5 Steps of The Order Fulfillment Process - Go Custom Boxes UK

Getting custom packaging from a reliable online vendor provides various benefits to businesses in terms of getting it with modernized traits. Brands can select the custom options while ordering the packaging online. They can choose the custom colors, sizes, and dimensions considering the requirements of products and the demand of customers. Brands have the choices in material selection from cardboard, reusable bux board, and kraft stock. All these materials are quite effective in protecting items from physical, biological, or environmental harm. Their flexibility provides brands an opportunity to customize the boxes by using die-cutting, embossing, gluing, scoring, perforations, and foiling. Brands can also use the packaging as a marketing tool by displaying the content engagingly with the help of advanced printing technologies. Modern CMYK color schemes enhance the appeal of printed content. Some useful finishes are also applied over the print to give it a shiny look and to protect it for longer durations.

Buying the custom packaging from online resources involves some basic order fulfillment steps that are essential to follow. Brands can have the best packaging solution on time by following a proper pattern. This pattern is the same for bulk or small orders from any online vendor in the UK. This complete process involves 5 basic steps that are essential to follow. Here are those steps for order fulfillment.

1. Requirements gathering

   The order fulfillment process involves various steps, and all of them need to be completed in an ordered arrangement. The foremost step involved in getting your custom packaging is the gathering of requirements to inform the supplier. The finished product received from the suppliers is fully dependent on the specifications provided by their clients. Gather your requirements considering the choices of customers. For example, if your products are related to health or food, then try to choose a sustainable material. You can communicate with the service providers to get information about the types of materials available and their benefits to the products. Make sure to list down all the requirements even before contacting the service providers to avoid any inconvenience later. Missing out on any of the requirements can reduce the effectiveness of the boxes. So consult the expert service providers that can guide well about it.

2. Manufacturing process

   The next step involved in this process is working on the order placed according to the requirements provided. For this purpose, strong sheets of cardboard or any other material are processed to form a box structure. Production of the custom boxes is done on modern grounds using the advanced manufacturing technologies that enable the manufacturers to utilize various customization techniques like die-cutting, letter pressing, embossing, foiling, and scoring. The utilization of the different customization techniques depends upon the type of packaging required. If it is for the counter display boxes, then perforation or transformable designs are utilized. Likewise, for the bakery boxes, a pair of handles are attached to them for customer ease. Printing technologies are given special attention for a better display of the promotional content. Digital or offset printing technologies are favored mostly because of their efficiency to provide better print results.

3. Manufacturing process

   Before moving to any further stage, assurance for the quality has vital importance. Manufacturers hold a manual quality assurance on their behalf by creating a prototype, and the same sample is also delivered to the clients getting the packing boxes. In the manufacturing plants, this assurance is done by creating a real environment of the conditions by which they have to go through. Some useful tests held for this purpose are the Cobbs test, compression test, and shakes resistance. Cobbs test is specifically held to check the ability to resist the humidity as most of the firms ship their items internationally to different regions of the world. Similarly, the items are put in the boxes to check their ability of weight carrying ability. The weight is gradually increased to check the point where it gets burst.

4. Invoicing and billing

   After the quality assurance, most of the work is done, and now it is time to get a clearance for the shipping of custom printed boxes. All the pending bills are to be cleared from the accounts department by getting in contact with them. Usually, a rough cost analysis is made during the initial communication. If any changes are made later during the manufacturing process, or the order is increased, then all such expenses are adjusted at this stage. It also includes the freight costs to be incurred on getting the packaging shipped to the desired location. Reliable service providers offer special discounts when a client places a bulk order. Along with the reduced transportation costs, some additional discounts are also offered on yearly events like Christmas or New Year. Clients can pay their dues by the secure online payment systems for their convenience.

5. Order shipment

   The last stage in the order fulfillment process is the deliverance of their placed order to the desired location. Meeting the deadlines is quite essential in the case of custom boxes as it could be a problem if brands are not getting orders on time. Manufacturers provide the facility in case any brand have not enough space to store the packaging in bulk. They keep shipping the needed amount of the boxes on time frequently. They are usually shipped in flat condition to minimize the space for storage in the transportation means and the warehouses. They can be easily assembled according to the needs, even on the spot. The order fulfillment process ends at this step, and the same cycle is repeated every time.

All these 5 steps of order fulfillment are crucial for getting the custom packaging with all the modern traits. This whole process is fundamentally comprised of the receiving, processing, and shipping stages. Exhibiting a professional attitude towards the customers is the real deal that makes any service provider the favorite of clients.