Handing all or part of your food distribution operation over to a third-party logistics (3PL) provider may seem like a leap of faith. After all, you’re relying on the 3PL’s ability to maintain food quality throughout the distribution cycle and to keep your company compliant with FDA and other requirements. But with the proper due diligence, you can be confident in a provider’s ability to drive superior performance in all areas, from compliance and safety to operational execution and cost control.
Here are a few key questions you should ask as part of your qualification process for food distribution partners.
Importantly, the proactive management of temperature integrity is no longer just sound business practice, it’s the law. The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) focuses on the prevention of foodborne illness and holds shippers largely responsible for defining what constitutes safe practices for food handling and transportation. These practices must be clearly defined in a Food Safety Plan. Adherence to this Plan – and the temperature requirements within (if applicable) – is an important responsibility of all members of the food supply chain.
So, how do you tell if a 3PL really has what it takes to maintain temperature integrity?
While all your customers want to maximize product shelf life, each of them has different ideas about how to achieve that goal. Code date, expiration date, best used by date, FIFO, FEFO, LIFO – any of them might apply to a specific customer. And the rules might be different for different SKUs. Get the details wrong, and you could get stuck with product your customers refuse to take.
Your food distribution logistics partner should have a sophisticated WMS that supports a broad range of stock rotation protocols. The system should be able to produce snapshots of remaining shelf life for any products in your warehouse, alert you to product that is approaching its expiration date, tell you which product has the oldest code dates, and more. Your partner should also be able to parse out shelf life requirements that are unique to specific consignees or SKUs, gracefully dealing with any curveball a customer throws your way.
How do you tell if a 3PL really has what it takes to comply with complex inventory management rules?
Marketing food products is a low-margin business. To maximize profit, you need to minimize costs, and that means making your operation as lean and efficient as possible. The ultimate financial measure of food distribution logistics efficiency is the cost of moving each case of product to your customer. Your 3PL should always be looking to keep this cost as low as possible. Examples of proactive cost-saving strategies include:
How do you tell if a 3PL really has what it takes to keep per-case costs down?
Remember that the 3PL you select to handle food distribution logistics should truly think and act as an extension of your operation. You need to be profitable, compliant and safe, so your 3PL needs to be profitable, compliant, and safe on your behalf. The right 3PL can excel in all these areas, but – to find the right one – you need to make sure you ask the right questions.