Pick and pack services, by themselves, can be performed by a variety of companies.  Everyone from conventional printers, freight couriers, ecommerce companies, and general warehousers participate in moving product from point A to B.  We even see so called fulfillment ‘experts’ having problems with shipping accurately, on-time deliveries, and adding value within their service offering.

With nearly two decades of experience, my advice to companies looking to outsource or make fulfillment changes is to look beyond the slick marketing, do your homework, and dig deep into core capabilities.  After you feel comfortable with the prospective company’s capabilities, the next step is to delve into the company’s culture.  Talk with the company’s employees.  Equally as important, call existing and old clients to discuss how easy they are to work with at all levels.  You’ll be surprised at the answers you get when you simply ask several pointed questions on the company’s culture and their ability to add material benefit.

In closing, competition is everywhere and all pick and pack programs shouldn’t be treated equally.  Your program will have special nuances that not all fulfillment companies can or are willing to adapt to while providing best practices in the industry.   It’s about finding a fulfillment partner that has the core service offering that meets your goals, has flexibility, and fits into your culture.

http://www.piworld.com/article/will-nanography-technology-change-the-face-printing-as-we-know-it/

Nanography™ is based on nanotechnology – the science of ultra-small particles. Particles that are measured in nanometers – billionths of a meter! And, as we have discovered at Landa, nano sized pigments have extraordinary qualities: they become amazingly powerful colorants, enabling an entirely new kind of digital printing.

Have you heard of Smashburger®? Their 100% Certified Angus Beef® burgers and special toppings have aided in their success. But Smashburger’s secret has been their social media outreach. They have grown from 3 locations to 150+, building brand awareness and boosting sales by engaging consumers and running coupon offers and promotions on Facebook and Twitter.

As the owner of a fulfillment company, at first this social media stuff was scary. The way people are communicating is changing drastically. Could this change the fulfillment industry? ‘Yes and no’ would be my answer. As a marketing execution/fulfillment company, we have seen some marketing departments cut their traditional print, promotional and direct mail campaign budgets. Instead, that money has been directed into organizations’ social media platforms. So, yes, we did see an initial drop in budgets but long term, we believe they will come back.

Why?

Everyone has heard of Tide® laundry detergent. Did you know it has over 2,500,000 Facebook fans? That’s crazy, I know. How did they do it? Through product sampling and give-aways, by running sweepstakes and awarding lifetime supplies – many, many ways. When I saw this statistic, I had my ‘A-ha!’ moment. The consumer still loves free stuff – promotional items, branded merchandise, swag – you name it. If you’re going to use social media to drive brand awareness, traditional marketing and branding methodologies still come into play. They may just underlie or trigger the social media tactics. We have seen it firsthand. So am I worried? Nope, I’m excited by all the opportunity social media brings to the marketing execution world!

If you had told me five years ago that we would own a digital press, I would have said you’re crazy! I always wanted to stay away from owning that type of equipment. But in watching all these changes and listening to our clients’ needs, the decision was easy. We’ve had the press now for four months and it is amazing to see the quality and volume of work this machine produces. The Digital Age continues to evolve at All Points and we couldn’t be happier!

When our clients call us, they instantly pick up on the passion we have for their business. I’ve witnessed it firsthand:

• We’ve chased down UPS and FedEx trucks to hand off late rush orders given to us over the phone after hours.
• We’ve left late in the evening and come back in, just hours later, to finish a kitting job that delivered to us late, but had to go out.
• We’ve received an urgent call on a Saturday, and then opened the warehouse to pull material for an event in town.
• We’ve taken over a high-profile program for a new client, building a complex website in less than a week while making for a seamless experience for the end-users.

Simply put, the staff at All Points does “Whatever It Takes” to get the job done because we care and understand the importance of each and every request. Because of that, we’re diligent about who we hire and make sure that each individual fits into our culture.

Most companies sell you something they’re not or they sell you something they wish they could be. Once the client leaves a meeting, everyone scratches their heads, looks at one another – and someone says “How are we going to give them what we promised?”. You know what happens – they don’t because they can’t. They’ve promised you things they can’t deliver. At All Points, the promise we can make is that we only commit to projects and client work that are a part of our core. If your project doesn’t fit us, we’ll suggest other resources to help you get it done.

Looking back since starting in 1995, I’m proud of who we are and what we stand for. The people of this organization make All Points a great place to be – and to work with.

Don’t take my word for it… call our clients. They’ll gladly let you know what they think of us.