Today’s day in age commands an inch more of everything, we cannot just be simple or be same as others. We all know that we need to be different. In this article, I would like to emphasize on shipping companies’ stepping up with third-party logistics (3PL) in order to stay on track with their needy customers. 3PL providers are offering integrated services that are molded to suit their customers’ needs, and this is causing high demand for the service.
In business and most definitely sales, we are always looking into proving our benefits. Being in this particular field, we know there are more and more competitors springing into action and making themselves known each day. In logistics, by proposing the sale of something that is intangible, we have to differentiate ourselves via assets that radiate efficiency and this is where something like 3PL comes into play. With 3PL, customers can benefit from the basic services such as: pick and pack; warehousing; and distribution. Let’s begin with pick and pack, which is offered by many companies that focus and specialize on supply chain management. This aspect consists mainly of handling loads of merchandise and picking the relevant manufactured good and packing them again in reference to destination and repackaged with a new shipment label and its corresponding invoice. This is often seen with products such as shoes. These items are then warehoused and/or after distributed.
Moving on to the notable 3PL offerings taking over, this is mainly attributed to the transparency and supply-chain visibility of this service. Customers are lured by the new wave of inter-company communication. We all know that in the world we live in today and business, communication is key! The advances that 3PL holds is beyond where I would have thought, 10 years ago, we would be today. Think about it, some even offer the ability to view your goods in the warehouse in security camera style. So just like parents could keep up with their baby’s every move while they are at work, companies can do the same with their merchandise. Besides this live minute to minute visual update I have just mentioned, 3PL allows for easy access tracking, real-time information (often through websites that simply require username and password for companies), readily available schedules and invoices, and generation of shipping notifications etc.
The beauty of 3PL is that it puts everyone on the same level with their value-added services. Think about it, it does not differentiate; there is not matter in size or location of shipper. Everything is there, open to you because of the World Wide Web that is connecting us all and spoiling us in the most efficient way. Imagine in a few minutes a booking or report could be made online, providing all ends with more flexibility and opportunities.
Once you know you can do better, why take a step back. With the growth in popularity of 3PL, there will definitely be no rewinding to the basics. Talk about the wave of the future for logistics, this is it and we have to keep up while we can, while customers are still on board. Trust me in a few years, maybe less, 3PL will have morphed into something new and the way we see it today will be vintage, completely outdated and no longer as efficient. More significantly customers will not be settling down for just the plain service , there needs to be the availability of more added value services .
