Future of Ecommerce Fulfillment: What is the Unique Fulfillment Model?

Quick note: If this is your first time reading about atomix, welcome! We’ve included a Company Overview to learn more about us before you dive in or check us out in the news. Thank you for your time.

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Company Overview

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Why Atomix?

• Atomix is the only eCommerce fulfillment partner providing custom-built software with micro-warehouses tailored to brands unique fulfillment needs.
• The unique fulfillment model is called "Micro-Pods" (micro-warehouses, or "mini-warehouses") to manage the end-to-end fulfillment process for emerging brands and startups.
• Combined with our technology, the Micro-Pod Platform — part operations, part software, fully personalized — is purpose-built for independent brands and designed to help increase their productivity and profitability by eliminating complex processes and cost-intensive operations (essentially a dedicated “mini-warehouse” & operations manager.)

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Alternative vs. Future

• While most 3PLs offer overly systematized processes, Atomix's solution provides more affordability when scaling a brand while increasing accuracy and efficiency within the order fulfillment process.
• The concept behind the Micro-Warehouses within a Larger Facility has been covered by industry leading experts and a recent trend in the fulfillment industry (Forbes, Mckinsey).

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Reach New Heights

• North Star: By aiming to create the best possible customer experience, we intently listen to our customers' needs. That’s why our promise is to fulfill more than packages. We build brands to last.
• Mission: At atomix, our core mission is to change how brands launch, grow and scale without complexity or cost-intensive operations.
• Atomix Logistics: Our name was inspired by the atom. Atoms are not visible to the human eye but come together to create the world we live in. Logistics is similar. Logistics is not only the foundation of our economy but the structural backbone of successful eCommerce brands.
• Our Home is Yours: We are proudly based by the Great Lakes in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and are planning to open our second facility in Q2'22 in Los Angeles, California to continue to provide the best possible experience for our global and growing customers.

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Leading Brands: We’ve partnered with innovative brands such as Loyal For Dogs, Freja NYC, Veil Garments, Human Tonik, and Candyl among other high-growth DTC brands, small businesses, entrepreneurs, and independent creators.

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Continuous Innovation: We developed the model to provide the (i) scale of outsourcing with the (ii) control and customer experience of owned operations. Our customers’ continuous input has furthered and deepened our team’s research and development as we pioneer the micro-pod model in an industry dominated by manual pen and paper processes (and here).

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Aligning Interests: Our Micro-pod Model is unlike any other warehouse or 3PL in the industry. Our Pods are built to provide the same level of service across all brand partners, regardless of size — whether a subscription box company is shipping 8,000 orders per month or an eBay seller is shipping 100 custom hats. At our core, we’re vertically integrated with (i) dedicated “boots-on-the-ground” pod managers, (ii) an owned and operated warehouse, and (iii) a 4-in-1 software platform. We believe, as a fulfillment company, the only way to achieve consistent customer excellence and lifetime customers is by owning the end-to-end process.

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What is the Unique Fulfillment Model?

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The Micro-Pod Model is a modular warehouse space within the atomix fulfillment center that is managed by a technology platform and fully integrates the end-to-end order fulfillment process. That means the atomix fulfillment center is divided into micro-pods, with each individual pod replicating the inputs and outputs of a fully functioning warehouse. In other words, a-warehouse-within-a-warehouse.

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The micro-pods are independent 500 square feet spaces within the atomix fulfillment center. They are operated by a Pod Manager to manage individual brands or a portfolio of brands. The dedicated Pod Manager is specifically responsible for his/her brands— they are an extension of the brand’s fulfillment or operations team. As a result, brands receive more control and high-touch customer support, which is executed through instant communication via slack. The Pod Managers are further supported by Customer Success Managers to handle technology and account-related support.

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The goal is to optimize our customers’ experience by (i) increasing the level of ownership, human engagement, and efficiency while (ii) maximizing operational capacity and overall cost savings.

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Within the Pods, our technology platform allocates inventory based on provided data and further manages fluctuating demand based on historical order volume velocity. For example, the highest moving SKUs are positioned within the Pods closer to the pack station. This helps eliminate the most inefficient function of a traditional warehouse — the order picking process (data here or here on p.7 P2).

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In summary: the Micro-Pod Model is the core function of atomix that is highly flexible and personalized.

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Now that we understand why it’s called the Micro-Pod Model, we’ll cover what it does.

At first, it might not seem like a significant difference, however, the importance is rooted in the granular detail by realigning interests between a fulfillment partner and brand. This is derived from our research and experience whereby no traditional fulfillment center ever had the ability or functionality to provide the hands-on support or flexibility to handle emerging brands independently. And at the end of the article, if you still have questions, that’s a positive signal. It’s positive because it would be mean that you haven’t worked with a 3PL or fulfillment partner before and haven’t had an unsatisfactory experience yet. If that’s the case, reach out to our team of experts to learn more.

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Two significant differences:

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Most fulfillment centers or 3PLs have been designed with their interests in mind and not their customers or employees. Their models are incentivized with efficiency (orders per day metrics) regardless of the experience. We created a new relationship with brands because every brand is fundamentally different. We consult with our brands prior to onboarding and personalize our operations to each brand (and not the traditional way of one-size-fits-all).

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1. Inventory Allocation & Optimized Processes

‍Our system determines the proximity of customers’ products in addition to the least amount of storage space necessary based on data analysis. As a result, atomix is able to save costs through picking efficiency and we pass along our savings to customers. Now, brands pay only for the space utilized and instead of assuming monthly bills, brands can clearly understand their products’ placement and space allocation on a daily basis.

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2. Real-time, 24–7 Communication

Our goal is to systematically create a personalized experience that has never existed before. Our Pod Managers are operational specialists, highly trained, and communicate directly with brands. The reason is strategic — first, with higher skilled employees, we can provide a better customer experience; second, by leveraging technology and customer service skills, they are able to significantly increase productivity for themselves and our brands alike.

That’s it — if you enjoyed the read and want to schedule a consultation with our team you can today!

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