Hiring a co-packer to handle kitting and assembly can help your organization scale quickly, cut costs and extend the capacity of your team. For years companies have been combining two or three items to make a kit or gift set for more convenient purchase or value buy. In recent years, e-commerce has made use of kitting and assembly as a resourceful move to justify freight costs.
A closer look at kitting
Kitting involves gathering together individual parts (with their own individual SKUs) into a new grouping that has its own unique SKU. Because the process of kitting creates a new SKU, the process streamlines tracking and consolidates inventory.
Kitting examples include:
- Skin health products sold in bundle packs such as cleanser and moisturizer
- Gift sets, such as five different types of hot sauce in a decorative box, for Christmas sales
- Multi-packs of two or three of the same products to create a value buy
- Shampoo and conditioner paired with a sample and discount coupon in fancy packaging
A closer look at assembly
Assembly involves creating finished goods to be sold at retail. Sometimes, assembly may involve integrating kitted materials into a finished product that’s ready for merchandizing, packaging and customized presentation. Assembly also can be a stand-alone process. While kitting involves gathering multiple parts into a new unit for easier fulfillment or pre-build preparation, assembly focuses on creating the finished product.
Assembly examples include:
- Tagging apparel
- Assembling various plastic parts by hand for processes that cannot be machine-built
- Labeling packages or products that are ready for going into another package
- Screwing parts together (sub-assembly) in advance of completing another assembly
- Battery insertion in electronics
Taken separately or together, kitting and assembly that’s done by the right co-packing partner can create efficiency, ensure quality and boost the capacity of the manufacturing team and are extremely important for customers in the global markets we serve.