over 694 working days Estimating potential time savings per order line is really not an exact science and will vary dependant on number of orders, number of problems, complexity of product / production method and layout of your factory so our estimates are not set in stone but we think do provide a sensible guide to help you understand the possible time savings. It is also worth pointing out that not all the potential time savings may be possible in your business as in some areas you may already be doing everything possible but this paper aims to identify at least a few areas where improvement would be possible


Core Principles This paper explores all the main areas of mass customisation workflow but the list below summarises the key principles behind streamlined on demand workflow

1. When you are producing an order of 1 - hundreds or even thousands of times a day every second saved on each order is a significant

2. Technology is the only way to make mass customisation as feasible as mass production - a computer integrated manufacturing system is essential

3. The core principles of on demand are broadly similar to those of mass customisation - they are both about orders of 1 SKU

4. Consolidation is the key principle to help gain economies of scale 5. Faster lead times help bring production back to local countries but if you do not optimise your

workflow and the labour costs get too high then this benefit becomes less relevant 6. Integration is fundamental to this process as no one tech system can manage all the processes

required 7. Eliminating paperwork is a main driver to saving time with processes being designed to access

information on screen or via a mobile device 8. Barcode data input is faster than using the keyboard and help eliminates input errors 9. Easy access to data helps companies make better decisions on all areas including investment,

staffing and purchasing decisions 10. Although integrations are largely unavoidable having a common platform for product

management, workflow and customer services will undeniable help

Types of On Demand Products The graphic below defines the different types of on demand products covered in this white paper. Customised and print on Demand products (also known as mass customisation) both need automated artwork generation as part of the production process but dropship stock products are just about managing small stock orders from different supplier warehouses


Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) CIM is an industry term that best describes the processes we will detail is this white paper Computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) can be defined as “the manufacturing approach of using computers to control an entire production process”. This integration allows individual processes to exchange information with each other and initiate automated actions to manage production. The four core components of a CIM for on demand fulfilment / mass customisation are (1) printers & other decoration machines (2) blank products & stock (3) a computer system to manage the interactions between 1 & 2 (4) human workers to operate and manage the system (3) CIM covers enterprise resource planning (ERP) modules in a manufacturing operation, including design, purchasing, inventory, shop floor control, material requirements planning, customer order management and cost accounting. Typical benefits of adopting a CIM model include error reduction, speed, flexibility and a high degree of integration all essential for on demand fulfilment success It is worth noting that most ERP systems have been built for companies adopting the mass production business model rather than mass customisation one so for this white paper we are focussed entirely on the how the adoption of CIM can help drive the implementation of a lean manufacturing model to drive a mass customisation / on demand business process Lean manufacturing is another business concept that is very important when looking at producing batches of one cost effectively and is best described as a methodology that focuses on minimizing waste within production whilst simultaneously maximizing productivity. This should be a key objective of any Computer Integrated Manufacturing System and the principles of lean manufacturing are also a key focus of this paper We can certainly testify that the development of an effective CIM for mass customisation will cost millions and take many years to perfect (as this is what we do) as can mass customisation pioneers CIM Press who attribute the development and roll out of their own CIM designed for mass customisation as is one of the key components of their growth to a multi billion pound organisation. As most companies do not have the time and money to invest in a fully integrated CIM platforms such as our own represent a quick and cost effective way to get started in the on demand world . Detailed on the next page are the base systems that an on demand focussed CIM needs to bring together to drive the production process

1. Product Database - blank products and virtual products 2. Websites and Marketplaces to take orders 3. Printers & Machines to produce products 4. Other Systems like Shipping Network Platforms to manage fulfilment

If products are not being decorated then Printers / Machines (3) can be replaced with Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) for stock management


Here is a very simple overview of the core components of Computer Integrated Manufacturing system designed for the Mass Customisation business model

Each of these base systems can be further subdivided into additional modules which we will cover in this white paper

● Products - blank products, designs & artwork / fulfilment rules ● Orders - ecommerce website integrations, marketplaces, imports ● Printers - batching, RIP software ● Other Systems - like shipping & fulfilment


The Fourth Industrial Revolution According to the world economic forum “We stand on the brink of a technological revolution that will fundamentally alter the way we live, work, and relate to one another. In its scale, scope, and complexity, the transformation will be unlike anything humankind has experienced before. We do not yet know just how it will unfold, but one thing is clear: the response to it must be integrated and comprehensive, involving all stakeholders of the global polity, from the public and private sectors to academia and civil society.” Computer Integrated Manufacturing is one of the ways that is altering the way we work and the principles we highlight in this white paper are also known in some quarters as “Smart Manufacturing” It can be argued that Smart Manufacturing and Computer Integrated Manufacturing are just different sides of the same coin as they both harness data, systems and integrations to improve processes and reduce costs and can be considered key drivers of the fourth industrial revolution

The advantages smart manufacturing provide (featured in more detail on the next page) make it possible to disrupt almost every industry in every country, leading to the transformation of entire systems of production, management, and governance Both lean manufacturing (see previous page) and smart manufacturing have the same core objective of operational excellence but they apply different types of tools to achieve them. Lean manufacturing is more focussed on reducing complexity and cost by eliminating waste and non-value-adding activities through process improvement whilst smart manufacturing is more about connecting systems and using data to drive improvement. This white paper uses both concepts to help illustrate how they will help enable mass customisation production improvements To confuse matters slightly further smart manufacturing has yet another name that you may hear talked about - Industry 4.0 On previous pages we have talked about the four core components of a CIM which are broken down in more detail for Industry 4.0

1. Big data and analytics, 2. Cloud computing, 3. System integrations 4. The Internet of Things 5. 3D Printing, 6. Cybersecurity 7. Robotics, 8. Augmented Reality, 9. Simulation.

There is no doubt that all these elements will be part of future smart manufacturing systems used to optimise the on demand fulfilment process but for this white paper we will focus more on points 1 to 4 in the above list


Main Advantages Before diving into the detail it is always worth reviewing the reasons why any business involved in on demand fulfilment should be interested in reading this white paper and adopting their own CIM and lean manufacturing model Summarised below are the main advantages

1. Reduced Costs Labour is the most expensive component of production so by harnessing computers to reduce human input substantial cost savings to the unit cost of each product can be achieved

2. Increased Capacity

If you reduce the labour involved in making a product then the same number of people can make more products. A technology platform also makes it easier to use off site production which also increases your capacity

3. Helps You Manage Peak Periods

With improved control over production it makes it easier to manage during peak periods enabling businesses to run 24 hours

4. Creates a More Scalable Business

Easier access to order information makes it easier to capacity plan and means you can switch on outsource production at the flick of a button

5. Enables Easy Outsourcing - Potential Wider Product Range

Not only does CIM enable easy outsourced for extra capacity but it also means companies have the option to sell different product groups from outsource suppliers

