Route every order to the right warehouse the first time.
When an order hits your system, someone decides which warehouse ships it — usually based on habit, proximity, or whoever answered the phone. AI order routing makes that decision in real time, optimizing across inventory availability, shipping cost, delivery speed, and warehouse workload.
Order Routing by Habit, Not Optimization
- →Orders routed to the nearest warehouse regardless of stock levels, shipping cost, or workload
- →Split shipments because no one checked inventory across all locations before committing
- →Manual routing decisions that take 5–15 minutes per order and still pick the wrong warehouse 20% of the time
- →No visibility into the total cost of fulfillment until after the order ships
Intelligent Order Routing
Multi-Factor Routing Optimization
AI evaluates inventory availability, shipping cost, delivery SLA, warehouse workload, and carrier rates simultaneously for every order. The routing decision balances all factors — not just the one the CSR happened to check.
Real-Time Inventory Visibility
Live inventory state across all warehouses and fulfillment locations. Routing decisions use current stock, not batch-updated counts that were accurate 4 hours ago.
Split Shipment Avoidance
The model identifies when a single-source fulfillment is possible and routes accordingly. When splits are unavoidable, it optimizes the split to minimize total cost and maximize delivery consistency.
Carrier Rate Optimization
Integrate carrier rate tables and real-time quotes into routing decisions. The model factors in negotiated rates, dimensional weight, zone pricing, and delivery speed requirements.
Business Rule Enforcement
Hard constraints for customer-specific routing (dedicated warehouse assignments, territory restrictions, hazmat handling requirements) are enforced before optimization runs. Rules override the model when required.
ERP & WMS Integration
Routing decisions push directly to your ERP and WMS for pick/pack/ship execution. No manual order re-entry or warehouse assignment after the routing decision is made.
The Engagement Process
Fulfillment Network Assessment
Map your warehouse network, carrier relationships, inventory distribution, and current routing logic. Quantify the cost of suboptimal routing — excess shipping, split shipments, and delivery misses.
Optimization Model Design
Define the objective function (minimize cost, maximize speed, balance workload) and constraint set (inventory, carrier, customer rules). Design the routing algorithm architecture.
Historical Analysis & Training
Train the model on historical order and shipment data. Benchmark AI-optimized routing against actual historical routing decisions to quantify improvement potential.
System Integration
Connect to your ERP order management, WMS, and carrier/TMS systems. Routing decisions fire at order entry and push fulfillment instructions downstream in real time.
Production & Tuning
Deploy with fulfillment cost dashboards, on-time delivery tracking, and continuous optimization. Retune as warehouse capacity, carrier rates, and inventory distribution change.
Frequently Asked Questions
AI & Machine Learning · Order Routing
Every engagement starts with an assessment.
We scope work after we understand your operation — not before. The Launchpad assessment maps where you are, quantifies what it's costing you, and sequences what to do first.
Start Your Assessment