These systems have come a long way and can offer fast reliable and accurate sortation for many years to come providing an annuity of savings after a relatively short period of time. Third party service providers have long realized that it is not always feasible for small companies to invest in capital equipment to automate a particular manual process. Yet they would benefit greatly if they had that capability. By offering to serve many companies with the same need on a regular basis it becomes economical for third parties to provide the service for a fee benefiting all. As such there is a proliferation of outsourcing providers.
Outbound shipping is no exception.
There are companies already established that store and expedite orders on behalf of several manufacturers. There are also companies with large vault space and appropriate security looking to consolidate the shipments of others with the automation. The introduction of a third party that will combine orders from components will allow the smaller manufacturer to take advantage of order fulfillment automation to get their product to the customer faster and save money overall. The sorted product information can also be automatically transferred from the equipment to the supplier via modem as the process is completed thereby updating inventory records. It is expected that the security and insurance concerns would be overcome by obtaining bonding and special block insurance from acceptable underwriters.