What Is A 3PL and How Can It Benefit Your Business?

A 3rd party logistics organization takes care of logistics outsourcing. Technically, 3PL is part of the transportation and warehousing. In 2022, many companies now depend on 3PL service providers to receive inventory, manage inventory, warehouse management, order fulfillment, and shipping. There are many benefits of 3PL for businesses.

Remember that not all logistics providers offer similar services. It is the main reason there are numerous 3PL models. You can opt for financial, freight-forwarder, shipper, or warehouse and distribution-oriented 3PL services.

A busy 3PL office in action.

How 3PL Works for Your Business

For starters, using dedicated 3Pl services allows your company to scale up operations. Typically, owning or even renting a warehouse costs a lot of money. But when you avail warehousing and distribution services from a 3PL provider, it saves your capital budget.  

Leveraging 3PL services also helps businesses save on recruitment costs. Besides, it takes consistent effort to find someone who can work in a complex warehouse environment. And even if you hire someone for warehousing and distribution, you will be required to cover worker’s compensation, expenses, and health insurance.

Like all companies, you want to improve your customer service. And partnering with a 3PL provider allows you to streamline your shipping, ensure flawless inventory management, and improve overall visibility. Using 3PL services makes your logistics efforts more efficient and brings more value to your business.

Benefits of 3PL Services for Your Business

It takes time before companies figure out how to make the most out of their 3PL services. For instance, a distributed warehouse network can keep your inventory close to your targeted customers. It will also allow you to provide instant shipping at economical rates.

Speaking of inventory, you can even choose to store your items across different locations. A solid 3PL provider has a comprehensive model and offers integrated logistics services. In fact, modern-day 3PL providers now use automation and advanced tech tools across different services.

For instance, a 3PL service provider with API can integrate an entire eCommerce platform for a seamless system transfer. And this allows businesses to dive into real-time analysis and improve tracking capabilities. 3PL providers now use sophisticated inventory management systems that can track and send alerts about stock levels.

With this approach, your business can gain a better understanding of your supply chain process. Many companies use this tactic to set competitive pricing options and find out what is and isn’t selling.

However, make sure to establish criteria to choose the most compatible 3PL service provider that suits your business needs. Many companies now create partnerships with their 3PL service providers to address problems beforehand and eliminate inconsistencies in logistics and supply chain processes.

Wrap Up

In retrospect, outsourcing 3PL services has become a new standard to simplify and order fulfillment process, cut back on costs, improve delivery timings, and generate more revenue.