Keeping Costs Down through Third Party Logistics (3PL)

Keeping Costs Down through Third Party Logistics (3PL)

Posted by Whitney

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12/4/13 5:00 AM

As everyone continues to try and keep costs down, personally as well as professionally, a trending impulse is the austere notion to do more on your own. Having someone else do what you could just do for yourself costs more money, right? Whatever you can handle yourself will save you in the long run, it seems to follow. Mow your own lawn, do your own taxes. Take care of your own delivery, warehousing, and supply chain. Or should you?

The Truth of the 3PL Matter

Like many retail business services, logistics is one area where this the DIY trend seldom pays off. When you outsource your furniture delivery service, you have the opportunity to bring on people who specialize purely in logistics management and all the details that go into keeping fuel, delivery, warehousing, and service costs down and quality high. After all, that’s how 3PL providers make money—by delivering cost effective, quality services to their customers.

Here are a few of the many significant ways in which a 3PL provider can reduce costs while taking care of (and improving!) your logistics:

Warehousing

Replenishment handling and warehouse logistics is rarely a retailer’s core capability. A 3PL provider can handle receiving, storage, inventory control, and reverse logistics more efficiently, removing the burden of time and expenditures while enhancing the ever-important inventory management.

Fleet Management

In addition to the substantial capital required to purchase delivery vehicles, overhead looms with such details as fleet maintenance, insurance costs, and in-house personnel costs that one must maintain regardless of the delivery fluctuations. Outsourcing these functions to a 3PL provider makes a lot of sense for many retailers.

Technology and Processes

A good 3PL provider continually invests in the latest technology and processes to provide such innovative and valuable results as improved cycle times, higher inventory accuracy, and improved delivery mechanisms. They study, train, practice, and keep getting better at logistics to the benefit of their customers.

Choosing Your 3PL Partner

Logistics continues to become more complex, and more integral to a retail company’s lasting success. Choosing to go with a 3PL provider can have an equally lasting impact on your overall cost and quality control strategies.

At Diakon Logistics, we work to make your business better, more efficient, and importantly we go the extra mile to keep your customers satisfied. Talk with us today to see why more and more companies are calling our services their own.

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Topics: Last Mile Delivery