Kitting and Assembly Services

Outsource kitting and assembly solutions and reduce inventory, increasing your P and L statement
By Kim Finn By outsourcing your kitting and assembly functions, you can go a long way toward reducing overhead costs, improving your profit margins and keeping your product prices competitive. Many businesses often blaze through their busy seasons and then suffer through the slow periods. During the slow times, they might spend weeks or months confronting nearly empty warehouses for which they're paying precious money to own/lease and operate. They spend money on kitting and assembly equipment and the employees who perform the kitting and assembly.

Outsourcing fulfillment assembly, kitting services and other fulfillment tasks can easily eliminate your need for warehouse space, reduce your number of employees, increase your efficiency and productivity and allow you to focus a greater percentage of your overall effort on what counts most: marketing, selling and manufacturing your product. When researching kitting and assembly service providers:

1. Compare rates for inventory kitting services.

2. Make the best use of the services the provider offers.

3. Learn the kitting and assembly provider's reputation for service delivered.

Shop the rates for kitting and assembly services

Chances are you're going to pay less to outsource kitting and assembly than you will to keep the functions in house, but still shop around for the best rates and quality of services provided.
Try:  Visit VendorSeek  for a list of fees associated with fulfillment services, and let them prepare a comparison of up to five kitting and assembly quotes for you.

Ensure the kitting service can meet all your needs

Consider whether you need stock kitting or on-demand kitting, and feel confident about how fast a kitting and assembly service provider can turn your product after it receives orders.
Try:  IntegraCore, a full-service fulfillment company with a strong list of clients, offers free resources like initial consultations and an online tool that shows how much you can potentially save by outsourcing with them.

Feel confident about the quality of the assembly kitting provider you're considering

If possible, use people in your business networking circle and listen to the success and horror stories they tell about their specific assembly kitting outsourcing experiences. Online, some kitting services provide testimonials from their clients.
Try:  Read some of the client comments displayed at Fulfillment Works. You can also check out Capacity's testimonials and a partial list of its clients.

• Consider other value-added services that could save you money in the long run when you research kitting services. Many of those same businesses also provide services for call center functions, credit card processing, customer satisfaction tracking, handling returns and inventory control.
• Beware of hidden costs during your due diligence. Ensure you only pay for the services you request, and make them provide you with the total cost for services rendered.