3PL OUTSOURCING

Own warehouse v 3PL, contract review, tender preparation, vendor selection and transition management.

Selecting a third party logistics (3PL) provider does not always prove to be the best option for every organisation. Assess every option when making a decision to operate your warehouse or outsource logistics.

3PL OUTSOURCING

Organisations typically consider two primary factors that tend to shift the focus towards outsourcing: the level of capital investment required and the opportunity to concentrate on what you are really in business for in the first place. All other factors are part of an evaluation process that can cancel out when pros and cons are considered.

We help our clients understand all of their options, compare third party logistics vendors using a matrix that considers every component of a 3PL operation. As cost versus service comparisons are important factors, we can also manage the entire process from the initial evalation phase, contract negotiation, performance assessment through to developing transition plans for physical relocation. 

"A Turn Key Solution" will take you through the whole process and work towards finding the right 3PL provider to support your business fulfillment requirements.

BENEFITS OF THIRD PARTY LOGISTICS

Key questions that our clients typically need to be addressed when considering outsourcing to a 3PL:

1. Our processes and requirements are specific to our company, will the new 3PL provider understand our business?
2. How are we to measure customer service level performance when we have no visibility?
3. Are we the main customer for a outsourced provider or do larger businesses have priority?
4. Where are 3PL warehouses located and what is the impact on our freight costs?
5. How do we know if the costs charged to our account are fair and reasonable, especially in a shared facility?
6. How are we able to grow our business without being surprised by cost escalation for services?
7. We need to do a straight line comparison of services, costs and infrastructure components, how is this achieved?
8. Is the technology used by the 3rd party provider leading edge so we can migrate other services for customers?

WAREHOUSE RELOCATION SERVICES

1. 3PL Tender evaluation, site selection and awarding of contract.
2. Project management focus to develop relocation plans and manage transition.
3. New warehouse layout design to support inventory storage and movement profile.
4. Deployment of all IT systems, RF scanning, pick technologies and EDI.
5. Physical relocation of inventory for 6 week go live cutover.

TYPICAL 3PL IMPROVEMENT PROJECT

1. Complete warehouse layout assessment to understand how inventory is moved and orders processed.
2. Review of each warehouse function to establish defined processing areas
3. New racking installation to free up processing floor space and congestion.
4. Resource planning tool for cost control management
5. Transport management system to optimise load planning and pallet build.
6. Implemented a supplier delivery schedule to smooth vehicle arrivals.
7. Order cycle-time has reduced due to new warehouse layout changes.
8. Despatch workloads balanced from cross dock through to final outbound load completion.
9. Greater resource visibility at a site level creating an opportunity to manage casual labour costs more effectively.
10. Outbound transportation routes are planned and more efficient, which create opportunities for cost recovery.
11. Yard management initiatives implemented to better manage space and vehicles.