As a business owner, you may not realise when your operations can benefit from 3PL (Third Party Logistics) until you’re up to your neck in stock, boxes and postage stamps. To save you the stress of arriving at this realisation solo, we’ve outlined a few signs that will help you recognise when your business needs 3PL, long before a crisis hits.
1. YOU’RE TOO BUSY
If your company has grown quickly and you’ve been knee-deep in every aspect of management from number crunching to filling orders, chances are you’ve not had time to stop and look at the ‘big picture’. As a result, some areas may have be overlooked, preventing your business from further growth. 3PL involves the outsourcing of logistics for warehousing, packing and delivery for businesses who may have multiple shops and/or warehouses to manage. Ultimately, it involves the movement of goods or resources to the places they need to be, without the need for enormous premises and infrastructure of your own. Being experts in warehouse management, the movement of stock, and even IT tasks, 3PL companies such as Maptrans take these tasks off your hands and leave you free to concentrate on building your business.
2. YOUR INFRASTRUCTURE ISN’T CUTTING IT
If your business has boomed quickly, there is no doubt that the set-up you started with is no longer adequate to support this boom. As specialists in logistics, a 3PL company is better equipped to handle the movements of a rapidly expanding business when it comes to managing resources. For example, instead of spending money on a larger warehouse site which may again be quickly superseded, a 3PL company grows with you, without you having to continually source new premises.
3. YOUR BUSINESS IS SEASONAL
If your business experiences specific highs and lows due to seasonality of your product, you may find it difficult to retain the correct balance of staff. Peak season may see too few employees run off their feet and the opposing low season may unfortunately see you letting some workers go. Using 3PL for your warehousing, freight forwarding or even IT needs can help in a seasonal business as you only pay for what you need, avoiding the issue of too many or too few staff. If one or more of these signs ring true for you, it’s probably time you looked into outsourcing.
Take a look at how Maptrans can work with your company to provide all your 3PL needs.