IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/transe/v194y2025ics1366554524004794.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Total fulfillment management: principles, practices and use cases

Author

Listed:
  • Leung, Eric Ka Ho

Abstract

This study presents a novel framework called Total Fulfillment Management (TFM), which integrates inbound warehousing and outbound transportation operations into a unified system. TFM draws inspiration from the time-tested philosophies of Total Quality Management and Just-In-Time production, adapting these principles to the modern logistics context. This paper introduces the Fulfillment Synchronization Strategy (FSS) as the operational core of TFM, designed to optimize internal and external resources and improve operational efficiency through real-time data-driven, synchronized decision-making. Within the FSS, a total of nine synchronization practices are defined. Through the integration of emerging technologies like AI, machine learning, IoT, and blockchain, TFM offers a holistic system approach for businesses seeking to enhance their fulfillment operations. Key research avenues and use cases highlight the potential impact of TFM on the evolving logistics landscape.

Suggested Citation

  • Leung, Eric Ka Ho, 2025. "Total fulfillment management: principles, practices and use cases," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:transe:v:194:y:2025:i:c:s1366554524004794
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tre.2024.103888
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1366554524004794
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.tre.2024.103888?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wang, Gang & Gunasekaran, Angappa & Ngai, Eric W.T. & Papadopoulos, Thanos, 2016. "Big data analytics in logistics and supply chain management: Certain investigations for research and applications," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 98-110.
    2. Buijs, Paul & Vis, Iris F.A. & Carlo, Héctor J., 2014. "Synchronization in cross-docking networks: A research classification and framework," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 239(3), pages 593-608.
    3. Ouyang, Zhiyuan & Leung, Eric K.H. & Huang, George Q., 2023. "Community logistics and dynamic community partitioning: A new approach for solving e-commerce last mile delivery," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 307(1), pages 140-156.
    4. Jiang, Zhong-Zhong & Zhao, Jinlong & Sun, Minghe, 2024. "Joint optimization of order picking and delivery in ergonomic picking systems with due dates for sustainability and resilience," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    5. Sila Çetinkaya & Chung-Yee Lee, 2000. "Stock Replenishment and Shipment Scheduling for Vendor-Managed Inventory Systems," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 46(2), pages 217-232, February.
    6. Childerhouse, Paul & Towill, Denis R., 2003. "Simplified material flow holds the key to supply chain integration," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 17-27, February.
    7. Gu, Jinxiang & Goetschalckx, Marc & McGinnis, Leon F., 2007. "Research on warehouse operation: A comprehensive review," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 177(1), pages 1-21, February.
    8. Cruijssen, Frans & Cools, Martine & Dullaert, Wout, 2007. "Horizontal cooperation in logistics: Opportunities and impediments," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 129-142, March.
    9. Briant, Olivier & Cambazard, Hadrien & Cattaruzza, Diego & Catusse, Nicolas & Ladier, Anne-Laure & Ogier, Maxime, 2020. "An efficient and general approach for the joint order batching and picker routing problem," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 285(2), pages 497-512.
    10. Zhang, Jun & Wang, Xuping & Huang, Kai, 2018. "On-line scheduling of order picking and delivery with multiple zones and limited vehicle capacity," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 104-115.
    11. Ad Krijnen, 2007. "The Toyota way: 14 management principles from the world's greatest manufacturer," Action Learning: Research and Practice, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 4(1), pages 109-111, April.
    12. Yu, Wooyeon & Egbelu, Pius J., 2008. "Scheduling of inbound and outbound trucks in cross docking systems with temporary storage," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 184(1), pages 377-396, January.
    13. Cruijssen, Frans & Cools, Martine & Dullaert, W., 2007. "Horizontal cooperation in logistics: opportunities and impediments," Other publications TiSEM ab29fad8-1faf-422b-826e-0, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    14. Tarik Chargui & Abdelghani Bekrar & Mohamed Reghioui & Damien Trentesaux, 2022. "Scheduling trucks and storage operations in a multiple-door cross-docking terminal considering multiple storage zones," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 60(4), pages 1153-1177, February.
