Category Archives: Third-Party Fulfillment

Third-party logistics (3PL) services are growing in both number and applicability. And that makes sense—after all, with e-commerce and direct-to-consumer shipping becoming standard for retailers before COVID-19 entered into our vocabulary, the new world economy has made 3PL fulfillment solutions necessary for any and all retailers.

And like any good business operations, you need key performance indicators (KPI) for shipping and receiving in order to keep your productivity trending in the right direction. KPI for 3PL operations will essentially identify which business operations are efficient and which ones are wasteful, allowing you to iterate on the former while revamping or replacing the latter.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at eight KPI for 3PL logistics that can help create efficiencies at your business.

1. Receiving Efficiency

For every moment that a product remains stuck in a receiving area rather than in racks or bins (and thus ready to be picked, packed, and shipped), you’re slowing down your shipping process and creating bottlenecks down the line. KPI in this area will help your business understand where the slowdowns are and how they’re affecting your overall shipping times—one of the most important aspects of a successful distributor.

2. Dispatch Timeliness/On-Time Shipping

Businesses in direct-to-consumer shipping live and die based on delivery times. Ensuring that packages are shipped in a timely manner and hit deadline is the lifeblood of this business, especially since on-time shipping is one of the most important features for customers these days. Understanding and improving this process is one of the single strongest ways to boost revenue.

3. Shipping Accuracy

Not only do you have to be fast, but you also have to be accurate. After all, hitting your delivery times isn’t worth all that much if you’re delivering to the wrong destination. Any KPI in this area should show upwards of 99% accuracy, otherwise, your business is losing far too much revenue on these mistaken deliveries.

4. Order Accuracy

Similar to shipping accuracy, you have to also ensure that the right order is getting to the customer. This should also remain at near 100% and involves processes earlier in the operation (opposed to later in the operation, which is where a shipping accuracy KPI comes in). If your business can’t accurately process order, you’re going to have many more issues within the supply chain.

5. Inventory Accuracy

If your inventory accuracy is off, that can end up impairing your entire business process. After all, if your inventory information isn’t up to date, then it’s pretty much useless to your business as you can’t effectively distribute goods and plan for future inventory needs. This can in turn lead to shortages or an overabundance of specific goods, which takes up space, revenue, and can slow shipping.

6. Return Processing Time

Returns are an unfortunate part of the business but also among the most important 3PL services. A great return policy can separate an industry leader from a failing retailer. In other words, it’s become industry standard. In order to keep up with the growth of these services, your business needs to be able to provider timely return services. Many of these goods returned will be in perfectly good condition (depending on your company’s policies), which means they can be turned around and quickly shipped out once again. The faster you can either dispose of the return or get it back in stock, the more costs you’ll save from what is otherwise a revenue-losing process.

7. Return Rate Due to Shipment Damage

Similar to the above, the rate of return is an arguably more important KPI as it identifies issues in your own processes, rather than quantify the fickle nature of customers. This means that you can’t always predict or pre-empt customers wanting to return a perfectly good item for whatever reason (though you can account for it in your planning). But you can certainly control how often goods are being damaged during shipment. Of course, some will simply malfunction and there’s no fix for that, but by improving your shipping processes, you can save time and money by reducing the number of damaged items that are sent back.

8. Cost Per Unit Shipped

Every other KPI for 3PL operations on this list is concerned with discrete processes within your logistics management business. A cost per unit shipped, however, is the summation of all your processes and actions that show you an overall picture of how efficient the end result of your business process is. The cost per unit shipped should, ideally, remain static throughout the year, but a few minor fluctuations due to seasonal changes in purchasing habits or unexpected inflation/deflation of demand are acceptable.

APS Fulfillment Inc. Helps to Monitor 3PL Operations

When it comes to 3PL services, metrics will help you understand how to create efficiencies and boost productivity, but nothing can substitute for working with a strong, experienced, proven fulfillment company. And that’s exactly what you’ll get with APS Fulfillment, Inc.

A 3PL logistics and 3PL fulfillment expert, we deploy industry-leading software systems that optimize the management of your warehouse. While there are many 3PL operations out there, APS Fulfillment, Inc. has the expertise necessary to deliver industry-best services. We take great pride in the fact that our quality control procedures are state-of-the-art, and we guarantee 24-hour turnaround times for our service orders.

We have the tools, knowledge, and resources to relieve you of your shipping burden, so you can get back to growing your business.

Get in touch with us and one of our consultants will tailor a fulfillment plan designed to grow your business. Book a consultation by calling (954) 582-7450 or email [email protected].

Brick-and-mortar retail stores were already on the way out before COVID-19 made in-person interactions dangerous—we’ve only just seen the adoption of online shopping and direct-to-consumer fulfillment proliferate. But as your business grows with these new e-commerce opportunities, you’ll need a proven direct-to-consumer shipping company to keep up with demand, allowing you to easily scale to meet your growing customer base.

There are few things the online customer prizes more than shipping speed and reliability. Those two factors alone can make the difference between a brand-loyal lifetime customer or them taking their business elsewhere.

Let’s quickly dive into some of the options we have here in Florida.

In-House D2C Fulfillment

In-house fulfillment, otherwise known as self-fulfillment, is essentially when direct-to-consumer products are shipped by the company that produces them. In other words, the company handles the sales, inventory, receiving, processing, shipping, and returns.

It can be a lot on your plate.

