Scanners read the labels and assign the cartons to pick queues for random induction to computer-assisted pick lines. Packages are weighed automatically and filled by machine with water-soluble packaging material. Project Gemini, a corporate initiative to make order placement and fulfillment smoother, has been several years in the making. The purpose of installing personal computers at every order-taker's workstation is to ease distributors' access to ordering, to eliminate backlogs and order errors, and to support distributors more efficiently. Product is finding its way to business owners in half the time it once took.
Money is no problem.
On the outside, too Amway has been working with its suppliers, too. Everyone involved in order fulfillment has a PC-based system. At Amway, partnerships also include the independent business owners who are Amway's life force. Horder-Koop credits Amway's software vendors with solid support built on open communication. The vendors have delivered guidance on what Amway needs and how these partners can meet those needs.