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Special projects are non-standard projects on current or incoming inventory that can be defined and created right from your Shipwire account. Shipwire can support a very wide variety of projects, and will partner with you to document the project’s requirements, estimate costs, and manage each project to its successful completion. Our team can perform both routine and highly customized projects, whether it’s on a single order or all of your inventory.

Examples of projects include kitting, labeling, photographing inventory, pre-packaging, breaking down inventory, or other special needs you may have for your inventory.

Special projects are available at the following rate:

• $40 per hour
• 2-5 days for standard receiving
• One special project per order number or ASN number

Creating a special projects

A special project on receiving can be defined when you create a receiving order.

A special project on inventory can be created in your Shipwire account under the Store menu by clicking the Create Project link. After choosing the warehouse and inventory you wish to perform the project on, you can define the work you want to be performed.

A special project on orders can be created in your Shipwire account after you submit an order. You must submit a signed Terms of Service prior to being able to request a special project. Contact our Care team for more information.

When you are requesting a special project, it is very important to let our team know the urgency of the project, or any other priorities you have. In some cases, a focus on detail and exactness is important while in other cases, such as the disposal of damaged inventory, you may prefer to focus on speed and time-saving. In the cases of urgent projects, for example, it may be better to do a quick time estimate for completion rather than a full time-and-motion study, which is more accurate but more time-consuming.

Knowing your priority can help us complete the project to your requirements.
 

Providing an accurate description

Providing complete, accurate instructions is the most important step in requesting a special project. The best way to ensure that the project is performed exactly to your specifications and delivered in a timely manner is to provide very precise and detailed instructions. Describe all aspects of the project accurately and concisely, reference SKU numbers where applicable, and describe the names and colors of the products.

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 project incorrectly and having to redo it. 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 creating a repeatable process.
 

Special project processing

The typical process for completing a project includes the following steps:

1. You fill out a special project request form in your Shipwire account or, for incoming inventory, during the creation of your receiving order. Ensure your instructions are as accurate as possible.
2. Our team will review the project within one business day and will contact you with additional questions and a quote. For more complex projects it may take more than one day to provide a quote.
3. Once you receive a price quote and an estimated time to completion, you can approve the quote. You can also get a time and motion study if you want a more accurate estimate of time required.
4. Upon completion of special projects for incoming inventory items, your products are automatically listed in your account and are available for sale. Upon completion of special projects for orders, your order is automatically shipped.

Types of special projects

Several pre-defined project types are available when you create a special project, including product labeling, breaking down lots, photography, and measurement. These and other kinds of special projects will fall into one of three categories which are helpful to consider depending on your needs:

• Time & Materials: These are projects based on work performed and materials used. For example, combining multiple products into a single new product, such as 3 accessories into an accessory pack. The cost will be based on both the time required to combine the products and the cost of the accessory pack (materials).

  Optional: Time & Materials not to exceed $X: You can specify for the whole project not to exceed a certain $ amount. This is useful if you already know the approximate costs required to complete the project.

• Price Per Unit & Materials: These are routine projects that align with each unit involved. Rather than being based on time, these projects work on a per-unit basis. For example, putting a new label on 500 products. The estimate will be based on the cost of each label and the cost of putting the labels on each product.

  Optional: Price Per Unit not to exceed $X: You can specify for the total project not to exceed a certain $ amount. This is useful if you have a budget for the project, and want to complete the project in batches.

• Fixed Price: Fixed price projects are standard projects where our team has executed the project before, or are very simple. These projects provide the advantage of a guarantee that the work will be completed for a quoted price. An example of this can be counting every item in a bin, with a fixed price given for each bin.

Special projects on receivings (ASNs)

Receivings with special projects usually have additional receiving times. Most receivings take 2-5 business days to complete, however due to receivings requiring unpacking and counting into warehouse inventory, special projects on incoming inventory can take up to an additional two to five days to complete. Please plan accordingly, and monitor your Shipwire account for alerts and to accept the quote once ready.