While AI is seemingly making its way into every industry you can think of at the moment, that’s only the latest result of a trend that has been under way for decades. Automation has been adopted by more and more companies in more and more areas in an attempt to get routine tasks done more quickly and more affordably than has ever been possible.

While automation is certainly an invaluable tool in many contexts, it’s very important to understand the contexts in which automation is not as effective. Some activities simply require the hands-on skill of a trained human being, and trying to shortcut that with automated processes is a huge mistake.

Rework and Refurbishment

As leaders in the 3PL fulfillment space, Spectra makes use of automated processes in various ways to benefit our clients. Online portals that automatically update inventory totals, for example, allow our fulfillment clients to see how much product they have in stock at any given moment. 

The topic of rework and refurbishment, on the other hand, is one where automation isn’t a good fit. In order to be done well and save money on behalf of the client, rework and refurbishment need to be planned, supervised, and conducted by expert team members who can make detailed, nuanced, decisions at every step of the process.

What is Refurbishment?

While the terms rework and refurbishment have a lot of overlap, in general refurbishment refers to preparing returned items for resale or distribution to new end users. An item could be returned for many different reasons, and each of those reasons affects how much work is needed to make that item acceptable to a new user.

In the case of furniture, for instance, a returned item must be inspected by a Spectra team member to determine whether cleaning is needed, or whether any parts are damaged and need to be replaced. 

Refurbishing is a particularly important topic when it comes to electronics. In addition to evaluating the physical condition of a given item, it may be necessary to erase data and reformat the device before it is placed back into inventory.

What is Rework?

Rework describes the inspection of items that are intended to be placed back into the client’s inventory for resale or distribution. While this may apply to products returned by e-commerce or B2C customers, it also applies to products that have not yet been shipped to an end user.

As one example, the Spectra team was asked by a client to address a load of product that had shifted inside the truck while in transit. It was unknown how much of the product had been damaged and how much was still usable. Spectra inspected the load, discarded the broken and unusable items, and repackaged the remaining stock so that it could be distributed to end users.

As another example of rework, a franchise may order a large supply of t-shirts from the franchisor as giveaways at a grand opening or other special event. Once the event is over, the unused stock is returned to the franchisor. As the 3PL fulfillment provider, Spectra receives that stock, inspects it, and most likely finds that no major tasks are needed before it is ready to be used by another franchisee.

On the other hand, some items may be returned because they are unusable for some reason. In that case, the Spectra team would need to carefully examine the returned product, determine whether it is possible to restore it to usable condition, and either restore it or discard it.

Difficult to Automate

From these examples, it is easy to see that an AI chatbot or a computer program simply wouldn’t be able to replace the human touch in refurbishment and rework. These sorts of highly variable problems, each with its own background, client requirements, special requests, and a myriad of other considerations can only be effectively solved by team members with depth of experience in the fulfillment industry.

For this very reason, many fulfillment companies shy away from projects that involve rework and refurbishment. Tasks that are time-consuming and that require the attention of multiple team members are less than desirable for a system that is focused on moving products into and out of the fulfillment facility as quickly as possible. 

The Human Touch

At Spectra, we fill an important role for our fulfillment clients by offering rework and refurbishing services for their products. It may be difficult to predict when items will be returned, why they are returned, or what work is needed to get them back into inventory, but Spectra is ready to work through all of those complex details on behalf of the client. The result is significant savings, as products can be reused that may have simply been discarded by another fulfillment provider if it was determined that reworking or refurbishing them was not feasible. 

These services are a great example of the value added services that Spectra has offered its fulfillment clients for decades. Spectra’s B2B and B2C clients have learned that Spectra functions as an extension of their organization, aligned with their priorities and goals rather than simply getting a job done. Taking the time to inspect returned items and consider whether they can be reused is a good illustration of this alignment and how it leads to tangible benefits for the client.

If lost inventory has been an ongoing problem for your organization, it may be that your current fulfillment system needs to be reconsidered. A fully automated system with little or no human supervision will not identify areas of potential savings; it will simply follow the instructions it has received. With your fulfillment activities under the supervision of the Spectra team, on the other hand, you can be confident that experts in the industry are constantly monitoring your processes, looking for weak points that can be improved, and helping you minimize expenses in fulfillment. Make an appointment today and consult with an expert to find out how Spectra can help your organization.