Fulfillment - The Change Agent

By Tom Quinn,
Director of Fulfillment Services, Mailing and Fulfillment Service Assocation

I used a saying quite often when I had my own company when there seemed to be some level of frustration in the ranks.  It was actually a combination of three sayings and went as follows,"Never say never, nothing is forever, and the only thing constant is change".   This saying seemed very appropriate for a fulfillment operation where no two applications are exactly the same; where client contacts change faster than we would like; and technology pushes us further and further beyond our predetermined bounds. 

I have watched the change of the fulfillment business and marveled at the adaptability of our member companies as they continue to grow and stretch and not break, but redefine themselves.   Certainly my 25+ years of observing and participating in the fulfillment industry, would bear testament to the fact that"the only thing constant is change".   I was privileged to moderate a panel discussion on change at the 2005 Annual Meeting in New Orleans.  I was joined on the panel by two outstanding representatives of our industry - Connie Hill, President and Founder of TFC and Dick Westfall, CEO of Patented Printing.  They both gave marvelous presentations concerning strategies on how to diversify, grow and change a company.  My contribution was a discussion of the chart shown below.  The chart was originally constructed to determine which segments of the vast fulfillment industry could provide new members.  However, it also showed the segmentation of the various types of businesses in our industry.  The presentation was concluded by asking the audience where they expected to be on this chart in 5 years, and assumed that change was necessary to survive.

I have been motivated to think more about change because of several events in the past few weeks.  The first event was a recruiting attempt that involved a trucking brokerage firm from Delaware.  They contacted me via a web search and a call to MFSA headquarters.  They had heard about fulfillment and wanted to further investigate the industry as an add-on to their existing services.  I boastfully acknowledged that they had come to the right place to learn about fulfillment and promptly volunteered to show them three (3) different types of fulfillment centers, if they would travel to Atlanta.  Well, they took me up on the offer and we indeed visited three (3) facilities – all in the fulfillment business and all quite different than the other.  The plant tours took about one hour and consisted of a plant tour and a general discussion about fulfillment and specifically the type of software being utilized.  The surprising thing to me was how much each of these companies had changed since my last visits, which was no more than 18 months since my last visit.  The first was a traditional 3PF/Mailer Company, who started as a mailer and added fulfillment services.  They had installed a Xerox iGEN since my last visit, hired a new Sales Manager from the printing industry and were leading with color variable data printing.  The company had completely changed their market strategy since my last visit.  The next stop was at a 3PF/Product Fulfillment facility.  They had grown so fast that they had moved since my last visit.  There new, modern facility was very impressive and was well organized, clean, well lit and a perfect operation for my prospective new members to view.  This company had unparalleled growth and understood their specific market segment which included POP materials and straight product fulfillment.  They capable of shipping up to 30,000 orders in a day, and rely heavily on kit assembly as a part of their service mix.  This was terrific example of change and how fast it can happen in the industry.  Our final stop was at a 3PL company, which specializes in storing and shipping product on a pallet or case level and ship via LTL or full truck loads.  This company is owned by a friend of mine and I was surprised at the growth in space.  They had vacant warehouse next to their existing warehouse and had leased and racked an additional 50,000 sq. ft.  In addition, they were now actively looking for companies that would require shipping individual orders via more traditional carriers.  This change in direction was based on client requests.  In all three visits, the companies were very busy, growing and prosperous.

I put my prospective members back on a plane and returned home, excited about all the change I had observed and which reaffirmed my belief that"the only thing constant is change".  I doubt that my prospective clients will become MFSA members because they went away with the goal of emulating the 3PL company, which is furthest from our target market for new members.  It was, however, a very enjoyable day and I learned a lot.

The second encounter with change that I have been experiencing is with the Mailer Peer Group, which was formed last fall.  I have wanted to test out the Small Box Theory of Fulfillment, which really focuses in on the Lead Inquiry Fulfillment Application.  Additionally, there has been an initiative at MFSA to explore Peer Groups, so along with three trusting companies we formed the Peer Group to try and test two new concepts at one time.  It has been my contention that mailers who are interested in growing their company with fulfillment should lead with fulfillment applications that have heavy mailing, data processing and data management contents, and furthermore do not require additional space and require the immediate purchase and installation of fulfillment software.   The Lead Inquiry Fulfillment application fits this description.  The three companies are Denison Direct, Mailers Choice and immedia.  It is interesting to watch these three companies try to understand the nuances of fulfillment and to incorporate the change into their companies.  The company participants: Brian Aubitz, Dave Hedges and Donn Irwin are all principals in their companies and are directly or indirectly responsible for sales.   Each company has their own action plan for implementing fulfillment and we get together via teleconference every two weeks to discuss progress.  It is interesting to watch these companies manage and accept change.  The only thing constant is change.

The third change encounter is with two companies I have been assisting in adopting fulfillment services into their company.  One is a printer from Pennsylvania and the other a promotional products and embroidery company from Maryland.   Both are attempting to change their business models to incorporate fulfillment.  The printer of course would go into the printing column on my chart and the embroidery company in the other column.  These are vastly different industries, but common to fulfillment as shown on the chart.  The printer is a very established and well known leader in its industry, and the embroidery company is an entrepreneurial husband and wife venture focused on growth.  So again, these are vastly different companies in size and organization, but both having to manage change – the change that comes from growth and diversification.  The change that is necessary for companies to survive.  It is interesting to observe how each of these companies handles and manages the change, but both have committed their time and effort to the goal and both will be successful in this calendar year.

So, where do you fit on this chart?  Where do you need to be in the next three to five years?  What will be your change agent?  If your choice is to use fulfillment, feel free to call.  I love change and helping companies grow.  And remember – the only thing constant is change.  I wish you good selling.