Logistical errors are not a chance: here is what really causes them
“It’s human to make a mistake.” How many times have you heard this sentence to justify a preparation error? Yet the reality is quite different: 90% of logistical errors come from poorly calibrated processes, not from teams. 🎯
It is time to break this comfortable myth that absolves organizations of their responsibility.
The true cost of errors (well beyond product them)
When a customer receives the wrong item, the counter does not stop at the simple cost of the return.
The damage is exponential:
The after-sales service cost 📞
Call time, dispute management, return processing, reshipment… On average, an error requires 45 minutes of internal resources and costs between €15 and €40 depending on the complexity.
The reputation cost
A dissatisfied customer tells it to 9 people. A satisfied customer to only 3. In the era of Google reviews and Instagram stories, an error becomes viral within hours. Your e-reputation is built order after order.
The cost loss of repeat
The most insidious. That customer who will never come back and you won’t even know he’s gone. Calculate its customer life value: the error at €20 actually costs you several hundred euros in future turnover.
The 3 (little known) root causes of errors
Forget the excuse of the ‘distracted preparer’. The true causes are systemic:
1. The lack of real-time data 📊
How do you want to pilot a blind warehouse? Without an updated dashboard, it is impossible to detect that a preparer accumulates errors, that a reference poses a problem, or that a picking area is poorly organized. We only correct what we measure.
2. The non-standardized manual processes
Each preparer has “his method”. Pierre starts with the large articles, Marie with the small ones. Result: maximum variability, impossible training, guaranteed errors. The absence of standardization is the door open to chaos.
3. The poor organization of internal flows
Misorganized stock, similar references side by side, picking in zigzag in the warehouse… Your physical organization literally makes mistakes. A poorly thought-out warehouse is like asking someone to cook in a kitchen where all the drawers are mixed up.
The Futurlog methodology to reduce errors to < 0,5%
Some actors understood that achieving operational excellence was not a utopia.
Their secret? A three-pronged systematic approach:
The double scanning
Each item scanned at picking, each package re-scanned at the control. Simple, efficient, radical. This automated double check divides the error rate by 10.
The intelligent quality control
No more ineffective random checks. Place to an algorithm that intelligently targets risky orders: new preparers, multi-items, highly confusing products, VIP clients. Maximize impact with minimal resources.
Data-driven steering
Real-time dashboard, automatic alerts, predictive analysis of friction points. The data never lies. They show you exactly where to invest your improvement efforts.
What if we changed paradigms ?
Zero error rarely exists in the absolute. But to go below the 0.1% error threshold, it is accessible to any organization that decides to move from a reactive logic (“we handle errors when they occur”) to a preventive logic (“we design a system that prevents errors from occurring”). 💡
The real question is no longer “why did we have this error?” but “what in our system allowed this error to occur?”
Because yes, your teams are doing the best they can. But locking them in flawed processes and hoping for miracles is like asking someone to run a marathon with holey shoes.
🔍 FAQ
The majority of errors come from faulty processes, not from teams. By structuring your flows, standardizing methods and using intelligent control tools, you naturally divide your error rate.
At Futurlog, the combination of double scanning + intelligent quality control + data-driven management allows achieving an error rate of <0.5% without operational overhead.
Most brands underestimate their losses: customer service, returns, reputation, loss of repeat… A ’20€ error’ can actually cost 200.
Futurlog provides real-time dashboards that measure your error rate, identify sensitive products and detect risk areas. You finally know where you’re losing money, and how to get it back.
Our methodology is based on systems, not on luck:
- targeted quality control
- standardized processes
- pilotage data
- automatic alerts
Result: a stable, predictable logistics driven by numbers, not intuitions.
This is what allows us to structurally achieve an error rate as low as ours.