--- title: "Zenfulfillment: Scaling WMS by Outsourcing Carrier Data" description: Learn how Zenfulfillment built a custom WMS and returns portal by treating carrier integrations as commodity infrastructure to eliminate maintenance debt. image: https://resources.perform.ai/hubfs/PerformAI-SMS-Fulfillment.webp --- [Skip to content](https://resources.perform.ai/success-story/zenfulfillment#main-content) [![performai\_logo](https://resources.perform.ai/hubfs/performai_logo.svg)](https://www.parcelperform.com/) Open main navigation Close main navigation - [Book a demo](https://resources.perform.ai/demo) [Book a demo](https://resources.perform.ai/demo) [Back to Customer Stories](https://www.parcelperform.com/case-studies)  ![Vector](https://resources.perform.ai/hs-fs/hubfs/Vector.png?width=76&height=32&name=Vector.png)![output-onlinepngtools (2)](https://resources.perform.ai/hs-fs/hubfs/output-onlinepngtools%20(2).png?width=20&height=20&name=output-onlinepngtools%20(2).png) ![O2GiDeq1cC8IfqtiLYvcI27Gp1H1766381641911\_200x200 - Edited](https://resources.perform.ai/hs-fs/hubfs/O2GiDeq1cC8IfqtiLYvcI27Gp1H1766381641911_200x200%20-%20Edited.png?width=198&height=45&name=O2GiDeq1cC8IfqtiLYvcI27Gp1H1766381641911_200x200%20-%20Edited.png)   # How Zenfulfillment Built a Proprietary WMS by Treating Carrier Integrations as Commodity Infrastructure --- - **Proprietary WMS on Outsourced Infrastructure:** Built a custom Warehouse Management System by treating carrier tracking integrations as commodity—freeing engineering resources for differentiated IP. - **Predictive Operations at Scale:** 100% tracking coverage identifies sortation center bottlenecks and protects delivery promises. - **Zero-Maintenance Reliability:** 3+ years of stability with Perform.AI through a major merger—zero engineering maintenance. ![Zenfulfillment custom warehouse managament system. They use robots to help manage logistics. ](https://resources.perform.ai/hs-fs/hubfs/64229700a2ece08f0d355c32_Pick%20Pack.webp?width=1372&height=1080&name=64229700a2ece08f0d355c32_Pick%20Pack.webp "Zenfulfillment custom warehouse managament system. They use robots to help manage logistics. ") ### About the Customer [Zenfulfillment](https://zenfulfillment.com/), a leading European fulfillment provider recently strengthened through its merger with Alaiko, empowers independent e-commerce brands with technology-driven fulfillment solutions. Both companies had independently chosen Perform.AI before the merger— and continued post-merger, now pulling standardized data across both systems.   ### Products Used ![Delivery Experience\_icon](https://resources.perform.ai/hs-fs/hubfs/Delivery%20Experience_icon.png?width=30&height=29&name=Delivery%20Experience_icon.png) Post-Purchase Connect Get a free demo ## The Challenge: Scaling Technology-Driven Fulfillment with Limited Resources Zenfulfillment differentiates through technology—building proprietary systems that power their fulfillment operations for DTC brands. To deliver on their service promises, they needed absolute real-time visibility into a fragmented European carrier network (DHL, DPD, Hermes, etc.). However, they faced a critical resource constraint: their engineering team needed to focus on building proprietary fulfillment technology, not maintaining carrier tracking APIs. The stakes became even higher after their merger with Alaiko. Now, they were operating two separate ecosystems under one roof, each with different carrier configurations and data flows. Without a stable, unified data foundation, managing this complexity would have required months of engineering effort just to build and then continuously harmonize the tracking infrastructure—time they couldn't afford. ![A data-driven Carrier Performance dashboard interface from Parcel Perform, part of the AI Decision Intelligence suite. The UI displays a Shipment Count breakdown and Shipment Status comparison across multiple carriers (Carrier A through H). Key metrics shown include 150,000 total shipments filtered by date, with granular status indicators for Delivered, Active, Pending, Inactive, Expired, and Returned parcels to optimize operational trust signals.](https://resources.perform.ai/hubfs/Zenfulfillment%20%20-%202_2x.webp "A data-driven Carrier Performance dashboard interface from Parcel Perform, part of the AI Decision Intelligence suite. The UI displays a Shipment Count breakdown and Shipment Status comparison across multiple carriers (Carrier A through H). Key metrics shown include 150,000 total shipments filtered by date, with granular status indicators for Delivered, Active, Pending, Inactive, Expired, and Returned parcels to optimize operational trust signals.") ## The Strategic Decision: Outsourcing Commodity Infrastructure Faced with these resource constraints, leadership took a future-proof strategic decision: comprehensive and harmonized tracking data was a necessity, not a differentiator—the differentiator was what they did with it. They chose to treat carrier tracking integrations and data flows as