    15. Leung, Eric K.H. & Lee, Carmen Kar Hang & Ouyang, Zhiyuan, 2022. "From traditional warehouses to Physical Internet hubs: A digital twin-based inbound synchronization framework for PI-order management," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 244(C).
    16. Ouyang, Zhiyuan & Leung, Eric K.H. & Shen, Chuanfu & Huang, George Q., 2024. "Synchronizing order picking and delivery in e-commerce warehouses under community logistics," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    17. Jianbin Li & Rihuan Huang & James B. Dai, 2017. "Joint optimisation of order batching and picker routing in the online retailer’s warehouse in China," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(2), pages 447-461, January.
    18. Ouyang, Zhiyuan & Leung, Eric Ka Ho & Huang, George Q., 2022. "Community logistics for dynamic vehicle dispatching: The effects of community departure “time” and “space”," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    19. Thomas C. Powell, 1995. "Total quality management as competitive advantage: A review and empirical study," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(1), pages 15-37.
    20. Guo, Xiongfei & Chen, Jing & Wu, Jie & Zhang, Tinglong & Zhang, Hui, 2024. "Returns policy, in-store service, and contract strategies in the presence of customer returns," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    21. Stadtler, Hartmut, 2005. "Supply chain management and advanced planning--basics, overview and challenges," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 163(3), pages 575-588, June.
    22. de Koster, Rene & Le-Duc, Tho & Roodbergen, Kees Jan, 2007. "Design and control of warehouse order picking: A literature review," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 182(2), pages 481-501, October.
    23. Silva, Allyson & Coelho, Leandro C. & Darvish, Maryam & Renaud, Jacques, 2020. "Integrating storage location and order picking problems in warehouse planning," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    24. Boysen, Nils & de Koster, René & Weidinger, Felix, 2019. "Warehousing in the e-commerce era: A survey," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 277(2), pages 396-411.
    25. Cheng, Chen-Yang & Chen, Yin-Yann & Chen, Tzu-Li & Jung-Woon Yoo, John, 2015. "Using a hybrid approach based on the particle swarm optimization and ant colony optimization to solve a joint order batching and picker routing problem," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 170(PC), pages 805-814.
    26. Martin Savelsbergh & Tom Van Woensel, 2016. "50th Anniversary Invited Article—City Logistics: Challenges and Opportunities," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 50(2), pages 579-590, May.
    27. Guo, Daqiang & Li, Mingxing & Lyu, Zhongyuan & Kang, Kai & Wu, Wei & Zhong, Ray Y. & Huang, George Q., 2021. "Synchroperation in industry 4.0 manufacturing," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 238(C).
    28. Alexander Hübner & Andreas Holzapfel & Heinrich Kuhn, 2016. "Distribution systems in omni-channel retailing," Business Research, Springer;German Academic Association for Business Research, vol. 9(2), pages 255-296, August.
    29. White, Richard E. & Prybutok, Victor, 2001. "The relationship between JIT practices and type of production system," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 113-124, April.
    30. Bergmann, Felix M. & Wagner, Stephan M. & Winkenbach, Matthias, 2020. "Integrating first-mile pickup and last-mile delivery on shared vehicle routes for efficient urban e-commerce distribution," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 26-62.
    31. Jiang, Min & Leung, K.H. & Lyu, Zhongyuan & Huang, George Q., 2020. "Picking-replenishment synchronization for robotic forward-reserve warehouses," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    32. Boysen, Nils & Schwerdfeger, Stefan & Stephan, Konrad, 2023. "A review of synchronization problems in parts-to-picker warehouses," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 307(3), pages 1374-1390.
    33. Zhi-Long Chen, 2010. "Integrated Production and Outbound Distribution Scheduling: Review and Extensions," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 58(1), pages 130-148, February.
    34. Eric K.H. Leung & Zhiyuan Ouyang & George Q. Huang, 2023. "Community logistics: a dynamic strategy for facilitating immediate parcel delivery to smart lockers," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 61(9), pages 2936-2961, May.
    35. Jiang, Min & Huang, George Q., 2022. "Intralogistics synchronization in robotic forward-reserve warehouses for e-commerce last-mile delivery," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    36. Sayed Ibrahim Sayed & Ivan Contreras & Juan A. Diaz & Dolores E. Luna, 2020. "Integrated cross-dock door assignment and truck scheduling with handling times," TOP: An Official Journal of the Spanish Society of Statistics and Operations Research, Springer;Sociedad de Estadística e Investigación Operativa, vol. 28(3), pages 705-727, October.
