Here’s what you need to know about distributed order management

Taking apart the buzzword!  Read on to know more –

In business, the customers’ expectations are deeply linked with fulfillment – how fast, and how efficiently you can fulfill their orders is often an indication of how much repeat business you will get from them.

How do you make your fulfillment processes efficient, and as a result, drive up your revenues?

A DOM system facilitates offline and online fulfillment, by aggregating, managing and fulfilling orders – as and where the customers want.

In a nutshell, Distributed Order Management is a system to aggregate global inventory views, by managing orders across various fulfillment systems and processes.

As you can see, this is what the DOM system enables your business to do. According to Gartner’s report on warehousing and fulfillment 2015, a distributed order management system is a type of order management system that has the following four components:

• A central view of inventory: An enterprise-level view of inventory – in stores, distribution centers, 3^rd party providers, in transit vendors.
• Complete customer info:  Details of the customers such as address etc.
• Rule engine:  This is the ‘brain’ – a set of rules to decide and orchestrate how orders are to be fulfilled from available inventory.
• Capability to instruct: This means that the system has the capability to relay orders to other systems in distribution centers, suppliers or stores to use available inventory and carry out the physical fulfillment process.

While this may sound like the perfect solution to all your fulfillment woes, it is important to note that a DOM system is not for everyone.

You need DOM if you have a wide network of manufacturing facilities, multiple distribution centers – i.e., a fairly comprehensive supply chain. However, if you are a mid-level or small sized retailer with a more localized network, then a DOM system is probably not for you.

What should you know before implementing a DOM system?

Here’s what you should check before you implement a DOM system into your organization:

Integrations with 3PLs and last-mile fulfillment companies:

A DOM system, should have the required integrations with other 3PL providers, and last-mile fulfillment companies, to enable accurate and on-time deliveries.

Complete Order Information:

Before you implement DOM, you should have complete information about the order – order destination, order visibility, order tracking, order routes. This can be leveraged by your DOM system for end-to-end fulfillment.

Strong functionality:

The DOM system you implement should have a strong functionality to manage order re-routing and customer service issues. It should also have the ability to centralize and prioritize orders, so as to orchestrate complex fulfillment flows to provide timely delivery to the customer.

The points listed above can help a company understand where it stands on key decision points, and be instrumental in deciding whether to get a DOM system onboard.

Coming next in this series – Using DOM to leverage profits.

Any tips or questions for us? Leave them in the comments below.