Whether you are into large-scale or small-scale manufacturing, you have once or twice found your business in possession of items that are slow movers in the market. As a result, these items always remain after the clearance of your old stock; hence they have been causing you to wonder what to do with them. Worry not because there is a simple solution: kitting and assembly of these items. Innovative kitting and assembly of your items will help you cut costs due to kitting in logistics, improve customer experience, and offer you the unlimited benefits of kitting in manufacturing.
However, before diving into the deep end of kitting in manufacturing, it is prudent to understand the kitting definition manufacturing and other kitting aspects by asking questions the right questions about the endeavor. Some of the questions should ask include, what is kitting in manufacturing and the benefits of kitting in manufacturing? Aspects such as what the kitting supply chain entails and what kitting logistics you should consider for your business model are also important. Additionally, as you consider kitting in manufacturing, you should also check the kitting definition manufacturing and how it will fit your business model.
Therefore, to help you understand the kitting supply chain, kitting logistics and figure out if it will help you, in this article, we will start by explaining what is kitting in manufacturing then explain other aspects included in kitting.
What is Kitting
Although kitting as a warehouse and shipping technique has become most popular with the rise of online stores, it has been around for decades. For years people have been packaging different items in one box, be it a gift box, promotional box, or a patient’s bouquet, for creating a set better known as a kit for the intended purpose. For instance, taking a birthday gift, one would usually put a bar of candies, chocolate, a card, wine, and jewelry for the person whose birthday it is. Therefore, this kit would act as an order fulfillment that includes all the individual products into a ready-made kit. Therefore, it is important to note that kitting is mostly dependent on which products are being put together and, most importantly, the kit’s purpose. Therefore, kitting can generally be defined as combining components, finished products, or parts into a new, single item that is considered and sold as a single product regardless of how many individual components are included in the kit.
On the other hand, it is important to consider what is kitting in warehouse and what the kitting warehouse meaning. First, let us answer the question, what is kitting in a warehouse? Kitting in a warehouse is the physical act of combining multiple store-keeping units and pairing them into one new scorekeeping unit package before shipping. The question, what is kitting in warehouse, outlines that that kitting can either be done in a warehouse or the mother company’s staging area. Secondly, a kitting warehouse meaning is where the kitting is done; although in most institutions, the kitting is done in the same space, others prefer the use of specified space for this purpose. In this dedicated space, kiting and packaging are done, and the product is ready for shipping. The main difference between kitting and packaging is that even though different components or items are put in the one kit for selling to the same consumer during kitting, it is not ready for shipping. In packaging, however, the kitted items are prepared for transportation by either rapping them or storing them in safe ways for shipping. Therefore, after kitting and packaging the items in the kitting warehouse, they are now ready for dispatching and are handed to logistics.
Kitting Services
As a business person, the aim is to always find the most affordable method for your business in terms of time and resources. Therefore, even though a process is easier and may generate more sales, you will always strive for the most convenient way to get the sales high without compromising your workers or adding their load. With this specific attribute in mind, third-party fulfillment companies, also referred to as third-party logistics, 3PL companies are established to cover the gap. These companies offer kitting and fulfillment services to companies that aim to keep their costs low and provide their customers with as few packages as possible.
The mother company can also use the third-party kitting and fulfillment services company for manufacturing, where they assemble the product on behalf of the customer. They are mostly referred to as kitting and assembly solutions when offering these services. They will cater to the contracting company’s specified needs, giving them an end product ready for shipping to their consumers. Since in-house kitting is often cost and resources-prohibiting, especially for smaller businesses, the 3PL has continued to gain popularity over time, especially with the growth of kitting.
The main advantage of 3PL companies is that they pick their staff specifically for the needed purpose. For example, when advertising for kitting jobs, the 3PLcompany will specifically outline the warehouse kitting job descriptions, and the staff onboard will be strategically placed for kitting jobs only. This, in turn, makes the employee more efficient in offering the kitting service since they repeat this task and do it in bulk. Since this is a factor that most companies can not incorporate, especially the small-sized ones, they end up turning to the 3PL companies as subcontractors to their kitting jobs.
Apart from providing kitting and assembly solutions for companies, these third-party kitting service providers play a big role in job provision for society in general. Since their warehouse kitting job descriptions are so streamlined, a person from that field will have an easier time finding work. For instance, one only has to go to a site such as Indeed or online-search kitting services near me. On the other hand, business owners will also have access to the 3PL companies, such as kitting services near me. Therefore, these companies have successfully filled the gap and made it easier for all the parties involved.
Kitting Process
Whether the business owner decides to go with a third-party logistics company or with the in-house team, the kitting process remains the same. Even though the 3PL company may have better-kitting systems put in place when compared to the in-house system, the kitting process flow chart remain the same in both instances. The main question, however, is what is kitting process? And does it need specialized kitting equipment?
What is kitting process? This is the outline used by either the in-house team or the 3PL company when developing the required kits to be sent to the market or the consumers who have placed their orders. It is a step-by-step road map to creating the most lucrative kits for the company. The kitting flow chart will guide those ensuring the kits are packaged and ready. It also helps those in charge of designating necessary teams for all the kitting process flow chart functions.
Before picking the kitting process flow chart, it is important to:
1. Identify the problem
The first step in the kitting process is identifying which problem you want to solve. This requires you to consider your business model and what niche it has deeply. Talk to your fulfillment partner or your in-house team and show them where the problem is. Do you want to give your customer volume discount? Do you want to kit as a final step to the manufacturing process? Do you want to move more product? All this should be tabled with your team of choice.
2. Come up with potential solutions.
Once you have tabled the problem that you want kitting to solve for your business, together with your team, come up with the best solutions. Additionally, you could run a test with two different kits to see which one performs best in the market. Otherwise, you could ask the 3PL team to prototype a few types of kits in the market to see which one is the best performing.
3. Determine how much a kit will cost
Once you have picked the kit of choice, depending on its performance and review from the market, it is advisable to meet with your pricing team and determine how much the new kit should go for. It will help you eliminate the possibility of incurring losses or overpricing your consumers. It will also help determine how much kitting has helped your company.
Once you have identified the above factors, the kitting process flow chart will be easier for your team to accomplish, even if they lack the kitting equipment. With the right kitting system, the following process will be so much easier for them:
Receive an order for multiple products – Your kitting team will receive the needed number of products from the orders and prepare to get them. Otherwise, they could follow the already existent outline of the products to be placed in the kit. With an updated kitting system, it will be easier for them to identify which products are needed.
Collect the individual item – The various items combined into the new SKU are gathered at the staging area for easier packing and coordination.
Package all items – The individual items gathered at the staging area are scanned and put in shipping boxes.
Create new SKU and ship – The boxes are then given new SKUs and added into the inventory system by scanning them. After the whole process, they are now ready for shipping.