    37. Boysen, Nils & de Koster, René & Weidinger, Felix, 2019. "Warehousing in the e-commerce era: A survey," Publications of Darmstadt Technical University, Institute for Business Studies (BWL) 126185, Darmstadt Technical University, Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law, Institute for Business Studies (BWL).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jiang, Min & Huang, George Q., 2022. "Intralogistics synchronization in robotic forward-reserve warehouses for e-commerce last-mile delivery," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    2. Jiang, Zhong-Zhong & Zhao, Jinlong & Sun, Minghe, 2024. "Joint optimization of order picking and delivery in ergonomic picking systems with due dates for sustainability and resilience," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    3. Anastasios Gialos & Vasileios Zeimpekis, 2024. "A state-of-the-art classification and review of parameters that affect the design, control, and operating strategies of order-picking systems," Operational Research, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 1-52, March.
    4. Ouyang, Zhiyuan & Leung, Eric K.H. & Shen, Chuanfu & Huang, George Q., 2024. "Synchronizing order picking and delivery in e-commerce warehouses under community logistics," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    5. Guo, Xiaolong & Chen, Ran & Du, Shaofu & Yu, Yugang, 2021. "Storage assignment for newly arrived items in forward picking areas with limited open locations," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    6. Lam, H.Y. & Ho, G.T.S. & Mo, Daniel Y. & Tang, Valerie, 2023. "Responsive pick face replenishment strategy for stock allocation to fulfil e-commerce order," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 264(C).
    7. Xie, Lin & Li, Hanyi & Luttmann, Laurin, 2023. "Formulating and solving integrated order batching and routing in multi-depot AGV-assisted mixed-shelves warehouses," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 307(2), pages 713-730.
    8. Chen, Gang & Feng, Haolin & Luo, Kaiyi & Tang, Yanli, 2021. "Retrieval-oriented storage relocation optimization of an automated storage and retrieval system," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    9. Onal, Sevilay & Zhu, Wen & Das, Sanchoy, 2023. "Order picking heuristics for online order fulfillment warehouses with explosive storage," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 256(C).
    10. Zhuang, Yanling & Zhou, Yun & Hassini, Elkafi & Yuan, Yufei & Hu, Xiangpei, 2024. "Improving order picking efficiency through storage assignment optimization in robotic mobile fulfillment systems," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 316(2), pages 718-732.
    11. Boysen, Nils & de Koster, René, 2025. "50 years of warehousing research—An operations research perspective," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 320(3), pages 449-464.
    12. Pardo, Eduardo G. & Gil-Borrás, Sergio & Alonso-Ayuso, Antonio & Duarte, Abraham, 2024. "Order batching problems: Taxonomy and literature review," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 313(1), pages 1-24.
    13. AERTS, Babiche & CORNELISSENS, Trijntje & SÖRENSEN, Kenneth, 2022. "The internal warehouse replenishment problem: the importance of storage and replenishment policies," Working Papers 2022007, University of Antwerp, Faculty of Business and Economics.
    14. Zhong, Shuya & Giannikas, Vaggelis & Merino, Jorge & McFarlane, Duncan & Cheng, Jun & Shao, Wei, 2022. "Evaluating the benefits of picking and packing planning integration in e-commerce warehouses," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 301(1), pages 67-81.
    15. Jiang, Min & Leung, K.H. & Lyu, Zhongyuan & Huang, George Q., 2020. "Picking-replenishment synchronization for robotic forward-reserve warehouses," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    16. Michele Barbato & Alberto Ceselli & Giovanni Righini, 2024. "A polynomial-time dynamic programming algorithm for an optimal picking problem in automated warehouses," Journal of Scheduling, Springer, vol. 27(4), pages 393-407, August.
    17. David Winkelmann & Frederik Tolkmitt & Matthias Ulrich & Michael Romer, 2022. "Integrated storage assignment for an e-grocery fulfilment centre: Accounting for day-of-week demand patterns," Papers 2209.03998, arXiv.org, revised May 2023.
    18. Laura Korbacher & Katrin Heßler & Stefan Irnich, 2023. "The Single Picker Routing Problem with Scattered Storage: Modeling and Evaluation of Routing and Storage Policies," Working Papers 2302, Gutenberg School of Management and Economics, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz.
    19. Mirzaei, Masoud & Zaerpour, Nima & de Koster, René, 2021. "The impact of integrated cluster-based storage allocation on parts-to-picker warehouse performance," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    20. Silva, Allyson & Roodbergen, Kees Jan & Coelho, Leandro C. & Darvish, Maryam, 2022. "Estimating optimal ABC zone sizes in manual warehouses," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 252(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:transe:v:194:y:2025:i:c:s1366554524004794. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600244/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.