As a retailer or wholesaler, there's nothing more valuable to your business than your product. So what happens when things go wrong?

What if you realise that the way something is packaged by the manufacturer is causing issues for your customers? What if your storage facility has sprung a leak – and now hundreds of items need to be cleaned up, put into new boxes and have new labels added? What if you become aware of a problem with a barcode on one of your product lines?

Product reworking is the first line of support you can call upon should you encounter a minor (or major) catastrophe like this.

So what exactly is product reworking?

Product reworking refers to the process of making changes to a product after it has been manufactured or assembled. It involves correcting defects, improving the quality of a product or addressing issues that have been picked up during a quality control inspection or through feedback from customers.

Reworking can happen at any stage of your product's lifecycle, including during manufacturing, assembly, storage or even after the product has been shipped out to customers. The main aim of product reworking is to bring the product up to the desired quality standards and specifications.

The reworking process may involve various activities, including:

• 
  Repair work to fix any defects from the manufacturing process – or damage caused in transit or storage.
• Making alterations to a product design or packaging.
• Repackaging products due to damage caused in storage, or unsuitable packaging.
• Compliance adjustments to meet any changes in regulatory standards, labelling etc.

And reworking is not something that every packing or fulfilment team can handle. It requires a specialised team of trained experts who are specifically experienced in reworking, to ensure particular attention to detail and quality standards are met before the reworked items are shipped to your customers.

Should you outsource product reworking?

Running a retail business heavily relies on process and efficiency, especially if you are a larger retailer or you're in a period of growth. Implementing reliable and robust processes to make things run smoothly is essential – whether that's order fulfilment, customer journeys or stock control. Automation, systems and processes are vital to a reliable and smooth business operation.

With this in mind, bumps in the road can be very harmful to your whole setup. Even a slight delay in one area can compound to cause a ripple effect, disrupting many customer orders and ultimately causing a whole load of hassle that you don't need.

So what should you do if you discover an issue with one or more of your SKUs?

You've got options. You can put everything on hold to rework the product yourself but that means everything else has to go on the back burner. Few businesses have a dedicated product reworking function in-house – and implementing one means inevitable disruption and delays.

You could bring in temporary staff to handle the rework. But that's a project in itself. Who's going to handle the recruitment at such short notice? And can you spare the resources to train the new starters? If they make a mess of it, you'll be in a worse position than when you started – and all the while, your fulfilment list just gets longer. This is surely a route to unhappy customers and staff.

Finally, you can choose to outsource the product rework job. This means shipping the affected products to a third party and letting them handle the amendments against your specification. Then, the products are shipped back to you, all fixed up and ready to sell. 

Naturally, this comes with its own potential risks and headaches. If your reworking partner makes a hash of the job, you may as well have spent your time rearranging deckchairs on a doomed ship.

No third-party warehouse can wave a magic wand and make things right in an instant. Some disruption is inevitable, but some partners are more agile than others. That's why it's really important to choose a partner that's trusted, flexible and has the resources to get the job done quickly and effectively.

You need a reliable team of product reworking specialists – and that's where we come in.

Why choose Stowsafe for product reworking?

Stowsafe is trusted by a wide range of brands to deliver on their end-to-end logistics requirements. However, you don't need to choose our full fulfilment package to make use of our product reworking service. Our team is at your disposal even if you're not already part of the Stowsafe family.

Our team has extensive experience in reworking products – and we pride ourselves on our flexibility, agility and attention to detail. Tell us your problem, ship your products to us and we'll rework them to your exact specification.

We can't promise zero disruption. But we can promise to get your products back to you in saleable condition as quickly as possible. And all the while, you can continue to tick jobs from your never-ending to-do list. No training or recruitment necessary.

Stowsafe Fulfilment is a trusted, UK-based 3PL business. We offer pallet storage, order fulfilment and a suite of value-added services to help keep your business moving. Need warehouse space or logistics support in the southwest? Get in touch with one of our experts today.