Value Added Services - short definition
Value Added Services, briefly VAS, are additional logistics services that go beyond standard processes such as storage, transportation or shipping. In German, they speak of value-added services or value-added services. In logistics, this includes, for example, labeling, repackaging, kitting, quality controls, returns processing or product-related additional work.
In short, value-added services turn pure logistics into a more individual, valuable service.
Value-added services in logistics
Value Added Services Logistics describes additional services along the supply chain. You can in the warehouse, at fulfillment, during the return process or before shipping.
Typical examples include:
- Labelling
- Repackaging
- Repacking
- Kitting
- Set formation
- Quality control
- Branding
- Insert insert
- Gift wrapping
- Product refinement
- Returns check
- Repair or reconditioning
- Confection
- Customs or document services
Many of these services can be found directly in the warehouse or fulfillment center instead of before goods are shipped or put back into storage.
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How do value-added services work?
A typical process can look like this:
- Goods are delivered or returned
- Items are checked and identified
- Additional service is carried out according to the rule or order
- Product is repackaged, labeled, or bundled
- System inventory is being updated
- Goods are stored or shipped
It is important that these steps are properly documented. The more individual the service, the more important standards, data quality and clear briefings are.
Benefits of value-added services
Value-added services help brands to connect operational processes and customer experience more closely. Products are not only moved, but are also specifically prepared, improved or presented in line with the brand.
The most important benefits are:
- more flexibility in fulfillment
- better brand impact
- less internal effort
- faster campaign and campaign implementation
- better product quality before shipment
- more professional returns handling
- better scalability of individual requirements
Value-added services are particularly valuable for growing brands because they remove special processes from their own team and professionally integrate them into logistics.
Typical mistakes and challenges of value-added services
The biggest challenge lies in complexity. Value-added services are individual. That is exactly what makes them valuable, but also susceptible to mistakes.
If briefings are unclear, product data is missing or variants are not properly maintained, incorrect labels, incorrectly assembled sets or inconsistent packaging quickly arise. Special manual processes can also cost time if they are not standardized.
A strong value-added service therefore needs clear rules: Which articles are affected? Which materials are used? How is testing carried out? Who documents the step? And when is a product considered saleable again?
