We all know that having an accurate count of stock is critical.  But how accurate is the individual SKU count that we report to our Retailers?  This is a critical question.  If you have 10 of a specific SKU in stock and are reporting ALL 10 SKUs to ALL RETAILERS – it...

We all understand that efficiency in a warehouse operation relies almost entirely upon the time and motion of its personnel – the fewer steps while performing activities the better labor utilization you have, the more shipments you can make, and the less cost...

We’ve often spoken of the order processing cost associated with drop shipping and OPAL’s ability to do things that reduce that cost to less than $1 per order. But what about the cost of picking, packing and shipping by warehouse personnel?  90% of our customers did...

Now, really think about the difference for a minute.  My guess is that most everyone would say that they are “Automated”.  There’s probably an EDI service that downloads Purchase Orders from the retailer into an Accounting System or ERP System, and it probably also...

EDI continues to be a significant part of a supplier’s life.  It’s mandated by many of your retailers or e-tailers, whether it be for drop shipping product directly to consumers or doing warehouse fulfillment.  However, over the last 20 years a major shift has opened...

More profit per drop ship order, increasing the number of orders without adding staff to process them and doing it without paying for EDI documents.  What’s not to like?  Assume that you could: Handle 95%+ of your drop ship orders entirely autonomously (think...

Anyone that drop ships product directly to consumers is painfully aware of these issues: The order processing labor cost to process small orders and the impact it has on the order’s profit. Growing your drop ship business doesn’t solve the problem – you end up needing...

Product Content – the information you provide on-line at retailer websites describing your product – is the secret ingredient when selling through e-Commerce Channels.  The depth of detail and the content design used to showcase your product on Wayfair.com,...

Do you really need a 3rd party EDI Company or VAN (Value Added Network) to send and receive data such as POs, Acknowledgements, Ship Notices, Invoices, etc. to your retailers?  With a very small number of exceptions, the answer is NO.  Fortunately for these companies,...

As I’m sure you are aware, many retailers and e-tailers require their suppliers to provide SKU inventory quantities on a regularly scheduled basis to ensure that they can fulfill the orders received or be able to determine that an item is out of stock.  It sounds...

First, you need to know that EDI is nothing more than a format for a specific record type such as a PO, Acknowledgement, Ship Notice, Invoice, etc.  Depending on the retailer, there may be other non-EDI record formats, such as XML, CSV, etc. in which you can...