If you’re a Southern California e-commerce company considering ways to upgrade your supply chain, you may not know what a 3PL does. But if your company is growing faster than you can keep up with it, it may be time to start outsourcing your supply chain.
Originally, 3PL companies were simply transportation and warehousing. Today’s 3PLs still do that, but they can also cover IT integration (into sales sites like Amazon and eBay), global services, order fulfillment and management, customer service, returns, shipping, freight and a wide range of support services.
The growth of online shopping and other services has fueled the growth of 3PL companies. Customers interested in lower prices and faster shipping helped the industry expand that much faster. Technology has also enabled 3PLs to expand supply chain services with GPS (global positioning system), RFID (radio frequency identification) and the IoT (Internet of Things.)
Benefits of A 3PL
· Core competencies—letting a 3PL handle your supply chain allows you to focus on your company’s core competency. Think about it–what does the 3PL do? Supply chain management is their core competency. Because that’s what they do, they’re also keeping up with the latest advances and developments in the industry.
· Bigger resource network—because 3PL companies work with a ride range of customers and vendors, they have a much larger network of resources to choose from than an in-house supply chain.
· Expanding your market—expanding into a new market region where you don’t yet have an established presence can be difficult. But using a 3PL with an existing presence means that you can easily ship goods to that area. You can ship to markets all over the world using a 3PL provider, and save money on labor, warehousing, and other related expenses and still keep track of the inventory of your products.
· Scalability—today, you just need a little space. But a month from now, you’re increasing your merchandise shipments, and need more space quickly. A 3PL can store as much or as little as you need, and prevent you from losing money with a half-empty warehouse.
· Continuous improvement—when improvements come to supply chain management, a 3PL company will be ready to implement them. You won’t have to wonder if there is a better way to do supply chain, because the 3PL is already doing it.
· Cost savings—your company won’t need to have its own warehouse facilities. By storing goods in an offsite facility with electronic inventory handled by a 3PL, warehouse personnel isn’t necessary, since everything is handled elsewhere.
3PL Worldwide Has You Covered
We handle supply chain outsourcing for companies all over the US. When you work with us, we can offer you:
- 220,000 square feet of warehouse in Rancho Cucamonga
- 26 Loading Docks
- Racked and Bulk Storage
- Distribution Center
- Call Center
Southern California retailers also have the home-field advantage with 3PL Worldwide. With headquarters and facilities in Rancho Cucamonga, Los Angeles is an hour away, and Palm Springs 90 minutes. Your shipments are hand-scanned into our state-of-the-art facility. From well-known vendors like Walmart and Amazon to companies like StitchLabs and New Egg, 3PL Worldwide has California companies covered from the “buy now” click to the delivery.
Interested in talking to us? Contact us at (888) 456-1920 or use our online contact form.