Mimi Ma, recently appointed as VP Integration and Compliance, has steered Weber Logistics and its customers through the murky waters of logistics compliance, facility and customer onboarding, and systems integration for many years. In this article, we interview Mimi to discuss what supply chain professionals should know about these items for to ensure more successful 3PL relationships.
Weber's new eBook, A Guide to Outsourcing Omni-Channel Fulfillment to a 3PL, identifies 7 key characteristics you should look for in a 3PL provider that can handle both your B2B and B2C fulfillment ops. The following is an excerpt of the full (free) eBook, which you can access below.
I just finished reading the results of the latest annual Warehouse and Distribution Center Operations Survey (Peerless Research Group). One of the clear takeaways was that companies need to take cost out of operations, but they are carrying out warehouse efficiency initiatives that don’t involve major investments in systems and equipment.
How can you preserve your capital while still driving costs out. Consider a “back to basics" approach to warehouse operations, whether you are a shipper or third-party fulfillment company.
In today’s fast-moving logistics marketplace, logistics technology plays a key role in determining how quickly, how accurately, and how correctly product can be delivered to the customer. But what kind of system, or systems, do you need? The major components are:
Good customer service is the lifeblood of a logistics business. It’s all about retaining your customers and sending them away happy – happy enough to pass positive feedback about your company to others. The essence of customer service in logistics is forming a relationship that customers want to sustain over time.
As the final holiday push for many companies sends merchandise out of the warehouse and to retailers’ shelves, inventories become minimal and can leave many paying for empty warehouse space. Third party logistics providers are a great option for companies who have fluctuation in their inventories. To save costs, you need someone who can handle these fluctuations with an appropriate structure.
Any good relationship requires a solid foundation to build upon. In order to establish a solid foundation you need trust, respect and commitment. This same foundation is necessary when partnering with a new third party logistics company. Although each person has their own way of doing things in a relationship, both individuals must trust the other has their best interest in hand. The same principal applies with the client – provider supply chain relationship.
As the onboarding process begins, clients should be open to accepting the standard operating procedures (SOP’s) of their new logistics partner. At Weber we have found may clients want to replicate the systems and procedures they were previously utilizing. If you bring your same routine to your new 3PL partner, you will experience the same results and will NOT maximize efficiencies. Leaving old systems and procedures behind are crucial steps to establish the foundation for success in the short term and long term.
Are you receiving chargeback after chargeback after chargeback? Well, you are not the only one my friend. Companies can lose hundreds of thousands in profit if they do not resolve inadequacies in compliance.
Over the past few decades retailers have amped up their vendor compliance with a view to speeding their order-to-cash cycle times and making their distribution centers maximally efficient. When goods are not received before or after the expected date or contain errors in labeling the vendor is subject to a chargeback based on the percentage of the value of the shipment.
Seven of the most frequent chargebacks by category include:
Your container is at the port. Now what? Receiving your goods in a timely and economical fashion is paramount, whether your goods are for further production or for distribution locally or country wide. There are many aspects of getting your container to your chosen facility from the Port. The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach present particular challenges since these ports handle nearly 40,000 TEUs per day. Even on a slow day, the web of roads to retrieve them are congested and complex.
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