6. Better Management & Control

Means more proactive management so you can be warned of problems anywhere in the factory, see orders outside the SLA and identify problems on orders received. It also means you do not need to be on site to manage the business

7. Helps Manage Multiple Locations

With easier access to management information and effective outsourcing the adoption of a CIM strategy makes it easier to run multiple production locations

8. Reduced Errors & Mistakes - Increases Customer Satisfaction

By harnessing technology like barcode scanning or RFID you do not only save time but also reduce errors helping eliminate expensive remakes

9. Reduces Related Business Administration

Helps tackle the hidden admin costs generated by processing 1000s of smaller orders like reconciliations, payment and stock management


Estimated Time Savings Possible Suspect a few people might jump straight to this page as ultimately this is all about making products for less. The time savings are really only guesstimates and will vary from business to business but at least will demonstrate that small savings in lots of areas make a dramatic difference to your costs

Process How Time Saved Average Time Saved per order

Time Saved per day

Time Saved days / year

Importing Orders Eliminate Manual Processes 10 seconds 16 minutes 9 days

Incorrect Orders Reduces waste in production & admin 10 seconds 16 minutes 9 days

Sorting Job Sheets Eliminate Manual Order Sorting 5 seconds 5 hours 4.5 days

Barcode Scanning Faster more accurate data entry (x 3) 10 seconds 16 minutes 9 days

Stock Picking Saves time by by using pick groups 10 seconds 16 minutes 9 days

Generate Artwork Eliminating a Manual Process 45 seconds 75 minutes 41 days

Batching Artwork Taking Advantage of Economies of Scale 45 seconds 75 minutes 41 days

Printing Integration Reducing extra actions / clicks 5 seconds 8 minutes 4.5 days

RIP Integration Improving equipment performance 5 seconds 8 minutes 4.5 day

Order Consolidation Save time processing orders with bins 5 seconds 8 minutes 4.5 day

Integrated Labels Reduce duplicate printing and enable barcode data entry

5 seconds 8 minutes 4.5 day

Shipping Integration Reducing duplicate actions & clicks 10 seconds 16 minutes 9 days

Accounting Eliminate manual entry and reconciliation 10 seconds 16 minutes 9 days

Stock Management Reducing admin & lost production time 5 seconds 8 minutes 4.5 days

Total Time Saved Per Order

3 minutes

Daily Number of Orders

This is a fairly low number for an on demand business so shows possibilities

100

Total Time Saved By Day

Based on an 8 hour working day 300 minutes

5 hours Almost 1 Person

Total Time Saved By Year

Based on a 261 day working year 78,300 minutes

1305 hours

163 days


Receiving Orders It is unlikely that your business will receive all of its orders from one source. The more sources you have, the more important it becomes that they can be at the very least auto imported into a single order management system. Even if you have a very effective order input interface manually adding single orders is not really a viable option and your first objective should always be for technology to deliver the orders to you. Although auto importing a csv file is an upgrade on manual single product entry it still takes extra time to download a file then upload it - the main objective should always be that the orders just arrive with no human integration just as if your customer is placing the orders directly in your system for you Detailed below is an overview of the most common order sources

● Retailers Website ● Supplier Trade Portal ● Online Marketplaces ● Telesales Manual Input ● Retail & Instore Kiosks

Here are the most common Technology Solutions to help you reduce the time you spend inputting or importing orders

● Your API - API stands for Application Programme Interface and your order management seem should provide a modern easy to use API for your customers to integrate with

● Retailers API - bigger customers will have their own API which you need the ability to use as not all customers will want to use your API

● File Imports - you will need the ability to do file imports. Customers will usually provide CSV or XML files - in an ideal world these will be delivered by FTP and then auto imported

● eCommerce Trade Portal - for smaller customers provide them with an eCommerce site for placing and uploading their orders

● Zapier & Other Third Part Tools Here are a few common issues to watch out for

● Extra development costs - how easily is it for you to add new API integrations ● Changes in retailer data formats - how quickly can you accommodate ● Field mapping - can you manage this without IT dept - consider garments SKUs Colours / Sizes

The key here is really all about creating multiple systems integrations to make it quicker and easier to receive orders - the ideal scenario is that receiving orders takes no time at all Getting this right is equally important whether you are talking about personalised, print on demand or dropship stock

Potential Time Savings Available

1. 5 minutes for each manual data import (divided by the number of orders) 2. 2 minutes per order if you have to manually add details to a system


Order Management As detailed in the previous section a consolidated order management system is essential and we will now take a look at three core features it should have to help you reduce the time spent on administration

QC Query The biggest barrier for order management is incomplete orders and when the first time you find out about them does not want to be on the factory floor. Let’s face it when you are bulk receiving 100s or 1000s of orders it is unlikely that all the retailers will always send you the right data every time so identifying and checking problem orders before they cause delays in your production is essential The tools to help deal with this are detailed below and should be an admin task so they can be dealt with in bulk rather than wasting production time. For mass customisation to work order data must be created by the time it reaches production

● Field Validation - auto checks that a mandatory field required is present on an order line or flags that line as on query

● Field Mapping - set up rules for mapping a supplier field to the field name in your production system. Retailers often use different names to your standards

● Easy artwork editing - once you have corrected held orders artwork should be able to be generated and the order pushed into production

● Agreed resolution processes - it must be able to identify these orders and have a clear audit trail of when received and customer contacted. Ideally auto retailer notification should be enabled to save you time constantly chasing

Bulk Edit Is the ability to bulk change orders - this kind of functionality is needed because

● You have received a significant volume of the same design so another production method can be selected to enable you to print in bulk and reduce cost / time - so you need to be able to route these orders to another machine

● You have to change a despatch method for problem resolution for example you have a machine breakdown and have to update all shipping methods to “Next Day”

● You want to tag orders of a certain type to group them together

Artwork Updates When a product template has already been set up it is really a waste of skilled labour for an artwork specialist to have to re-create the artwork. So your system should enable the person verifying any changes to add them to your system and push the artwork straight to production This saves money in wages and valuable seconds on the factory floor as artwork from jobs on “QC Query does not get sent for production until the details are verified


Here are the main Technology Solutions to help you better manage orders

● Front end preview tools to make it harder for customers not to add data, checks image quality and has a spell checker

● Product Management System - that records all the personalisation details and whether they are mandatory or not to help make validation easier

● Automated Artwork Generation - we cover this later in the paper but this technology is essential and re-batch stage too

● Cloud Based Deployment - by hosting a business system in the cloud it makes it very easy to share with all machine operators and factories whether they are onsite or at a different location

There are a few key points to watch out for

● Supplier Promise Dates - many operate a penalty system if you are late so critical they know when it is their issue not yours

● Spelling mistakes are almost impossible to trap as many words are spelt in different ways within different designs / contexts eg “School” might be “Too Cool for Skool” and any automated system would need too much manual intervention / extra time

● All data in the same field - some retailers do not have too much flexibility on their websites so send all personalisation data in a single field for you to separate - make sure you have costed for this extra work

