In today’s fast-paced business environment, companies are struggling to keep high levels of accuracy and meeting customers’ expectations for ever decreasing delivery windows. In order to remain competitive, they need to take a holistic approach to optimising their operations. The key is to select the right technological innovations that will fulfil your business’ needs.
The ability to meet customers’ needs all year long is crucial to a business’ success. However, purchasing inventory is a constant risk that companies undertake, as seasonal demands fluctuate and play havoc with stock levels.
In order to prepare for that, a business must carefully and effectively manage its inventory levels observing seasonal variations to avoid storing unnecessary items as well as running out of popular ones, especially if they’re promising next-day or same-day delivery!
Third party logistics (3PL) providers are organizations that offer warehousing, fulfilment and distribution services to businesses in a variety of industries including retail, wholesale and manufacturing. These companies face very unique operational challenges. They need to work as an extension of their customers, whilst keeping full control of their internal systems and processes to ensure maximum efficiency and profitability. They must balance conflicting factors such as cost, flexibility and productivity to sustain the value they offer to their customers.
This article discusses some of the main operational obstacles 3PL businesses face and how a Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) can help with overcoming all of them:
Optimisation can be applied to a variety of operational steps like receiving, picking, packing, loading, shipping, replenishing, inventory management and back-office procedures. It generally refers to streamlining existing processes by increasing efficiency, speed, reliability and accuracy.
Industry trends like same-day delivery, customized goods, and omni-channel logistics are driving companies to invest in state-of-the-art supply chain and warehouse management technology. Companies are challenged with finding innovative solutions to effectively manage complex supply chains while simultaneously reducing operational expenses. These trends are briefly discussed below.
A WMS will automate and optimize all processes within your supply chain, shrinking turnaround windows. Increased fill rates and decreased cycle times will enable you to avoid costly shipping delays and backorders that jeopardize valuable customer relationships.
Additionally, automation can help with planning and managing inventory, leading to up to 99+ percent inventory accuracy. Cycle counting and real-time information verification ensures warehouse staff are not wasting time looking for misplaced or missing items.
In-store order fulfillment presents a great opportunity for retailers. Implemented successfully, in-store fulfillment enables retailers to decrease shipping costs, boost gross margins, increase supply chain efficiencies and more.
However, retailers are not optimised for ‘warehouse-like’ efficiency. They are designed to provide an excellent customer experience for walk-in shoppers.
Today’s customers demand flexibility and excellent customer service across every channel, whether you are purely brick-and-mortar or e-commerce. But increasing customer demand means increased complexity. Complexity for retailers with unique omnichannel operational challenges.
However, many retailers still haven’t implemented the basics such as store pickup, cross channel inventory visibility, and store fulfillment. There is a disconnect between what consumers want and the omni-channel capabilities that retailers are willing to offer.
