Kitting
Separate items assembled into one ready-to-ship unit under a single SKU, on custom-built lines or by hand, in the building that stores and ships them.
- Output
- One kit, one SKU
- Scale
- Small to large runs, manual to automated
- Production
- A single production phase
- Exit
- To the Doorstep
Why businesses are turning to kitting
Businesses engaged in product distribution and order fulfillment are increasingly turning to kitting. Kitting is the process of combining multiple items into a single marketable product to reduce shipping expenses, SKUs, customer response times and more.
At MGA Innovation, our team will work with you to develop a strategy for your products that uses the efficiency of kitting.
Kits are built on our portable, custom-built assembly lines or, where the work is too delicate or irregular for a line, by hand — in the same building that stores the components and ships the finished kit.
Questions
Kitting, explained
General notes
What is kitting?
Kitting is a service that combines single items into one complete unit for individual sale.
Kitting often saves you time and money by reducing the need for individual selection and shipping.
What is warehouse kitting?
Warehouse kitting specifically involves fulfilling customer orders by pre-assembling items into kits that are immediately ready to ship.
Subscription boxes are a popular example. Instead of retrieving, packing and transporting each item individually, businesses that use kitting create a new SKU for the subscription box as a whole. You can also find this strategy in counter, club and pallet displays.
How is kitting different from pick and pack?
Kitting assembles the items before the order arrives, so the kit sits on the shelf as one SKU, ready to ship. Pick and pack selects each item for an order after it arrives and places it straight into a shipping box.
A program can use both — kits for the combinations that sell together, pick and pack for everything else — drawing on one inventory record.
Benefits of kitting
Kitting has several benefits, from maximizing inventory to increasing customer satisfaction. Here are just a few of the advantages.
Expanded merchandise options
Kitting allows you to offer more products without requiring additional storage space. Businesses can offer special deals on kits, bundle items to create sets, and cross-sell promotions. This gives the customer more spending opportunities without requiring your business to store additional stock.
Increased shipping speed
Selling items in kits lowers the number of purchase orders. Instead of buying four different, related items, customers can order a pre-assembled kit with the four items already bundled together. Assembling fewer total packages results in a faster, smoother shipping process.
Reduced costs
Cut down on transportation expenses by kitting your goods into a custom box. Most individual items are packaged in standard boxes, so products ship in containers much bigger — and therefore more expensive — than necessary. Kitting allows retailers to send the same amount of merchandise for less.
Optimized warehouse space
Fewer SKUs mean the warehouse inventory system is smaller and more efficient. Kitted items can be stored closely together, which decreases space requirements and boosts worker productivity. Warehouse workers have less distance to travel, making it possible to fill more orders in a shorter period.
Promoted inventory turnover
Kitting gives retailers unique opportunities to bundle, discount and promote items that may have been taking up storage space. Make room for new merchandise by kitting stock you’ve been looking to sell and offering an overall discount.
Shortened response time
Fewer SKUs increase warehouse efficiency and reduce shipping times. Those gains are valuable on their own, but the real attraction of kitting is quicker customer response. Pre-assembled kits leave the warehouse faster and arrive together faster than individual packages. Kitting doesn’t just help with time and expenses: it can increase customer satisfaction.
Our kitting services
From small runs to large programs, manual to automated.
MGA offers a diverse range of kitting and fulfillment processes, from small to large opportunities, including manual functions to automation. We plan the whole job, from receiving components to shipping the finished kit, and keep efficiency in mind from start to finish within a single production phase.
The evolution to a full-fledged service model is never complete, and we are constantly adapting.
What gets kitted
- Subscription boxes, packed to a cycle date.
- Promotional kits and branded packages.
- Sample packs for mail and consumer request programs.
- Counter, club and pallet displays, filled and shipped shelf-ready.
One building
Where kitting sits in the building.
Components are received once, kitted on the floor, held under one SKU and shipped to a shelf, a mailbox or a doorstep. No freight between vendors.
Cutaway drawing of the MGA plant in Gurnee, with the route for Kitting lit, in order: Receiving, Storage, Staging area, Production area, Isolated production area, Dock, To the Doorstep. Kitting happens in Production area and Isolated production area. Each zone links to its page.
- Receive
Appointment, count, QC hold, lot capture. Customer-owned goods segregated by owner.
- Pack & kit
2a Production area2b Isolated production area
Machine lines and hand assembly across two production areas, including the 25,000 sq ft isolated production area.
- Hold
StorageS Staging area
Climate-controlled, controlled-access storage. Counts owner-scoped and lot-level.
- Ship
Retail freight, USPS induction off our own dock, or parcel to the consumer.
- To the Shelf
We're putting product on a retail shelf.
- To the Mailbox
We're mailing to a list or running a sampling program.
- To the Doorstep
We ship to consumers, one order at a time.
Proof
A kitting program, end to end
Sample packs built to a detailed spec — a carton printed on the inside, printed tissue, brochures, coupons, diapers and wipes — fulfilled in Gurnee and distributed throughout Canada.
Taking a diaper brand to number one on shelf in Canada
One of the best known diaper brands was not number one on shelf in Canada. Three program variations over three years later, it is.
- Client
- A leading diaper brand
- Exit
- To the Mailbox
- Market
- Canada, fulfilled from Gurnee
- Duration
- Three variations over three years
- Processes
- Printed cartons, kitting, fulfillment, cross-border distribution
Discover what kitting can do for your supply chain.
Discover how kitting can improve your supply chain and demand processes with the assistance of the team at MGA. Tell us about your project and get started.