● As the printer you can be held accountable for printing Copyright breeches or inappropriate images - if you are offering to manually check this then you need to make sure the time allocated in your costings

● Low resolution images can print badly make sure you are aware in advance as reprints can be time consuming and costly and are rarely likely to improve the print quality

Order management is more about big data and analytics to identify potential issues which can then be combined with system tools like artwork generation and SLA reporting Getting processes right for identifying and resolving order problems prior to production is intended for managing personalised and print on demand products and is less likely to be required for dropship stock as they are simpler products


1. If you take an average order error rate of approximately 2% 2. Then say 2 minutes per order for fixing artwork and regenerating artwork 3. Plus 2 minutes per order for reducing change control paperwork 4. Plus the wasted admin time communicating about incorrect orders


Sorting Orders & Customer Service It sounds trivial but just the process of sorting lots of pieces of paper into trays is time consuming when you have 100s of them so having this done automatically will save you time Typically you might want to sort or filter your orders by

● Product Type - so you can allocate to the different printing services ● Delivery Date - so you can decide on what orders to do first ● Delivery Service - so you can prioritise orders that are being collected first ● Customer - so you can focus on your key accounts ● Status - to help you understand stock that needs picking, orders in progress etc

Once orders are sorted you may also wish to perform some “Bulk Actions” on them to save further time. Common actions might be to print picking labels, job sheets and integrated despatch notes Finding an order can also waste a lot of time and being able to add a time stamped comment can often help colleagues understand the status of an order and what actions have already been taken. Typically you should always be able to location orders by searching on any combination of

● Customer Name and eMail ● Customer Postcode ● Product SKU . ● Retailer / Website Name ● Production Status

The following Technology Solutions can help save time with order filtering and customer service

● Cloud based database accessible from multiple locations ● Order database with multiple on screen search options ● Option to add time stamped comments to an order ● API integration so order details can be accessed via other customer service / order management

systems Common pitfalls to watch out for are

● Smaller scale order databases that are hard to search and get slower as order volumes increase ● Systems without easy access for multiple stakeholders ● Lack of easy options to create your own bespoke reports

Again the key here is about big data and easy analysis both by on screen filtering and reports Getting this right is equally important whether you are talking about personalised, print on demand or dropship stock


1. Can save you at least 15 minutes per day manually sorting orders into piles 2. Saves 2 minutes per order for managing customer service queries


Managing Proofs & Samples Most retailer eCommerce orders for personalised and print on demand products can bet set up so they create print ready artwork but B2B Suppliers (and some more complex B2C products) have a different challenge they need to manage a time consuming sampling and proofing process which can easily make an order unprofitable in small volumes The good news is that technology can provide you with a reasonably automated solution for managing the proofing process and B2B orders are usually more than 1 unit improving their profitability

● Your staff (or even the end customer) can create their products online using a slightly more advanced online customisation tool and blank template to create a virtual sample or proof

● A proof link or virtual sample can then be auto sent to a customer for sign off ● Once signed off (or if customer has created themselves) print ready artwork can be auto

generated and sent for production The potential pitfalls to consider are

● You need to make sure you have a range of blank template set up ● For bigger orders some B2B customers may still want an actual sample ()but at least the artwork

could still be generated this way) ● The B2B market is quite conservative and may take a while to adopt these technologies ● Be aware with consumer products (see below) that you will have an extra processing charge for

outsource services that you will need to build into the product price As detailed above managing proofs can also be relevant to some higher value consumer products like the examples listed below but again technology can be used to auto send customer uploaded images for external processing and when completed auto send a proof for sign off and do not release the order for production until approval received - so no more work for a retailer than any other on demand product

● Photo manipulation and renovation - uploaded photo applied to wall art ● Caricatures and Pop Art - created from an uploaded photo for wall art and gifts ● Background removal of uploaded image for adding to a new background (often called green

screen) As explained above samples and proofing is only really relevant to higher value personalised products or B2B products and not relevant to print on demand or dropship stock


1. Can save at least 30 minutes per job compared to manual proofing and resending each time by email

2. Can also save you the cost of creating a physical sample 3. When used for consumer products can save at least 10 minutes manually

processing artwork alterations


Job Sheets & Barcodes It is universally accepted that barcodes are a fast and accurate way to input data and with scanners costing as little as £30 they are clearly an obvious way to update your order processing system and saving you time and improving your accuracy They can be used for many different purposes and any good workflow package will be able to auto generate them

● To trigger artwork download to your printer ● To confirm passed QC ● To print a product label to attach to the product ● To confirm a specific process completed ● To confirm despatch and send to carrier system

The main debate is where do you generate the barcode - the options are explained in more detail below.

In the Product Artwork

Picking Label Job Sheets Batch Sheets Batch Sheet Labels

Where it does not too odd and can be hidden like on the back of a greetings card or book

Used instead of a pick list for blank stock so can be stuck on product and eliminates the need for a job sheet

Used when a wide variety of products is being sold a physical job sheet makes most sense

Used when multiple print jobs from different orders are combined on the same sheet

Used where a batch sheet is generated and you want to print labels from applying to each product on that batch

As detailed above barcodes provide many useful input options to speed up your processes and eliminate errors plus have the following additional benefits that can further improve your processes

● Most barcode scanners are USB so can be plugged into any computer just like a keyboard ● Double scans are common and very quick - for example you could scan once to view product and

then again to start printing ● Barcode scanners can also be programmed with a keystroke as well as a scan so can scan and hit

enter at the same time - saving more precious seconds ● Operative can scan a barcode badge to confirm who is despatching an order so multiple users can

use the same workstation without having to login and out Using barcodes is pretty hassle free just a few points to consider

● Check what barcode your system uses and make sure you have compatible scanners ● Make sure your barcodes are not printed too small for your scanner to easily scan ● Wireless scanners are more expensive and all need access to a screen to work


Integrated Labels Sounds like a simple thing but can be a big time saving dependant on what workflow you adopt. They are usually a combination of 2 or 3 documents / labels in a single sheet with a single or multiple barcodes Popular dropship marketplaces like Amazon have developed their own format to make it easier for fulfilers to print them and despatch products Detailed below are some typical examples

● Picking Label as part of Job Sheet ● Multiple Product Labels as part of a Batch Sheet ● Despatch Label as part of a Despatch Note ● Carrier Label as part of a Job Sheet ● Carrier / Despatch Label as part of Invoice

Example Job Sheet Labels Example Royal Mail 2D Barcode Example Amazon Despatch Note

The concept here is more about the internet of things with barcode scanning devices feeding back to systems to update rather than keyboard input. Your workflow could be as simple as 1 scan to confirm despatch or could have many different processes with a scan at each stage. On average you would expect say 4 scans per personalised product There are 3 main types of barcode scanner - wired connected to a USB port, wireless connected by bluetooth or wifi enabled with own integrated screens Getting this right is equally important whether you are talking about personalised, print on demand or dropship stock. The only difference is that you are likely to have less stages in the process for dropship stock


