A replenishment for Amazon
A client wants to send stock into Amazon's fulfilment network. They create a shipment in Seller Central and email you the details, or give you access to their account. Your team picks the stock, prints unit labels, bags or bubble-wraps items that need it, packs cartons, types the carton contents back into Amazon, prints box labels and books the collection.
Most of it works. Then Amazon's receiving reports units missing from a carton, or labels unreadable, and the client asks what went into each box. The answer is on a packing sheet, if it was filled in.
Why FBA prep is error-prone
The work crosses two systems that do not talk to each other: your WMS and the client's Amazon account. The prep and labelling rules depend on the product. Carton contents have to be entered accurately, and the easiest way to get them wrong is to pack one thing and type another. When several clients each send FBA shipments, the manual steps multiply.
| Step | Where mistakes creep in |
|---|---|
| Shipment plan to pick list | Retyped from Seller Central into the WMS |
| Unit labelling | Wrong label on similar-looking variants |
| Prep requirements | Bagging or labelling missed for some items |
| Carton contents | Entered from memory or a paper sheet |
| Box labels and collection | Labels for the wrong shipment, collection details wrong |
What it costs
Discrepancies at Amazon's receiving that the client has to chase, and which they often blame on the warehouse. Stock unavailable to sell while the discrepancy is investigated. Staff time on a job that is usually billed per unit, so every hour of rework eats the margin.
Clients who rely heavily on Amazon measure you on how quickly and cleanly their stock becomes available there.
The paperwork trail matters as well. When a client opens a case with Amazon about missing units, Amazon asks for proof of what was in each carton. A handwritten packing sheet that does not match the contents entered online weakens their case, and the client knows who wrote it.
And the knowledge sits with one or two people. FBA prep has enough special rules that it tends to be done by whoever learnt it first. When they are off, shipments wait or are done by someone guessing.
The prep flow we build
- Shipment plan intake: read from the client's Seller Central account through Amazon's Selling Partner API with their authorisation, or from the file they export.
- Pick list created in your WMS from the plan, with the prep and labelling requirements per SKU shown to the prep team.
- Unit label printing at the prep bench on scan, so the label printed matches the product scanned.
- Carton packing by scan: each unit scanned into a carton, contents recorded as packed, weight and dimensions captured.
- Carton contents and box labels sent back to the shipment through the API where the client permits, so nothing is retyped.
- A shipment record with photos, carton contents and collection details, for when Amazon reports a discrepancy.
Prep and labelling work is recorded per unit, so it feeds billing directly.
What your prep team gets
No retyping between Amazon and the WMS. Labels that match the product because they are printed from a scan. Carton contents that are right by construction. And a record that answers the client's question when Amazon says a unit is missing.
Signs your FBA prep needs this
- Shipment plans are retyped from Seller Central.
- Carton contents are written on paper and entered later.
- Amazon reports discrepancies you cannot easily investigate.
- Prep requirements are missed on some items.
- FBA work is hard to bill accurately per unit.