What to Expect When You Move to a 3PL Fulfillment Model

Making the leap to a third-party logistics provider is one of those decisions that feels larger than life, the transition is filled with uncertainty what with new systems, new processes and an unknown future for something that had been going on so seamlessly in-house for so long. However, for many product-based businesses, it’s an easier transition than initially anticipated, and the benefits start rolling in fairly quickly.

Here’s a basic understanding of what the process involves to avoid any surprises along the way.

Getting Started: The Onboarding Process

For those who don’t have an easy transition, it’s typically due to them expecting the move to a 3PL to be immediate. It’s not. There’s a legitimate onboarding process and it’s one well worth taking seriously. This is where the logistics provider learns about the business, product dimensions, SKU counts, order volume, packaging needs, specific instructions.

If businesses store products in multiple locations or are responsible for their own warehouse layout, finding a reputable 3pl warehouse melbourne option is critical to volume changes and integrating into current sales channels in order for everything to go smoothly from the get-go. Finding out this information early means less back and forth later.

Most companies will require a transfer of data at this point, inventory counts, descriptions, present day order history. While it sounds like a lot, a well-reputed 3PL has done this dance many times before and will ease the process along the way.

Systems Integration: Connecting The Tech

One of the more technically complicated transitions involves integrating the 3PL’s warehouse management system with whatever platform is being used, Shopify, WooCommerce, ERP and others.

This is where many small business owners get anxious, especially if they aren’t technology-minded. However, most reputable and established 3PLs have pre-made integrations for the most common and reputable platforms on the market. Their tech team does the heavy lifting while orders placed on the storefront come through seamlessly without any manual effort. Inventory updates happen in real time as tracking information is pushed back onto a customers’ account.

This isn’t to say that everything works perfectly out of the gate, there may be small syncing or configuration issues, but rarely are there any game stoppers. In a week or two, most businesses find themselves operating without manual intervention.

The First Few Weeks: What To Look Out For

Where it most pays off to stay involved early on is during the first few weeks post-go live. Not because things will inevitably go wrong but because communication is almost critical with the 3PL during this time.

Make sure order turnaround times are holding up, packaging looks great and inventory counts are adding up between systems. Most 3PLs will provide an onboarding contact during this time and it’s to a new client’s advantage to use them. If something appears wrong at first glance, better to call it out now than let it slide into a pattern.

The issue comes from businesses giving everything over and going silent, assuming no news is good news. Staying hands-on in these first few weeks will make for a much better long-term setup.

What Changes Day-to-Day

When everything is said and done, humming along, there’s a drastic difference day-to-day in how business operates. The time formerly spent on picking, packing, dispatching, time spent chasing couriers all gets reallocated into another part of the business, that’s not an insignificant function as many owners found themselves spending 25-50% of their working week on such operations.

There’s also a difference in how growth feels. Scaling order volumes does not come with scrambling to find more space or staff; it’s all absorbed as part of the bigger picture naturally without any stress. This makes seasonal peaks and promotional opportunities feel much less taxing since they’ve already got built-in systems.

Returns handling also operates more smoothly as a reputable 3PL has set stock upon returns meaning received product, inspection and restocking can all happen without question. For those running their own returns efforts beforehand, this can be a pain point off their shoulders.

The Mindset Shift

When it comes to expectations moving to a 3PL, one thing that catches new clients off guard is trust, control over stock that’s generally just been at their fingertips all this time is now being handed off to someone else.

That being said, most clients who benefit from a positive 3PL relationship are ones who operate as if their 3PL vendor were an extension of their team over just another service provider, anticipating sales without advanced warning for upcoming promotions, communicating any expected volume changes and letting them know when things aren’t working so they can do better. If they’re not kept in the loop about ever-changing expectations or no value is brought to their relationship either, then 3PL vendors cannot do their best jobs.

Building Toward Long-Term Efficiency

This isn’t merely a logistics adjustment but rather an operational one and not until months down the line does it truly help facilitate a better operation. Once systems start generating data out of the warehouse management system, inventory turnover rates, fulfillment accuracy, returns patterns, information inevitably comes in handy.

This means buying better merchandise decisions internally become easier as does strategic stock efforts with more clarity about what’s truly selling instead of guesswork at worst.

For many businesses acclimated to new systems after months find that not only does it streamline their logistics process but facilitates a better operational process all-together.