1. Reduced errors will save wasted administration time 2. Faster data input will save 1 second per scan point (say 3) per order 3. Integrated labels save extra printing time 4. Adding barcodes to artwork saves printing job sheets as well


Stock Picking & Automated Purchasing If you have the right stock next to the machine and can keep the printing printing non stop then you are doing the right things. There are 3 main ways of achieving this that can save you considerable time

● Small stock can be kept next to the printing machines and taken as required ● Consolidated picking lists or labels can be generated to reduce time spent collecting products ● Purchase orders can be auto generated for products held at a wholesaler for next day delivery

The key here is that each of the above action changes the status of the order so your production gets only the orders that can be produced at that moment in time and keeps the printers printing Once stock has been booked in or picked then that should release orders for production so no time wasting looking at back orders that can be produced The most common Technology Solutions being successfully used here are

● Print picking labels instead of lists as these helps and eliminates the need to print a picking sheet and a job sheet

● Use Wholesale blanks to speed up new product creation and more importantly enable the automation of purchase order generation when not stock blanks

● Use dynamic order status so can easily filter orders by their production status so no time wasted finding the orders you can work on

A few things to watch out for here

● Need to make sure every on demand product you create is associated with the blank stock item ● Sizes & colour options for garments can make this area more complicated as dramatically multiply

the number of SKUs available ● Stock picking labels need to be heat resistant if they are being used on products that are going

through a dryer From a technology perspective this is really all about big data and analytics to help you understand stock requirements at a glance but there is also a requirement for system integration when sending purchase orders Getting this right is equally important whether you are talking about personalised, print on demand or dropship stock - they are also likely to use the same blanks


1. Time wasted calculated what stock you need 2. Time wasted printing both job sheets and picking lists 3. Time wasted in production managing orders you do not have the stock for 4. Time wasted creating and sending manual purchase orders


Automating Artwork Perhaps the number one time thief here and an essential part of the mass customisation process. Artwork generation has to be automated as not only is manually setting artwork for batches of 1 time consuming it is also more likely to lead to mistakes with artwork and expensive reprints being required To automate your artwork process you will need

● Artwork template ● Artwork assets like fonts, colours & images ● Artwork creation rules ● Good knowledge of production considerations ● Print file specifications ● An understanding of file naming conventions

Armed with the above details the following Technology Solutions can be put in place to automate artwork generation

● Product Customiser - used on a website front end to allow a user to see and verify their artwork before ordering

● Verification Engine - will check that mandatory fields populated, image resolution acceptable, no , inappropriate language used and other rules met

● Artwork Server - will need the ability to queue artwork for generation and should really be scalable for busy periods so you do not experience any production delays waiting for artwork creation

● Artwork Editing - saves a lot of time if you have a simple tool to correct identified issues or QC failures and do not need specialists skills to re-generate artwork

● Print Test Capability - always sensible to be able to test auto generation before it is triggered otherwise could be lots of expensive and time consuming reprints

● Background templates - needed for adding crop / registration marks and layers ● Third Party Artwork Processing Tools - often needed for specialist artwork formats like

embroidery There are quite a few potential pitfalls to look out for here

● Colour management - can you create the artwork with the correct colour space ● Image management - have you filtered out poor quality images is your artwork at the right

resolution for the best quality print ● As mentioned above do always print test as if automated problems issues can be quickly

multiplied ● Make sure you have processing capacity for file generation as big files do take time to generate

Generating artwork does not really apply to dropship stock products but is equally important for both personalised or print on demand products


1. Eliminate manual artwork creation is a massive time saver 2. Reducing re-print by automated checking before printing saves time &

money 3. Improved speed & capacity of artwork generation means no bottlenecks


Batching Artwork This is how you start to adopt the principles of mass production by grouping single orders together to create larger print runs (mass customisation). Typically you can group orders together in a single print file by the following criteria

● By Product SKU / type ● By Delivery address ● By Delivery service ● By Product Colour ● By Product Sizes

The batching criteria you adopt is usually driven by the type of printing / decoration equipment you have available, the number of different products you are producing and the delivery promises you offer. To enable production batching you will need to set up

● Batch Layout Template - decide the size of batch sheet, whether number of pages relevant, the positioning for the individual print jobs within the batch and whether any crop marks, registration marks or cut lines are needed

● Processing Requirements - such as applying masks to save ink, inverting artwork for sublimation, cropping artwork files to fit templates and auto resizing artwork

● Whether to Mix Batches with similar products or stick to a single product type

Batching does not always need to be used to combine print/ artwork files it is also a very useful tool for just routing / sorting orders so a machine operator just gets a list or can download single orders. This is still a big time saver but is just a better fit for some production processes There are also some other technology enabled options that can be useful in setting up / implementing your batching strategy

● Set cut off times - so artwork is held until you have a full production run then released at the nominated time even if a full batch not ready

● Mixing Products - keeping single product types on the same batch until the above cut off time then mixing batches together after this time as order volumes reduce

● Post processing - adding a colour profile to a batch or adding cut lines /layers ● Scanning batch barcodes - to update batch status, bulk print labels or despatch

The key points to watch out for are

● Making sure your batch sizes are realistic and fit your order output or you could cause a lack of work at certain times on the factory floor - good example is that at peak times you could print mug transfer 96up on a wide format printer but a quieter times you might wait half a day for 96 mugs so should revert to smaller batch sizes or printers

● That all batched artwork files share the same colour profile / production technique As with auto artwork generation this is only really relevant for personalised & print on demand products


1. Printing a single sheet with multiple print jobs is quicker than printing one at a time

2. Extra auto processing on batches eliminates any additional tweaks needed 3. Automatically routing orders for production saves time organising orders


RIP Integration RIP can best be described as Raster Image Processing and many printers need you to RIP an artwork file in order for a printer to produce it correctly so it is important that this is built into your production process and you always have a supply of print ready files Most on demand production sites have many different types of printing machines which require different types of RIP software - in an ideal world you want a centrally hosted single RIP that will create and support all the different types of RIP files needed RIP functionality can be grouped into 4 basic areas

● Print Modes - set up to optimise the speed and performance of your printer can offer considerable time savings from standard printer configurations

● Print Media - set up to optimise printing on a specific substrate from both a quality & speed perspective

● Colour Management - to ensure accurate representation of colours ● Printer Drivers - to enable the control of the printer from within your software offering

considerable time saving by eliminating clicks - see also the next section of this paper

Here is a list of some of the most common applications for RIP Software that can all be automated

● Add cut lines to files for print and cut (CVT) - eliminate multiple processes ● Add layers both underbase and varnish to files for UV printing ● Add starting coordinates for print heads for DTG printing to print faster and save pretreatment ● Auto nest artwork to maximise media coverage (see also Auto Batching Section)batching) ● Make it easier and faster to print a larger file for wide format printing

