Reasons to Outsource Your Warehousing Operations to a 3PL

Congratulations, your business is thriving!  You’ve poured your heart and soul into your business and you’re growing faster than you can keep up with. Oh no, what’s next? Now you need to rent a bigger warehouse, hire more staff, negotiate better shipping rates, order more shipping supplies, keep up with everything else, and try not to make any more errors! Boo!! While we can’t wave a magic wand and create more time in the day, we can offer you some advice. 

Now is a good time to outsource your warehousing operations and choose a 3PL. Why? Great question, I thought you’d never ask! There are so many great reasons to outsource your warehousing operations but for the sake of your time, I’ll list a few of my favorites. 

Save money, Stress Less

Save money. What?! You mean if I spend money I can save money? Absolutely! If you get a larger warehouse than you have now, are you going to need a larger one next year, and then another the year after that? How much will all these one-year leases cost, and not to mention all the moving costs? 

Outsourcing warehouse operations to a 3PL allows you to grow and only pay for the space you need. You also won’t have to hire warehouse employees and worry about someone calling out and your orders not being shipped. Come on, be honest, how many times have employees called out and you’ve found yourself in your warehouse overseeing orders so they will go out on time? At a 3PL there’s already a team in place. If someone is sick, your packages still go out. You don’t have to worry about purchasing shelving, setting up and paying for utilities, deliveries coming in, certifications on the forklift, what to do with employees while you're slow, etc. Leave the warehouse management to your 3PL, you need to focus on your business.

Not convinced about moving to a 3PL to outsource your warehousing operations? Let’s talk about boxes. 

Say Goodbye to Box Hassles

I know boxes are not the most glamorous items. But we’re going to talk about those brown boxes we all use. A 3PL will have in stock multiple box sizes. Your customers usually order one or two units per order, and you have those boxes stocked in your warehouse.  But what happens if all of a sudden a large store wants a lot of your product? Do you have to order 100 of that new box size you need? Then another store orders even more products so you need a different size box. Before you know it, you have so many extra boxes in your warehouse that you don’t know what to do, or even worse your staff tries to make due with a box size you already have in stock. 

If you outsource your warehouse operations to a 3PL they will have the perfect box. They will also have the knowledge regarding the correct way to ship the order so it arrives the way it should, and not broken, cracked, leaking, or the box coming apart. Are you going to order hundreds of different box sizes just in case a specific wholesale order comes in? That would be a waste of time, money, and space. Your 3PL will have the correct box or boxes and they’ll have the correct tape, and filler as well.  You only pay for what you use. Let the 3PL handle the boxes, it’s not your worry anymore. Sweet!

Effortless Shipping

What about shipping? You have that covered right? Someone from the post office comes and picks up all your packages daily. Isn’t that better than when you had to drive to the post office? Now you're growing, and the postal truck can’t always fit your orders in their vehicle. You also have large wholesale orders that need to ship. What are you going to do to ship these orders? Now, you need to open an account with a major carrier, schedule pickups, negotiate rates, etc. How much time is that going to take? Maybe you already have an account, but due to little activity, you’re not getting the pricing or service you want (or deserve) from these shipping couriers. You need to ship this wholesale order now!! You don’t have time to look up a rep’s number and negotiate pricing. A 3PL has already done the legwork and they have everything in place. 

If you outsource your warehouse operations, all you need to do is let your 3PL do its job. That’s right, whether you’re shipping out 1 unit, or 1,000 units in an order, a 3PL will have you covered. They’ll have the right box size, and the correct courier to use. At the end of the day, they will also notify you of the tracking information. Wow, it doesn’t get any easier than that!  

Related: Shipping & Logistics Tips for Startups to Build a Solid Foundation

Leave the Errors Behind

Errors! That dreaded word nobody likes to say. I’m going to say it again. Errors!! You will make them. Everyone makes mistakes, it’s human nature. While nobody and no business is perfect, 3PLs can be pretty dang close. Receiving your products, allocating them in the warehouse, picking orders, and shipping orders; this is what a 3PL does day in and day out. I’m sure you’ve seen a few errors in your own warehouse. An employee swears they pulled 3 units for an order, but the customer only received 2 units, or worse than that: they received 3 cases! Now you need to pick up those cases, and the cost of that pick up? Ugh! It comes from your bottom line. 

If you outsource your warehouse operations, there are checks and balances every step of the way in 3PLs.  Thanks to scanning barcodes and other systems, many 3PLs have an accuracy rate of over 99%. Let your 3PL stay up at night wondering how they can get closer to 100%, you have more important things to do.

Unlock More Time for Your Business

Okay, you don’t care about saving money, boxes, dealing with the major couriers, or errors. What about your time? We all like doing what we want to do with our time, right? Wouldn’t your business benefit if you were able to focus on product development, sales, and your customer service? How do you tell a major customer that you have no time to talk about the order they want to place because someone called out in your warehouse and you need to make sure all the orders get packed and shipped on time? 

Another fun reason you can’t talk to your customer is that nobody heard the courier knock on the door, so now you have to drive your packages to the local courier's office so the orders can get shipped on time. Agh! Remember, there’s no magic wand, but there are 3PLs. If you choose to outsource your warehouse operations you will be giving yourself the gift of time.

Takeaways

Honestly, there are probably hundreds of reasons, but I think you’ll stop reading if I list anymore. Personally, I think the two biggest reasons to outsource your warehouse operations are time and money, we all would like more of both. I also think not getting a papercut from a box is also a pretty good reason. So what are you waiting for? Save time, money, and the need for band-aids, and fill out your quote request from Ship My Orders now!