Spooky season doesn’t just bring out the ghosts and ghouls. It also brings to mind other scary things lurking in the shadows — like misadventures with your 3PL that you’d prefer to avoid. Luckily, surviving those horror stories isn’t as hard as you might think. Here are some tips and tricks for identifying and correcting problems that can pop up with fulfillment and logistics at any time of the year.
The Horrors: Shipments go missing, stock levels are inaccurate, and customer orders pile up.
Solution: Real-time inventory management is the key here. You want a 3PL that uses the latest technology efficiently to track, view, and manage your inventory in real time. This enables your 3PL to catch any potential problems as early as possible so you can avoid issues with the whole supply chain. It’s also important to make sure that technology is optimized for your particular business needs. Your 3PL should be able to provide the best inventory management option for your business.
How We Do It: We have a proprietary WMS and reporting platform that goes beyond the usual off-the-shelf options. This allows you to access your data from any web-based browser to view current inventory and order preparation status, receiving and departure information, freight costs, sales, and more. It is also extremely flexible and highly customizable to the needs of each of our customers.
The Horrors: Unresponsive customer service makes you feel overlooked and ignored, and your reps are hard to find.
Protect Yourself: You deserve a 3PL that treats you with respect and responds promptly to your questions and concerns. Find your brand a 3PL that is big enough to deliver the scale and solutions you need, yet not too big, so you can get the personalized attention that you and your brand deserve.
How We Do It: Rooted in our origins as a family-owned business, we uphold a golden standard of honesty and transparency. We treat our clients and employees like family, meaning we genuinely care about your well-being, success, and happiness. Our clients get the personal attention they deserve from our executive management team, account executives, and warehouse staff; something most big 3PLs simply cannot provide.
The Horrors: Outdated tech in play by your 3PL leaves you with inadequate reporting, limited visibility, and long timelines for integrations or custom applications.
Escape the Horror: A 3PL with modern technology and a nimble WMS can provide you with the flexibility and custom reporting that keeps you up to date on your supply chain. Even better, an in-house tech team means the technology will be monitored by people on the ground who can answer your questions and keep you in the loop about any problems or opportunities for improvement.
How We Do It: We are driven by a relentless pursuit of efficiency and flexibility. Our proprietary WMS and brilliant in-house tech team enable us to be more nimble and cost-effective than most. From efficient integrations to illuminating reporting, our tech provides you with the data and stability you need to grow.
The Horrors: Your 3PL’s careless handling and inadequate packaging causes a plague of damaged goods arriving to customers. Returns surge with little opportunity to refurbish or resell.
End the Plague: A 3PL that has experience with your type of product can ensure proper handling and set up an efficient reverse logistics solution. An effective 3PL can also inspect returned products and help you repack, refurbish, or return them to stock based on your specific needs. Returns are unfortunate, but they don’t have to end your relationship with your customers if they’re handled well!
How We Do It: Our warehouse associates have experience with a variety of products that require extra special care. From baby goods to housewares and consumer electronics, our team is well equipped to pick and pack with a golden standard to ensure the safety of fragile goods. We also have a proactive strategy when it comes to reverse logistics. In addition to processing returns, we can inspect them and help you refurbish, rebox, and resell if possible.
The Horrors: Your 3PL only offers the basics and repeatedly says no to any custom or out-of-the-box requests.
Break the Curse: A 3PL with plenty of value-added services can help personalize your supply chain to fit with your brand’s unique needs. Kit assembly, packaging, and displays can and should be designed to show off your products and appeal to your customers. And even more than that, a 3PL should provide flexibility and curiosity about the best way to serve you rather than shutting down requests and new ideas.
How We Do It: With unmatched resolve and a sunny outlook, we face every challenge with agility and positivity. Our partners appreciate the courage we display when we say “Yes” to even the most ambitious custom requests. Our customers are also endlessly impressed with our determination and ability to deliver and exceed expectations with innovative solutions and radiant results.
The Horrors: Vendor compliance issues with your retailers causes costly chargebacks.
Solving the Mystery: From packaging discrepancies to late shipments and more, find a 3PL that has experience working with your retailers and their requirements. They’ll know how to implement the specifications in a retailer’s routing guide. With this, you can keep your relationships with your retailers healthy and improve your bottom line.
How We Do It: Motivational works with all major retailers, and we have helped many new customers reduce the number of compliance and chargeback issues they had had with other 3PLs. We have quality assurance practices and audits in place to catch potential issues in-house so we can fix them before they become issues for your retailers and invoice deductions for you.
Have you ever experienced any of these 3PL nightmares?
Many consumer brand manufacturers have experienced these types of horror stories, unfortunately. But finding a good 3PL partner can make a world of difference for you and your business.
Want to see if your 3PL is giving you more treats than tricks? Download our Peak Season Performance Card to thoroughly assess your 3PL.