This is a fairly technical area so worth considering

● Do you have the skills available to make the most of the potential time savings a RIP can offer ● Do you actually need RIP software can your core software handle simple tasks like inverting

artwork and applying a colour profile for sublimation This is now all about cloud computing in the old world you had separate local RIPs on local printers but to make on demand work well you need a centrally controlled service. It is also about harnessing the internet of things by using tools like a local print spooler to collect and print files from the cloud automatically. Also worth remembering not all print methods need RIP Getting this right is equally important whether you are talking about personalised or print on demand and like other artwork processes is not relevant to dropship stock


1. Speeding up your printer with print modes can shave seconds off every order

2. Eliminating extra steps in artwork generation save admin time 3. Getting the colour right first time saves money on reprints and admin


Cloud Print & Printer Integration Have often heard that a couple of extra clicks to open and OK the print dialogue box doesn't really matter but when every second counts they certainly do make a difference when you add them up, especially when you consider the other potential time savings related to tighter printer integration It is not only the print dialogue box that can add extra time to every job but also the selection of the relevant printer for the print job and downloading the print job into the printer memory too We are not normally just talking about printing the artwork / product either as detailed below are the other print processes that can be part of the on demand production process so those extra clicks can really add up

● Picking list of labels ● Job / Batch sheet ● Batch cover sheet ● Despatch Note & Label ● Product Information Sheet

Here are the main technology solutions that can be used for controlling the printer from inside your business system and eliminating the extra clicks

● Cloud Print Server - can control all your printers via the internet and you can set up routing rules so all print jobs automatically know which printer to use

● IP Print Server - same as the above but set up on your network so can be faster if you have an internet connection. There are also an increasing number of specialist print servers that boast of print speed improvements too like Bartender for label printers,

● Bypass Print Dialogue - can be set up but this only handles a single printer ● Print Spoolers - are another very useful tool that auto download artwork from the cloud or server

so it is ready to print on the local machine without delay for printer memory. This can also be triggered by a barcode scan so jobs can be queued up ready

● RIP - as introduced in the previous section of the paper also have the ability to drive many different printers direct from the computer screen sometimes also providing a print speed improvement too

● SDK/ APIs - some printers feature an API or SDK to allow software to connect directly to them to aid faster printing

● Hot Folders - are probably the most common method of connecting direct to a printer where software puts artwork and a print specification in a folder which is monitored by the printer and auto printed as soon as found

A couple of areas to watch out for are making sure you have a fast enough Internet for cloud print or enough memory for the local PC / Network. This is all about cloud computing and the internet of things


1. Eliminate print dialogue x number of print processes makes a big difference 2. Automated routing saves time selecting the right printer and eliminates

potential errors 3. Local print spoolers downloading artwork leads to faster print speeds


QC & Branding Scanning Adding scan points for quality control and branding stations sound on the surface like they might slow down the production process but they do have some really important functions that mean you do not need to slow down other areas of your workflow and will lead to an overall time saving

● Identify if multi sided products - then no need to interrupt workflow scanning will tell you if a products needs a 2nd print

● Identify products that are part of a multi line order - makes sure you do not need to generate 2 consignments (see also the section on Multi Line Orders on page 26)

● Enable fast reprinting if needed - meaning problems can be identified early in the process and reprinted without disrupting workflow

● Reduce customer complaints and save the extra postage - if you do not identify issues before despatching

● Give clear guidance of next steps of the process - no need for people to read paperwork so less chance to make mistakes

● Provide branding instructions - show all instructions on screen so actions clear and order can be taken to the correct workstation

The technology used to help achieve the above benefits has already been discussed in this paper and is identified below

● Barcode scanning for faster update and less mistakes ● Product management system for accurate specification ● On screen display to help visualise products & branding requirements (usually fixed label) mean

less chance of making errors There a couple of points to consider

● QC failure reason codes are a really good idea as they help with analysis of problems and then enable you to refine processes to reduce future wasted production resource

● Over complicating your process if you do not do much branding or multi sided printing ● Separate scan is not 100% required if you want to build a visual QC into the despatch process it

just depends on your staff quality / experience, product type, QC philosophy or factory layout ● Take care not to become too reliant on total automation as a visual check is always needed to

identify potential copyright infringement or inappropriate images or text All scan points are very much part of the internet of things and in this process are also combined with cloud computing to deliver accurate specifications to make it easier for your staff Although mainly needed for checking the quality of personalised or print on demand products this concept can be useful for dropship stock if you were rebranding or offering different packaging options


1. Time saved not disrupting workflow 2. Time saved eliminating errors by good on screen display 3. Better understanding of the reason for QC failures saves wasted time in

the future


Batch Sub Status Not all mass customisation processes are as simple as taking a blank product, printing on it then despatching. Many have multiple different stages that you may want to track through the factory to help understand your workload in different departments Having the ability to take a flexible approach to this for different decoration processes is important for the more complex products like a cut and sew t shirt or made to measure curtains where they might go through several extra processes like cut fabric, sew fabric and press fabric Being able to easily scan an order or batch of orders to update its progress through your factory can help you save time and optimise your workflow in the following ways

● On Screen Filtering to Display Jobs ● Identify & eliminate costly bottlenecks - knowing what jobs are in each department means you can

understand what needs to be done to meet your despatch promises ● Show Clear Audit Trail of where a specific orders is in your workflow ● Automate customer service by providing either portal or email updates every time a certain

process has been completed Technology Solutions

● Barcode scanning for faster update and less mistakes ● Flexible database of different sub processes ● Product management system for accurate specification

There are a couple of points to consider

● Need to make sure extra stages are only applicable to certain products as not all will need and you really do not want to add unnecessary steps

● In almost all cases you are not looking for a full ERP solution bill of materials solution just a way of defining a process flow for a specific decoration process - most ERP systems were not built with the on demand fulfilment process in mind

All scan points are very much part of the internet of things and in this process are also combined with cloud computing to deliver a clear process workflow As with QC scanning this is mainly needed for managing the workflow of personalised or print on demand products but this concept can be useful for dropship stock or configurable if you were rebranding, compiling or offering different packaging options


1. No delays in production all orders visible at all stages 2. Admin time saving as staff can see what is left to complete on an order 3. Less time wasted on production planning


Despatch Scanning It is really important that you have a very slick process for dispatching orders as his is probably the most fundamental difference between on demand fulfilment and conventional production as here you are despatching 100s or 1000s of individual orders per day and conventionally only. Few so every little time saving really makes. Difference As orders are going to hundreds of different locations you will need the services of either single or multiple shipping companies all of who will have their own IT systems so seamless integration is essential As discussed earlier barcode scanning is the fastest and most accuratE way to confirm despatch of an order and all processes should be triggered by a single scan Technology integrations triggered by a scan should enable

