Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) About 3PLs & Warehousing

When you’re working with us, results speak louder than words. However, we get many potential clients with questions about our service and we thought we’d answer some of the most popular ones. The intricate nature of our expertise is right in the name; logistics.

With that said, we try to keep our explanations of that process as simple as possible, so clients understand what we can do for them. Yet, most of all, we want to convey how our service can free them from the burden of doing logistics and warehousing on their own. We’ve said it in the past, but why reinvent the wheel? Sure, you could discover a streamlined solution to your fulfillment, warehousing, and transportation challenges, but why, when we’ve already done it? Here are the answers to the most frequently asked questions about logistics and warehousing!

When Do I Need a 3^rd Party Logistics (3PL) Company for my Business?

Knowing when to seek help is a huge challenge as a business owner. After all, the very nature of your profession means you’re one of those types that is more inclined to roll up their sleeves and just get it done. Yet, logistics is one of those things that will quickly get away from you if you let it.

So, when do you need a 3PL? In our opinion, if you aren’t running a business out of your home and only fulfilling a dozen or so orders per week, then you’d benefit greatly from outsourcing your logistics, fulfillment, transportation, and warehousing. Luckily, as a 3PL, we do all of that under one roof.

What Exactly Is a 3PL?

A 3PL, otherwise known as a third-party logistics company, is many things. However, every arm of their operations has one goal in mind; to fulfill your customers’ orders timely and efficiently.

However, this goal is deceptively simple. It requires many moving parts, from storing those products, actively taking inventory, fulfilling orders, and shipping them to customers as quickly (and cheaply) as possible). Now, keep in mind that every one of these goals has its own set of moving parts, and you can begin to understand the value of our expertise as a 3PL.

What Does a 3PL Do?

We break our service into 3 primary categories, all of which work together to serve your business: warehousing, transportation, and logistics.

As a 3PL, we combine these distinct components of business operations to provide you with a seamless order fulfillment experience. To put it simply, we make something very complicated appear simple to your customers. At the end of the day, we want them to click “Add to Cart” and see a box at their door in as little time as possible. As the business owner, we want you to enjoy the simplicity of that process as well!

What’s the Biggest Warehousing Issue You Give the Most Attention to?

If we could quantify the types of challenges we see in the 3PL industry, it would be waste. Our greatest challenge and highest accomplishment is in the reduction of as much waste as possible.

Waste can be anything. Wasted materials, wasted time due to inefficiencies, wasted product if it sits around too long, or is stored incorrectly, and pretty much anything else that gets in the way from the A, B, C operations we set out to achieve. As a 3PL, we aim to streamline operations as much as possible and pass those time and money savings back to your business.

How Do You Streamline Operations?

We perform a lot of research, scrutinizing the cost of our warehousing operations and working even harder to understand the why behind the processes we perform. Beyond that, we perform benchmarking exercises to understand how we do things versus our competition in the industry, and through that process gain insight into the evolution of our industry.

How Do You Identify Problem Areas Quickly?

In logistics, problems can arise quickly and exponentially so. With that said, we train ourselves to identify problems and find fast solutions for them. We can spy positive and negative in our data collection processes and convey that information to our clients. We also foster a culture of employee feedback, so we have early insight at the ground level.

What Are the Technologies You Use?

We invest in the latest tools and technologies to give you cutting-edge logistics. Just a few of the technologies we offer to clients are:

• Full Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) capabilities
• Lot coding capability
• Product hold, trace & recall
• ASN or blind receiving
• Multiple order processing methods

What Are the Differences Between Public, Shared, and Dedicated Warehousing?

We offer warehousing solutions for any business, big or small, no matter what their needs are. Public warehousing provides you access to warehousing space that is shared by multiple clients and acts, for the most part, as a storage space, with few of the value-added perks provided by our other options. This is great for small businesses just looking for product storage.

Shared warehousing, while still shared among multiple clients, is meant more as a way to communally invest in the value-added amenities and technological perks we offer clients. Because your investment in this type of warehousing is already fluid, you can scale it dynamically to your current demands.

Dedicated warehousing (also known as contract warehousing) is for larger businesses that need dedicated facilities to support their singular business. This is a solution custom-tailored to your specific needs and includes the same value-added services, but designed specifically for you. This is as streamlined as logistics can get, and if you’re a large business, it’s the way to ensure you’re consistent even in the middle of high volume.

Any Questions?

We tried to focus on the most common questions we’re asked. However, we’re always available to answer your questions, no matter how simple or complicated they might be. Our business is in problem-solving, so we love a good curveball.

Reach out to us anytime, we’ll be happy to hear from you.