Have you ever struggled to choose the right 3PL for your business? With many 3PL providers out there, it is difficult to decide which to work with. Furthermore, choosing the right 3PL provider is a crucial decision in logistics management. The right 3PL provider will help your business to be more efficient, optimised and cost-effective. In this article we will explore five considerations in choosing the right 3PL provider.

1. Defining your business requirement

Take time to reflect on your logistics requirements with the following questions:

1. Which services do you need to support your business? Some services that 3PL providers provide are warehousing, e-commerce, fulfillment and transportation services

2. Are there extra services or instructions for 3PL providers? Some goods stored and processed by 3PL requires special handling. This includes hazardous and perishable goods.

These questions help you to analyse and evaluate which 3PL capabilities align with your business needs.

2. Evaluate 3PL provider's expertise

Once you have a clear understanding of your business needs, you can focus on evaluating 3PL providers. A good 3PL provider offers variety of services encompassing order fulfillment, inventory management, reverse logistics and packaging. The right 3PL provider is one that can handle multi services which are custom tailored to your needs.

3. Scalability and Flexibility

A good 3PL provider offers the ability to scale and adapt to businesses of all sizes. They must have the ability to manage an increasing workload or potential expansion and adapt to higher demands over time. As your business grows through expansion to new market and increase in orders, 3PL providers must be able to scale up with you. Therefore, ensure 3PL providers are adaptable to those changes and accommodate your needs. Another advantage of using 3PL providers is flexibility in handling change in supply chain. During peak season, some businesses have limited capacity to handle a high demand. By utilising 3PL services, the headache of capacity planning is off-loaded to your provider.

4. Technology Access

3PL's technology is a main tool to optimise flow process in logistic operations. 3PL offer technology services encompassing warehouse management system, transportation management system and real time tracking tools. These services help you to enhances efficiency, reduce cost, fulfill expectations and provide visibility in the supply chain.

5. Pricing

Pricing is crucial in considering the right 3PL provider. The right 3PL provider is cost effective as it helps you to reduce expenses related to logistics operations and increase profit. 3PL providers offer a variety of pricing structures depending on business needs and volume. Revision in pricing structures depending on your budget and business growth may also be a consideration.

Selecting the right 3PL provider is a crucial decision for many businesses as it requires weighing out many factors. Therefore, understanding your business requirements and evaluating 3PL’s is paramount in choosing the right 3PL provider to partner with.

 

Are you looking for a reliable 3PL Provider in Australia?

Partner with ACL Australia today. With a competent workforce and effective workflow, ACL Australia provides comprehensive 3PL solutions for your needs.

Our comprehensive solution encompasses:

1. Warehousing
   With a warehouse space of 14,000m2, we are ready to handle your storage needs.

2. Pick and Pack solution
   Storing your goods in our warehouse require careful handling and storage. At the same time, we help to pick and pack based on your order.

3. eCommerce
   Running an ecommerce business is not easy. Outsource the tedious tasks of order management and fulfilment to us. With our integration options, rest assured that your orders are received timely in our warehouse.

4. Transportation
   No matter what your transport requirement is, we have solutions to help you transport your cargo across Australia and the world.

ACL Australia provides cost effective 3PL solution for all business sizes

We are capable and offers flexibility to handle multi services, custom tailored to your needs.

1. ACL Australia can handle special goods

   1. ACL Australia is DAFF certified

   2. DG Class 9 e-waste lithium battery

   3. HACCP accredited for food storage and handling

2. ACL Australia is technology centered, providing you visibility in inventory management and order management through our customer portal.

Choose ACL Australia as your trusted Australian 3PL provider to help your supply chain for all business sizes.