● Posting the despatch details into a carrier system eliminating any potential duplicate entry ● Automated customer despatch notification by email, webhook or API ● Carrier Despatch label printing (if not using an integrated label set - ● Get a order tracking ID to to add to your order details - this can also be used in your email

despatch notifications to help reduce customer service calls There is another big benefit to carrier integrations too which is the cost savings that can be achieved by taking advantage of special deals for dropship carriers or by using specialist international carriers for specific purposes. These can either be passed onto your client or used to increase your own profit margins There are quite a few areas to be aware of

● Have you considered the extra development costs for extra carriers integration - check what your platform supports out of the box

● if you are using integrated labels you may need to have triggered the carrier integration prior to the despatch as the label will obviously need the carrier details on

● Sometimes shippers will need manifests not just a bag of parcels - can your software create these so you do not have to open up third party software

● Likely to use more than one carrier so need to consider how this effects workflow / bins ● Specialist requirements like retailer paperwork and multiline orders (covered in the next sections) ● You may get requirements for delivering back to retail outlets or distribution centres

Hope it is pretty clear that despatch scanning is one of the most important requirements for on demand fulfilment and carrier integrations are a critical component to reduce duplicated effort and wasted time Getting this process right is equally important whether you are talking about mass customised products or dropship stock. Integrations are the key technology required


1. Time saved updating order status 2. Eliminated duplicate effort adding order details to carrier system 3. Reduced customer service work by providing tracking ID 4. Saved shipping costs by using best carrier for the specific delivery


Retailer Branding If you are being successful it is very likely that you will have lots of on demand retailers and marketplaces using your services and when you are dropshipping direct to end users this is likely to lead to requests for lots of different branded paperwork which could be a real challenge Fortunately there are several technology solutions for this

● Print logos dynamically from a database - this means your system will select different logos to print on the documentation dependant on the retailer / website placing the order

● Use print servers to route order paperwork to different printers or print trays automatically ● Integrated stationery pre-printed with different logos (see earlier section) ● Branding scan points to confirm additional labelling / packaging requirements (see earlier section

on QC Scan points To implement these you will need to be able to

● Filter orders by channel / retailer if you are using the integrated stationery ● Have the ability to print a different logo on each separate despatch ● Get everyone to agree to the same stationary format so you can use the same printer or label

stock ● Have multiple printers or trays available and fed by a print server

You should be aware of the following

● If retailers want drastically different paperwork completing or for you to follow any manual processes then you need to consider this in your pricing as could slow your workflow down

● Be aware if retailers want different packaging as you would need to stock it and cost it into your process - try and stick to applying labels as it is faster and cheaper

Retailer branding should be able to be automatically applied to multiple labels & documents here are the different types of documents usually involved

● Despatch Notes ● Despatch Labels ● Picking Notes ● Custom Packaging

Getting this right is equally important whether you are talking about mass customised products or dropship stock. It is arguable that it is even more critical for dropship as in most cases the customers are not aware that the stock is coming from a different location or warehouse


1. Eliminate the need to load different labels / paper 2. Time saved by not having to change processes for different requirements


Multi Line or Part Orders When the majority of orders are for only one item you may think you can ignore multi line orders but this is certainly not the case as that 10% of orders that are for more than one product can completely disrupt your workflow and waste lots of precious time . So identifying and managing multi line orders is an important part of on demand workflow. By dispatching multi line orders together there is also a substantial postage saving available The good news is yet again technology can provide some good solutions to ensure your workflow is not interrupted and you can still take advantage of the cost savings Detailed below are some examples

● Intelligent scan points - that tell you where to put a product when you scan it - either despatch it, print another side or add to a bin to await

● Bins - dynamic bins that auto add products when they for you to store ● Incomplete orders report ● Bins ready to despatch dashboard

That said leading dropshippers like Amazon have got people used to receiving parts of an order at different times but this is usually when they come from different sites (see shipper section) Lead times also play an important role in deciding if you do choose to consolidate bins - as it may not be viable if you have a product that takes 3 days and one that is ready the same day You also need to consider

● Making sure you have enough actual bins available and they are the right size for all products ● A separate picking process just for your bins will help improve workflow at busy times ● The ability to identify bins where a single product from a multi line order is holding up a despatch

promises Getting this right is equally important whether you are talking about personalised, print on demand or dropship stock - it could also involve any combination of them The key technology here is big data and analytics as this is ultimately about understanding the product lines on each order and how they relate to each other in the production process


1. No delay searching for products for a multi line order 2. No extra postage charges for multiple despatches 3. Easier to prioritise orders based on bins that need emptying


Consolidating Orders In the previous section we covered the use of bins for multi line orders - here we look at a different type of consolidations possible when consolidating orders for collection or delivery to store The deliver to store option is relatively simple and in many cases just a standard dropship order with the delivery address being a retail outlet rather than an end customer. However this can become more complex if you are getting multiple orders for a single store and you need to deliver them as a single despatch to reduce shipping costs The collection option is mainly for larger retailers who want to collect multiple orders from your warehouse and either bring them to their own distribution centre for delivery with other orders or drop them off at their stores for the click and collect business model As you would expect technology is the key to these fairly complex logistical models and detailed below is a brief overview of each

● Send different shipping labels for collection - instead of a carrier label a collection label can be generated so easy for your team to identify and put in different area for collection rather than despatch - and avoid slowing down your workflow

● Consolidate orders by despatch address for click and collect - similar concept to multi line orders / bins where orders for same store are grouped together for despatch

● Auto populate store addresses from a database so that it is quick & easy to despatch and no different to any other dropship order - so again no interruption to workflow

There are a few points that are worth highlighting when you are consolidating orders

● If you are offering click and collect to hundreds of store locations have you got enough bins for each store or have you got the technology to use dynamic bins

● If you are bringing orders back to your distribution centre have you considered the process within your DC - will you work by order reference or Product EAN

Getting this right is equally important whether you are talking about mass customised products or dropship stock Just like multi line orders the key technology here is big data and analytics as this is ultimately about understanding the product lines on each order and how they relate to each other in the production process


1. Being able to pick all orders of a certain type together saves time in the warehouse

2. Being able to scan just an EAN number means no label printing needed


Offsite Suppliers In our on demand world you do not always have to fulfil products in your own warehouse and automatically sending certain types of order to specialist dropship suppliers is a pretty common action Amazon are a good example of a business that effectively combining sending products from both its own warehouses and third party warehouses. The key is always to use technology to automate the process of sending to the supplier Adopting a cloud computing model helps businesses treat orders sent to other supplier warehouses in exactly the same as if they were being fulfilled from your own warehouse The automation of sending nominated order types to offsite suppliers is key task for saving you time in your workflow as with batches of 1 you really cannot afford to be manually placing or sending orders out to third parties The core technology tools used are detailed below

● Automated order routing and delivery - your system will need to know where and how to send orders for specific products. This is usually by API, SFTP or file upload

