When Third-Party Logistics (3PL) fulfillment provides cost-saving, value-added services, and other advantages, it’s no wonder that companies are starting to outsource their fulfilment. When it comes to 3PL fulfilment, you may be thinking about whether it would be appropriate for your company, product, or industry. What do you know about outsourcing fulfilment? What are the benefits?

You must have a thorough comprehension of what 3PL distribution means before you begin.

The Third-Party Logistics sector acts as a third party for the supply chain in addition to transportation, storage, fulfillment, distribution, and other processes. You hand over all of the order fulfillment responsibilities to a 3PL when you hire this firm to fulfil your merchandise. When using 3PL distribution, you may acquire cheaper shipping, superior technology, and a large staff of warehouses in addition to other advantages. The following are the things 3PLs can handle: attention to stock levels inventory management receiving and packing orders arranging transportation delivering orders to consumers handling returns.

You can rely on a 3PL to deliver a wide range of services:

1. Pick & pack – including pick and pack and shipment. When orders are received online, the 3PL’s warehouse staff picks them off the warehouse shelves, packs them together, seals the box, and then sends it out for immediate delivery. This pick, pack, and ship method is a fast, efficient, and economical way to fulfil e-commerce orders.
2. Kitting & Assembly – Bath bombs, bubble bath soap, bath oils, and body scrub all come as a package in this process. These items can be sold as a single unit if they’re assembled and marketed as a single item. This is particularly helpful for items that are frequently bought in tandem, such as luggage sets. Together, these items can be listed as one item on your website.
3. Reverse Logistics – The term reverse logistics refers to the practice of evaluating returned goods and reclaiming value from them. Even damaged goods can be sold at a substantial discount instead of being trashed, and they may even be repackaged and sold again at full price. You may benefit financially from handling returns, as this process may result in substantial cost savings.
4. Cross-Docking/ Transloading – Many e-commerce fulfilment centres provide cross-docking and transloading services, as fulfillment employees are already qualified to rapidly load and unload freight trucks. In cross-docking, an inbound truck is unloaded and the items are loaded on several outbound trucks to either finish the delivery or transport the items. When a large fulfilment partner has many distribution centres, this is a common method of consolidation before dividing the shipment into smaller vans to deliver in various locations.
5. Expiring Product Fulfillment – FIFO or FEFO products can be used to determine the order in which items are picked and shipped out to customers. By ensuring that all items being shipped out are still good, and you don’t end up with any forgotten stock expiring and going to waste, expired products may be controlled.
6. Integraed Shipping/ Delivery – With a 3PL, you shouldn’t have to worry about organising any shipping for your items. In addition to warehouse and fulfilment services, 3PLs provide advanced logistics solutions with their network of carriers. You may use shipping methods that you may have never used before, such as same-day delivery, expedited, overnight, intermodal, or air shipping.

The process of fulfilling orders can vary considerably depending on the product. Even though companies may use the same fulfilment vendor, the services they require are not always the same. Certain products need to be handled in different ways, while other items would benefit from specific services. When they work with a 3PL provider, companies can benefit from tailored fulfilment solutions that bring them the services they need to get the best bargain.

ProConnect Integrated Logistics for your Business

You’re not the only one thinking of outsourcing part of your operations to a 3PL, many companies and shippers agree and rely on us to efficiently support them. Optimizing supply chain is not easy, it requires tying lots of activities and ends together, opting for an experienced 3PL like ProConnect Integrated Logistics can offer many benefits – thanks to their expertise, experience, resources and of course, their network, which can reduce your supply chain risks marginally. You may or may not have a supply chain department of your own, but you still need a trusted team to identify and avoid potential risks and problems that can affect your supply chain operations. Therefore, a 3PL is often turned to and appointed by large companies as well as SMBs.

For any questions or evaluation, get in touch with us.