commodity infrastructure, outsourcing the data harmonization to Perform.AI so their team could focus on high-value IP. The math is simple: every hour spent debugging carrier tracking integrations and figuring out the meaning of event statuses was an hour not building differentiated technology. And the real pain isn’t the initial build—it was ongoing maintenance. Every carrier delivers data in different formats, standards, timezones, and languages. Normalizing that chaos continuously? Not a good use of engineering and teams time. > > ###### “Sometimes it looks better to do it in-house, but as soon as you start to count the development time, maintenance time, and all of this... it makes no sense. We ended up using what is available on the market because as soon as you start to count and measure, it makes no sense \[to build it yourself\]." > > > > ![Ievgen Demchenko, CTO, Zenfulfillment](https://resources.perform.ai/hs-fs/hubfs/demchenko.jpg?width=80&height=80&name=demchenko.jpg) > > Ievgen Demchenko  > > CTO at Zenfulfillment ![A partnership diagram illustrating how Zenfulfillment utilizes the Parcel Perform Post-Purchase Experience suite to power merchant growth. The flowchart shows Zenfulfillment’s shipment data flowing into a Branded Tracking and Notifications layer. This enables Zenfulfillment to offer its merchants a seamless consumer journey—including real-time status updates and proactive communication—that reduces WISMO inquiries and strengthens the brand reliability signals necessary for AI commerce ranking.](https://resources.perform.ai/hubfs/Zenfulfillment%20%20-%201_2x.webp "A partnership diagram illustrating how Zenfulfillment utilizes the Parcel Perform Post-Purchase Experience suite to power merchant growth. The flowchart shows Zenfulfillment’s shipment data flowing into a Branded Tracking and Notifications layer. This enables Zenfulfillment to offer its merchants a seamless consumer journey—including real-time status updates and proactive communication—that reduces WISMO inquiries and strengthens the brand reliability signals necessary for AI commerce ranking.") ## The Execution: Turning Data into Operational Precision With Perform.AI as their headless data infrastructure, Zenfulfillment ingests a harmonized data stream for 100% of their parcels directly into their data lake. Despite operating differentiated systems post-merger, they pull fully standardized data across both accounts—powering the operational engine behind their fulfillment services. > > ###### "The data is heavily used for next-day delivery prediction and to analyze any bottlenecks. We track 100% of all the parcels and make sure our internal teams or our customers don't have to worry about figuring it out themselves." > > > > ![demchenko](https://resources.perform.ai/hs-fs/hubfs/demchenko.jpg?width=90&height=90&name=demchenko.jpg) > >  Ievgen Demchenko  > > CTO at Zenfulfillment - **Protecting Delivery Promises:** Normalized data validates delivery predictions—they only promise what they can deliver. - **Bottleneck Detection:** Granular tracking data allows them to analyze performance "from sortation center to sortation center," identifying failing network nodes and adjusting routing logic before customers are impacted. - **Customer-Facing Intelligence:** Custom BI dashboards combine warehouse and last-mile data, giving brands complete order-to-delivery visibility. ## The Result: Innovation Without Maintenance Debt The true ROI is measured in what Zenfulfillment built instead of carrier tracking integrations. By outsourcing the data layer, their engineering team delivered proprietary technology that would typically require significantly larger resources: Proprietary WMS Custom Warehouse Management System built from scratch to serve both legacy and post-merger operations. Returns Portal Integrated solution connecting directly to warehouse operations, enabling seamless returns processing with labels and QR codes. Cost Audit & Claims System Internal tools managing shipping cost audits across multiple carriers and automating claims processes. Custom BI Dashboards Customer-facing analytics combining warehouse operations with last-mile performance—visibility competitors can't match. For over three years, Perform.AI has provided turnkey reliability—requiring zero maintenance even as volumes scaled and the business navigated a major merger. > > ###### "The products I like most are the ones you don't need to worry about. You implement it once, then it works - the less attention you need to put there, the better the product." > > > > ![demchenko](https://resources.perform.ai/hs-fs/hubfs/demchenko.jpg?width=80&height=80&name=demchenko.jpg) > >  Ievgen Demchenko  > > CTO at Zenfulfillment ## Stop Maintaining Integrations. Start Building. Zenfulfillment built a custom WMS, returns portal, and cost audit system—while navigating a merger—because they weren't debugging carrier tracking APIs. What could your team build with that time back? 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