What’s more, it can be difficult to scale effectively to meet a higher demand.

For instance, your business isn’t going to have an additional ten trucks sitting around should demand suddenly explode; a third-party shipping company (see below) will have the ability to easily scale to your needs in the event of sudden growth.

The benefit of in-house fulfillment, however, is that you remain in total control. The shipping succeeds or fails based directly on your actions, not the proficiency of an outside provider.

Third-Party Fulfillment

While in-house involves complete ownership of the shipping stage of a sale, third-party fulfillment involves bringing in outside support to manage inventory, shipping, returns, and otherwise relieving your business of that burden.

Many companies opt to work with a third-party direct-to-consumer fulfillment company as they can quickly scale up or down to meet your business’s needs (should you, say, have predictable fluctuations in sales with seasonal items or see an unexpected surge in business).

What’s more is that these companies are up to date on the developing direct-to-consumer trends, allowing them to incorporate all manner of new technology from innovations to tracking shipments to things like more efficient forklifts, making inventory organization more effortless.

Contact APS Fulfillment Inc. for Direct-to-Consumer Fulfillment Options

You want a fulfillment option you can trust to deliver your goods to consumers on time, and not wreak havoc on your budget or steal your business information. You want APS Fulfillment, Inc.—your number one fulfillment experts.

There are endless benefits to working with a third-party logistics company that uses the best-quality software systems to manage your warehouse. Although other product fulfillment companies offer similar services, APS Fulfillment, Inc. goes the extra step. We take great pride in the fact that our quality control procedures are state-of-the-art, and we guarantee 24-hour turnaround times for our service orders.

We have the tools, knowledge, and resources to relieve you of your shipping burden, so you can get back to growing your business.

Get in touch with us and one of our consultants will tailor a fulfillment plan designed to grow your business. Book a consultation by calling (954) 582-7450 or email [email protected].

iStock.com/scyther5

During the holidays, it can be overwhelming to fulfill and ship your products to your customers on your own. The increase in customer demand can lead to serious warehousing problems that affect your ability to be successful during this high sales season. This is where a third-party logistics (3PL) partner can help. They can take a huge amount of work off your shoulders by handling the time-consuming process of managing your warehouse, inventory, shipping, and delivery. Here’s why working with a 3PL service this holiday season is a great idea.

iStock.com/dusanpetkovic

Companies that choose to partner with a third-party logistics (3PL) provider need to maintain a positive and healthy relationship with them to ensure the overall success of the venture. Your 3PL relationship can benefit you in many ways, including streamlining your supply chain operations and helping you focus on other aspects of your business. So, to get the most out of your 3PL provider, here are some tips to maintain a successful partnership.

iStock.com/SeventyFour

Today’s business world is fast and furious, and running an e-commerce company requires you to stay on top of everything to continue generating revenue and growth. Even if you run a company that involves shipping and fulfillment for a brick-and-mortar store, you still need data to make the right decisions. If you run low on inventory or make preventable shipping mistakes, it could slow down your operations and lead to wasted time and money. To prevent this, you need accurate and real-time fulfillment reports. This information will help you forecast issues, prevent them from happening, and view where your products come and go to make the right decisions. Here’s how receiving fulfillment reports from a 3PL provider can help your business.

Logistics has changed and grown to encompass many facets of delivery. In order to fully understand all of the different functions of a 3PL, we must first define exactly what a 3PL is. A 3PL ( or third-party logistics) company is contracted to provide logistics services to partner companies. So if your company needs help managing the movement of its products, you would partner with a 3PL to make this happen.

This management can take different forms, which we will discuss in more detail throughout this article.

Handling all the aspects of your e-commerce order fulfillment process can be a challenge, especially if you expect your business to grow in the near future. While it may be tempting to manage your supply chain independently, you may run into increased errors and delays if you do not have the right tools and manpower to get the job done efficiently. This is where third-party logistics (3PL) fulfillment solutions come in to save the day. If you need a cost-effective solution that can efficiently manage all these moving parts, it would serve you well to work with a reliable 3PL fulfillment company. What are the major differences between 3PL fulfillment and self-fulfillment? Here’s what you need to know.

The e-commerce world has become more and more competitive, and the success of a business heavily relies on the quality of their third-party shipping services. If your business can ship products better, cheaper, and faster than your competitors, you win the race. If you want to achieve this goal, your third-party shipping providers must provide customers with more options and better visibility throughout the process. It also comes down to providing helpful and convenient services such as easy and free returns. Companies like Amazon set the bar high with the best third-party shipping, and if you want to succeed, here are some important things you should evaluate about your product storage and shipping provider.

E-commerce fulfillment companies can provide businesses with many great benefits along every aspect of the supply chain. Since seeing is believing, there are several reasons why visiting your third (3rd) party fulfillment partner is a good idea. You may be visiting manufacturing sites and branches on a regular basis, but it is also important to visit your third-party logistics 3PL partners. Why is this important? Here are a few reasons why you should consider visiting your 3PL providers.

All businesses are different and in different stages of growth. But do you know what the one thing most companies have in common is? They can all benefit from using 3PL warehousing services. There’s the misconception that only those who can’t afford their own warehouse opt for 3PL warehousing and distribution, but that’s not the case at all. Companies that use 3PL partners, regardless of whether they can afford their own warehousing services are not, can reap the benefits of scalable services and vast resources. Still on the fence about a 3PL partner? Check out all the benefits of using an outsourced warehousing service.