Work Orders

Shipwire supports a variety of Work Orders and will help document the Work Order’s requirements, estimate costs, and manage each Work Order to its successful completion.
 

Work Order pricing

Because Work Orders span a variety of services ranging from routine to highly customized, Shipwire provides a pricing model that is both flexible and cost-efficient. When defining your Project, you can choose from any of the following:

• Time & Materials (T&M): These are Work Orders based on work performed and materials used. For example, a labeling Work Order might take an hour and $10 in labels. In this scenario, you would be billed for one hour of labor and $10 in materials. The advantage of Time and Materials pricing is you are only charged for the actual labor and materials used. However, cost overruns can be unpredictable if the provided instructions are not clear. If you’re concerned about costs on a T&M Work Order, ask for a quote prior to authorizing work to begin or inquire about a Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) for your Work Order.
• Fixed Price: These Work Orders are typically standard Work Orders that our team has performed before or your instructions enable us to reasonably predict the necessary work to complete the Work Order successfully. Fixed Price Work Orders are charged for the agreed upon price irrespective of the amount of labor and cost of materials to complete the Work Order. Because we bear the risk of completing the Work Order for the agreed upon price, Fixed Price Work Orders require detailed instructions, often require workflow estimates be collected prior to starting work and are subject to change orders should the requirements of the Work Order change or the performance of the Work Order necessitate changes in how we perform the Work Order. The advantage of Fixed Price Work Orders are their predictable costs. However, Fixed Price Work Orders require more time to set up prior to beginning work and more collaboration should change orders be required.
• Price Per Unit & Materials: Rather than being based on time, these Work Orders are charged on a per-unit basis. For example, labeling products, preparing cartons, or preparing palettes.

Creating a Work Order

The following steps are created in creating a Work Order:

1. Fill out a Work Order request form in your Shipwire account or, for incoming inventory, during the creation of your receiving order. When creating a Work Order, let us know what costing model you prefer (e.g. T&M, Fixed Price or Per Unit) and provide clear instructions about your Work Order.
2. Our team will review the Work Order within one business day and will contact you to confirm or revise instructions and discuss pricing. Depending on your Work Order’s scope, we can provide cost estimates based on similar Work Orders we’ve completed or time and motion studies unique to your Work Order.
3. Upon receiving your approval to get started, we will begin the Work Order and, if appropriate, provide you with updates as the Work Order progresses through to completion.

Providing an accurate description

Providing complete and accurate instructions is the most important component of a successful Work Order.

The best way to ensure that your Work Order is performed to your specifications and completed on time is to provide complete and detailed instructions. Describe the Work Order accurately and precisely, reference product names (SKUs) where applicable, and provide detailed instructions so that nothing is left to chance when executing the Work Order.

Example of poor instructions:

1. Wrap t-shirt in wrapping paper, lengthwise
2. Put a sticker on the front to seal paper

Example of good instructions:

1. Take each blue t-shirt of SKUs 123 and 456 out of polybag;
2. Put t-shirt in the middle of a sheet of wrapping paper;
3. Take bottom of wrapping paper, fold it over the shirt;
4. Take top of wrapping paper, fold it over the shirt and previously folded paper;
5. Put sticker to seal the wrapping paper on the shirt, with sticker always facing up.

If instructions are not accurate, or are missing a step, there is a risk of completing the Work Order incorrectly and having to redo it (at your expense!). It is important to remember that you know your product better than anyone, and while some instructions may be obvious to you, they are necessary for delivering a successful Work Order.