How to choose a 3PL provider: 9 steps to find the right third party logistics partner

A third party logistics provider (3PL) can help your business save money, increase efficiency, and provide great customer service on your behalf. Most 3PLs offer expertise in all areas of supply chain management and can handle everything so you can focus on running your business. When deciding to outsource some or all of your logistics to a 3PL partner, there are a myriad of factors to consider. Even if you know that you want to work with a 3PL, it can be hard to determine which one will suit your needs the best. Here’s a list of nine things to look for when determining how to choose the right 3PL partner.

There are a lot of 3PL companies out there and they all offer different services, expertise and specialties. A few components in particular you’ll want to look at are reliability, handling times, inventory management, scope of services, carrier relationships, small parcel rates, current clients, and industries and specializations. Make sure they can handle any special needs you have like Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) or dedicated delivery service in certain areas.

Whether you have an off-the-shelf shopping cart system or a custom-built ERP inventory management system, it’s important that your 3PL can integrate into your existing process and systems. Depending on what your company specializes in, you should find a 3PL partner that offers technology solutions that make your life easier-whether it’s the main warehouse management system for tracking shipments, solutions that make warehouse operations and inventorymanagement more efficient, or anything in between. It’s also imperative to look for business intelligence solutions beyond the basics that will offer you data and visibility about order fulfillment or shipments and help you make informed and timely business decisions.

Growth and scalability are important considerations when you are choosing a 3PL. Ideally, you want to stay with a 3PL partner for a while, so you need to find a logistics service provider that can scale along with your growth curve. You wouldn’t want to pick a 3PL for your current size and then have to move to a new one in a year or two because you grew faster than expected, and they don’t have the space or capabilities to handle your business.

The supply chain side of your business is increasingly vital to your profitability and success, so when searching for a third party logistics partner, stability is paramount. Businesses invest so much time and resources on choosing a 3PL, so it’s important to ensure that the one you select has a proven track record and the financial stability to survive in the event of an economic downturn. If possible, get a current customer list and potentially contacts that you can interview during your selection process. Make sure your 3rd party logistics partner has a history of reliable methods, practices and relationships.

Every industry has different fulfillment and distribution needs and requirements, so double check that the 3PL company has extensive experience in your specific field. Most 3PLs handle a variety of industries, so ensure that your 3PL has the set of core competencies and abilities that can satisfy both your short term and future requirements so you can continue to grow and make supply chain improvements. Some 3PLs are good at ecommerce business, some are really good at retail or B2B, so make sure that your 3PL’s strengths match your needs. Can they handle surge volumes during your busiest peak seasons? How good is their reverse logistics process?

Do you need kitting, assembly or light manufacturing? It’s important that your 3PL can support your required product workflows as well and have the ability to scale up speed and volume as needed. Brand image is something else to look at when choosing a 3PL. Verify that your 3PL is committed to your brand image and that they can support the level of quality your customers are accustomed to throughout spikes in demand. If you are looking to expand your business to other countries, make sure the 3PL has the capabilities to ship internationally, efficiently and economically. Finally, see if your 3PL practices continuous improvement and can suggest and implement best practices across your supply chain to help your company stand out from the competition.

Any good third party logistics partner should prioritize customer service, responsiveness and communication. You should be able to get ahold of them when you need to, and they should offer you a variety of channels to do so. It’s also important that if they deal directly with your customers, that they have the ability to positively represent your brand and match your required level of communication and professionalism.

The right 3PL can help you leverage technology, process improvement and industry experience to optimize your operations and ultimately improve your entire supply chain. A great 3PL partner can even offer custom software solutions and business intelligence data that can provide insight and direction to continuously improve your processes-basically, you want a long-term partner that is aligned with your goals and will make your business better.

Omnichannel distribution and fulfillment has become more mainstream, and it is increasingly vital to your success that you have a potential partner that can handle every aspect from D2C ecommerce fulfillment to subscription box fulfillmentto B2B retail distribution and everything in between. Make sure you select a provider that understands the nuances of your distribution channels and can handle them all to deliver the best experience to your customers.

A third party logistics partner that is committed to excellence and continuous improvement will use proven solutions and new data to constantly review, refine and improve their processes-helping you achieve the best results, service and cost savings.

Third party logistics providers can take your business to the next level, but depending on your goals, they are not for everyone. Now that you understand how to choose a 3PL provider and what to look for when doing so, it’s also important to understand the advantages and disadvantages of 3PLs before deciding to make the move. Read on to learn about the pros and cons of using a 3PL.

A 3PL partner can offer you a lot of advantages with industry expertise, scalability, and knowledge of best practices to help you grow your business.

A huge advantage of using a 3PL partner is that they can help you scale up and down to meet demand and surges, meaning you don’t have to spend additional money on storage space, equipment, and labor. You can use a 3PL’s flexibility, scalability and plethora of resources based on your current business needs.

One of the biggest benefits of using a 3PL is that it eliminates the need for you to invest in your own fulfillment center, warehousing space, technology, transportation, and employees for your supply chain process, which can all be very expensive. Third party logistics providers can save you from making costly mistakes while ensuring you don’t need to worry about fulfilling the logistics yourself.

Not only can a 3PL make it much easier on you by handling the logistics, but they also have additional resources to make adjustments and improvements to each individual step in your supply chain and processes. A good third party logisticscompany coffer expertise in this area and can help you maximize profits and help you provide the best service to your customers.

A good 3PL provider will be knowledgeable of industry best practices and current trends in the manufacturing, supply chain and logistics space. They will be able to offer you suggestions and solutions that work well in your specific industry and help you avoid common and not so common mistakes.

When you’re not worrying about all the different pieces of your ever-evolving supply chain, you will have a lot more time to focus on actually running your business. When you outsource logistics, you can enjoy the benefit of industry experience and expertise without exhausting your valuable internal resources.

Using a 3PL is not for everyone, so it’s important that we discuss some of the cons of using one.

One of the biggest disadvantages of using a 3PL is that you are not engaged in the day-to-day tactical details of your supply chain operations. You could lose the internal skills and infrastructure to perform these operations and it may be challenging to come back to it in the future.

Handing your logistical operations to a 3PL means you are not performing the function, as discussed above, but it can also mean you have less visibility to the day-to-day details of your logistics process. Most 3PL providers offer data and insights into your operations on a regular basis, but this is a big reason why it’s important to do your research and feel comfortable with your 3PL’s capabilities and processes.

Outsourcing your fulfillment can feel like you are giving up some control of your brand management. This can absolutely happen if you pick a partner that doesn’t value your brand to the level that you do. To avoid this, make sure you determine your 3PL’s ability to commit to the level of detail, customer service and brand management during the selection process.

At ITS Logistics, we know that determining how to choose a 3PL provider and then handing your logistics operations over to them can be an overwhelming process. Our team members have years of expertise in every type of fulfillment services and distribution services, as well as dedicated fleet services, drayage and intermodal and asset-lite transportation for some of the biggest and best companies across the globe. We will provide you and your customers with some of the best service in the industry-and we are ready to build a long term partnership with you. Give us a call to find out how we can help you today.