● You will also need options for third party suppliers / warehouses to update your system directly once an order is dispatched as any delay here effects customer service responses. It may not affect your own workflow management but will have a big impact on your suppliers and perhaps even the prices they charge you

● SLA Reporting becomes really important as you have less visibility of order status when they are not in your factory

Important points to consider are

● Reliability of some supplier integrations - you are only as good as your suppliers systems so for smaller suppliers it may be worth making them use your own system via cloud computing rather than rely on an integration

● Some retailers operate financial penalties for missed promise dates so you need to make sure your offsite suppliers can cope with these lead times

● An audit trail is a very useful tool for understanding your supplier performance Getting this right is equally important whether you are talking about mass customised or dropship stock products As detailed above cloud computing and system integrations are the core technology involved in this part of the process


1. Automating sending out orders saves time sorting and emailing them manually

2. Cloud computing saves time as external factories can update your workflow in real time


Invoicing & Accounting Invoicing and administration costs can sometimes be forgotten as they do not form part of the factory production process but because you are looking at 1000s of individual order lines they can be very labour intensive to manage so a technology solution is very important The different areas that can consume your time are itemised below

● Invoice Reconciliation - Sales vs Purchases ● Generating a Consolidated Invoice - adding multiple order lines to a single invoice for a selected

time period eg day, week or month ● Posting to Your Accounts System - entering invoice details into your main accounting system ● Taking Payments & Chasing Debt from Smaller Customers - managing credit control ● Calculating shipping costs per order- checking the cost of delivery for each order to ensure you

are not losing money on delivery The technology solutions that help you save time are shown below

● Auto Reconciliation and Self Billing - system calculates both the sales and purchase values and sends invoices to your supplier as well as invoicing your retailer. If self billing not applicable then will still raise a list for esy audit of any invoice received

● Easy Spreadsheet Reporting - system generates reports as spreadsheet to allow further manipulation if required

● Accounting System APIs - to enable the direct posting of information into your accounts system ● Zapier Automation Tool - specialist tool that can use webhooks / API to grab data and trigger

automated actions in 100s of different systems ● Saved Credit Card Payments - auto collect money from a card every time an order is received

Here are some examples of things to watch out for when setting up your accounts for the mass customisation business model

● Trying to post every order into your accounting system may not be required you could just post order summaries otherwise traditional accounts systems can get unmanageable very quickly

● Having too many small accounts without automated payments can be resource hungry ● Having to use multiple different invoice formats can be difficult without accounting integrations ● Missing things like returns, damages and cancelation can lead to overcharging if not careful

control of reconciliation ● Encouraging self billing can really help reduce labour and is easy to check ● Losing money on postage is easier on lots of small orders

Getting your accounting streamlined is equally important whether you are talking about mass customised or dropship stock products When it comes to the technology strategy involved in managing your accounting it is all about big data and the powerful analytical tools to manipulating it


1. Eliminate time spent raising manual invoices 2. Save admin time by adopting a self billing strategy 3. Reduce time spent chasing small debts with automated payment collection


Dashboards & Reporting When dealing with 1000s of small orders having a dashboard to help you visually identify order volumes, statuses and activity is a very important tool By harnessing big data and the analytical tools available it is easy to create a dashboard that suits your business requirements Typically you would want to monitor details like

● Orders Received by day and channel type ● Orders Despatched each day ● Orders left in Production ● Orders currently outside your SLA ● Orders on hold or requiring customer feedback ● Order trends per day , week or month ● Time required to fulfil current orders

Technology can then help you use the available data via the following options

● TV Dashboards to display on your walls ● Automated Reports send via email ● Data Warehouses to enable you to develop your own reports ● Zapier and Other Automation Tools to triggered automated actions from order data

Sometimes you need to be able to dig deeper into the data so a flexible reporting engine is also important - this can be on screen but typically now days you should be able to use spreadsheets so you can slice and dice yourself too When considering your reporting requirement you should be aware of

● Production planning - how will you manage your capacity vs orders ● Making sure all your orders are processed via a single system or it makes it difficult to get the full

picture of what is going on in your business ● Do you have the skills in house to create reports / dashboards from a data warehouse ● Consider who needs access to what information as different team in different locations may well

need different options ● Product lead times should be recorded so you can monitor against Service Level Agreements

(SLAs) In terms of technology required this is all about big data and analytics Getting this right is equally important whether you are talking about mass customised or dropship stock products - this is just about order management


1. Spotting possible issues will stop you getting penalties for broken promises 2. Knowing order trends means you do not waste labour costs


Product Management Although not directly related to order management product management is a very important part of on demand product fulfilment for the following reasons

● Providing better product data to your customers means less order errors ● Without good product data you cannot validate order data when orders arrive ● To automate artwork you need to store clear rules on its creation ● Good product images help staff and customers visually check orders ● Having product lead times helps you check despatch dates against SLA requirements ● Using data like EAN numbers can make it easier to consolidate orders ● Print testing a product can save lots of heartache when a product goes live without being

correctly set up ● Allowing orders for samples etc reduces your administration time - self service is key to reducing

the time spent on any administration task ● You need to store other information like branding guidelines and fulfilment instructions against a

product Technology solutions you would really need to put in place to support the above requirements can be seen below

● Shared Cloud Based Product Database ● Product Feeds & APIs for Customers ● Test preview & print functionality ● Place Direct Order Functionality - window direct on your system ● Online Technical Support & Knowledge Bases

It is worth bearing in mind the following points related to product management

● Useful to have an option to map customer field names to the field names you use on your products as will not always be the same

● Mapping could also be needed on Retailer / Supplier SKUs ● You need to make sure you have an agreed method for communicating changes to product

specification / costs - ideally via product notification feeds In an ideal world your product manager should be integrated to multiple systems both for importing products data and then making available in a number of feeds / end points Getting this right is more important for personalised products but also adds value to both print on demand and dropship stock as well


1. Less wasted time if product data held in a central area 2. Saves your customer time too and reduces order import errors 3. Reduces production errors with good reference images and clear fulfilment

instructions


Stock Management Running out of blank stock can cause you big issues and bring your production to a grinding halt costing you money in wasted wages and increasing your production lead times. Equally not letting your dropship stock customers know they cannot currently sell certain products because they are out of stock is also vital to their business - so this makes stock management very important for any on demand fulfilment business The key areas where technology can help are identified below

● Wholesale blanks - help you understand if you have the stock to make the orders you receive and make it easier to auto order these from the relevant wholesales

● Automated Reordering - can be triggered if you platform has reorder trigger points and takes into consideration both wholesale blanks and stock

● Latest stock feeds / APIs - are essential for the dropship stock model as retailer selling stock will always want to know the latest stock position

● Electronic Purchase Orders - are another time saver and can be sent straight from your screen either by email or more ideally via a suppliers API

● Fast booking in of stock as it arrives - in an on demand world you need to auto release orders to production via picking labels or job sheets as soon as stock arrives and is booked in

