Order fulfillment is the process involved in completing an order and making it satisfactory to the customers. It may include processing of records and making any necessary changes in order to satisfy them. To put it in layman's terms, it is the complete process involved from the point of sales to delivery of the product. On a broader perspective, it refers to the approach the organization or firm adopts in responding to the order placed by the customer.

There are several approaches towards fulfillment of an order. Order fulfillment had its early researches towards the 1980s by Mather and he came up with a PD ratio strategy for several basic fulfillment options. Some of the order fulfillment options are as follows:

Engineering-to-Order (ETO): The end product is designed keeping in mind the customer's needs. Often used for huge construction projects, engineer to order, involves a huge amount of hard work and responsibility in completing the task.

Build-to-Order (BTO): Basically, the manufactured goods are designed keeping in mind the standard design of the product. But, as per the clients' proposals, the necessary alterations are made. This form of fulfillment is generally used for huge aircraft and motor-vehicles.

Assemble-to-Order (ATO): Have you seen Dell customizing its systems? This is an example of Assemble to order fulfillment. The merchandise is designed as per the customer's requirements from the existing stock components.

Make-to-Stock (MTS): This approach of fulfillment is what we see in day to day life in the grocery and retail stores. The end product is sold to the customer from the stock keeping in mind the sales forecast.

Digital Copy (DC): Digital Copy is the products and inventory maintained on-demand and saved on storage devices.

The order fulfillment includes a complete process which is always carried out based on the customers' stipulations. Fulfillment of the order involves a complete process which includes the product inquiry, order booking, order delivery and returns being just a few of them.

Order fulfillment centres can be found in almost any part of the world and the fulfillment strategy is basically used for mass customization. As per your individual specifications, you can opt for the order fulfillment centre depending upon your wishes.

About the Author

Perceval Medlin