Queue Management System
Table of Contents
Overview
Brandfox is introducing a new Queue Management System (QMS) as of January 2025.
To enhance operational efficiency, profiles will be minimizing down to “Today” and “Tomorrow." Orders will be classified based on the following:
- Today - eCommerce orders that come in before noon (12 pm) local time to each warehouse with the following exceptions:
- Priority orders and/or expedited shipping orders will be marked "Today" if they are processed before 2 pm local time.
- Marketplace orders (Amazon or Dropship) will be cleared in 24 hours if they are processed before 2 pm local time. If they are processed after 2 pm local time they will go to the "Tomorrow" profile.
- Tomorrow - eCommerce orders that come in after noon (12 pm) local time to each warehouse and/or orders above your daily forecast from the previous day(s).
The "Today" and "Tomorrow" profiles can only be filled to your forecasted volume amount. If you forecasted 100 orders per day, we can only fulfill 100 eCommerce (Shopify, dropship, Amazon, etc.) orders each day. If you go over your forecasted amount reach out to your CSM to create a recovery plan.
Although this is an automated process, the network team will work to ensure the most strategic orders are in the "Today" profile. At the end of the day, orders that are in "Tomorrow" will move to "Today," and the process will start over again.
Each day the team will have one goal - to clear the “Today” profile. Our software is automated to control most of the order workflow though we will manually make changes every morning according to order volume, forecasting, and warehouse capacity. This is a fluid system, meaning that building capacity can change day-to-day due to a number of factors.
You will know by 10 am local time at each warehouse which orders will be going out that day (unless there is an unexpected event such as internet outage, high number of call-outs, etc.). If the profile is set to "Today" at this point, your order will go out that day. This eliminates the need to message your CSM asking if the order will go out today.
Peak Season Queue Management
Knowing that Q4 or peak season has more volume, our QMS will look a little different to ensure we can manage expectations and ensure you have visibility into when your orders will ship.
The Peak Season QMS will load orders into each profile based off of when they came in and what their SLA time is.
The goal will always remain the same: Clear the "Today" profile by the end of each day. This profile must be clear at the end of the day. No ifs, ands, or buts.
How does this affect my day-to-day as a client?
Your day-to-day as a client will not be greatly affected. The main notes for this transition are below:
- Profiles will be simplified into two groups, “Today” and “Tomorrow”. Each order will fall into one of these profiles unless your daily forecasting amount has been exceeded.
- We request that you submit your monthly forecasts each month. Volume forecasts for each warehouse will need to be submitted by the 15th of each month for the following month. If a forecast is not provided a calculation based on your average daily orders over the previous 60 days will be used. Learn more about forecasting expectations here.
- Our Client Success team is amazing, but rather than reaching out to ask about when an order will ship, you can wish them a Happy Friday 🎊 If the order is in the "Today" profile, it will go out today. If it is in the "Tomorrow" profile you can confidently rest assured it will go out tomorrow.
Example of Successful QMS Workflow
We are super excited to introduce RTS order tags! Once your order becomes "Ready to Ship" the system will add a tag of RTS with the date the order was available to ship. This is helpful in understanding when the order became ready to ship. An order may not be ready to ship when it first enters the system due to a variety of reasons from an address hold to a backordered item.
Reach out to your CSM with any questions you have about the Queue Management System.