Some common issues that you should watch out for are

● Poor data entry, bypassing the system or setting up a product with the wrong blank can all lead to inaccurate data which when relying on your system can lead to overstocking and wasted money

● Accounting for QC issues, Theft & Damages - these will all affect your stock position and you will need processes to deal with each of them that keep your data accurate

● Accurate records for blanks especially if you change the blank you use for one order as the ones on the system are out of stock - you will need a system to deal with these too

● Products like garments can have 100s of variant SKUs for a single design - a lot of though needs to go into how you manage these

This is all about having products set up correctly (see the previous section on product management) and big data / good analysis tools with and some integrations either for your customers to see stock levels or your suppliers to receive blanks orders As explained above, getting your stock levels right and making them accessible to your customer base is equally important whether you are talking about personalised, print on demand or dropship stock products. Stock and blanks can quite often be the same actual product


1. Time saved manually checking and ordering stock 2. Time saved automating purchase orders 3. Time saved auto booking in stock and triggering production


Hardware & Infrastructure For most businesses now the internet has become a critical business requirement and slow internet speeds are definitely a barrier to improving business performance. It is also fair to say that old or badly maintained hardware is also a barrier - it is such a common site to see old PCs in the factory. Having reliable and fast hardware and infrastructure can make a significant difference to your workflow saving precious time on each order. Detailed below is an overview of the key areas Here are some ways in which a slow Internet can impact your workflow and if you speed it up will improve your productivity

● Downloading artwork - can lead to slow print speeds or queues at busy times ● Processing artwork - if using any cloud based services these can be really slowed down if you have

a poor internet connection ● Receiving new orders - almost all orders arrive via the internet so a slow connection limits your

ability to import orders making it harder to manage production and potentially increasing effort to sort orders

● Access to business system - as most software is now delivered via the cloud poor internet can mean every single process is slowed down from viewing a new order, to printing to all business administration tasks

Hardware issues can have an equally big impact on your workflow losing you valuable seconds on every order and some of the common problems are listed below

● Insufficient memory in PCs - limit the number of orders that can be processed at any time ● Insufficient memory in printers - can slow down the speed of artwork transfer to the printer and

number of jobs that can be printed as a single batch ● Slow processors in PCs - mean every task is just a little bit slower ● Old Operating Systems - mean you do not get the optimisation and security of new operating

systems ● Non optimised print modes - can slow down your printer meaning every print job can be that

much slower which when multiplied can lead to big time savings As hardware and the internet continue to evolve you can see this area having an even bigger potential saving on workflow. Newer technologies detailed on page 7 like 3D Printing, Actual Reality and Robotics will undoubtedly all need more processing power and faster internet too Clearly having optimised hardware and fast internet have an equally important impact on your workflow whether you are talking about personalised, print on demand or dropship stock products.


1. Time saved spent waiting for orders or artwork to download 2. Time saved updating each order because of faster hardware / internet 3. Time saved on each print job because of faster hardware or optimised print

modes


Summary of How Technology Helps We hope this paper has given you a better understanding of how technology is essential to help you implement a mass customisation or on demand fulfilment business model and that you can now identify where you can make your own time and cost savings We are pioneers in CIM systems for delivering mass customisation / managing on demand fulfilment and our platform covers the 4 essential components (Orders, Products, Machines & Integrations) identified on page 5 of this paper Detailed below is a summary of the 8 main areas (covering the 21 sections covered in this paper) where technology enables any on demand business to save time and reduce costs

Importing Managing Updating Routing

Getting orders into your system with zero intervention is the target

Reducing, identifying & resolving errors producing considerable overall cost savings

Barcode, Bulk and automated updates to orders reduce the burdens of order management

Sending the orders direct to the machine / factory saves much admin

Auto Generation Batching & Consolidation

Administration Exporting

Auto creation of artwork and relevant paperwork is one of the biggest savers

Grouping artwork and orders together is the trigger to adopting a mass production model

Enabling the grouping & automation of admin tasks so they become less labour intensive

Where you are sending to a carrier, producing reports big data/ analytics saves you time

In very simple terms without harnessing technology it would be very difficult to make a good profit and remain competitive in an industry where you are processing 100s of individual orders per day and every second counts We are passionate about our software platform and enabling people to effectively deliver the on demand fulfilment model so we hope you have enjoyed reading this white paper and are always happy to answer further questions

Andrew Talbot CEO - Custom Gateway [email protected]


mailto:[email protected]

Workflow Options On Demand workflows can come in many different shapes and sizes and although we provide a standard software platform it can be tailored to accommodate many different product, machine or industry requirements The diagram below illustrates some of the main options and there are many more examples on our website https://www.custom-gateway.co.uk/gateway-oms-workflow-options/


https://www.custom-gateway.co.uk/gateway-oms-workflow-options/

Industry Examples Detailed below are a few organisations that we consider pioneers of mass customisation or on demand fulfilment CIM Press - B2B Mass Customisation Experts Powered by Their Bespoke CIM System https://cimpress.com/ Amazon - Dropship Stock Pioneers Powered by Their Seller Central Platform https://services.amazon.com/?ld=SCSOAloginAS Nike by You - Built an On Demand Factory to Realise Their Configurable Trainers Workflow https://www.nike.com/gb/nike-by-you Zazzle - Used their Platform to Enable User Generated Content & Fulfilment https://www.zazzle.com/ Case Studies from our Gateway OMS On Demand Platform Users https://www.custom-gateway.com/portfolio_category/workflow-productivity/

References ● Other White Papers about Mass Customisation & On Demand Fulfilment

www.custom-gateway.co.uk/white-papers/ ● Deloitte Report on Smart Manufacturing

https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/focus/industry-4-0/smart-factory-connected-manufacturing.html

● World Economic Forum Fourth Industrial Revolution https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-what-it-means-and-how-to-respond/

● Order Management System Product Overview www.custom-gateway.co.uk/gateway-oms-product-guide/

● Blog Explaining the Importance of a CIM System to CIM Press https://techblogwriter.co.uk/cimpress/

● Blog on the Importance of technology https://www.custom-gateway.co.uk/investment-technology-key-mass-customisation-business-success/


https://cimpress.com/

https://services.amazon.com/?ld=SCSOAloginAS

https://www.nike.com/gb/nike-by-you

https://www.zazzle.com/

https://www.custom-gateway.com/portfolio_category/workflow-productivity/

https://www.custom-gateway.co.uk/white-papers/



https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-what-it-means-and-how-to-respond/

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-what-it-means-and-how-to-respond/

https://www.custom-gateway.co.uk/gateway-oms-product-guide/

https://techblogwriter.co.uk/cimpress/

https://www.custom-gateway.co.uk/investment-technology-key-mass-customisation-business-success/

https://www.custom-gateway.co.uk/investment-technology-key-mass-customisation-business-success/

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