Chicago's Leader in Warehousing and Distribution, Presents its Blog:

Many companies are deviating from having their own warehouses and transportation services to that of contracting with various fulfillment services such as Neill Cartage & Warhouse. The use of third party logistics, or 3PL, means a substantial cost savings to companies who would ordinarily have to lease or otherwise contract these services. For the small company who lacks space for building a warehouse, with room for a fleet of trucks, the cost can be prohibitive. For companies who have the space, but don't currently have warehouse or transportation services, the capital expenditure may not be within the scope of their current budget allowance.

For many companies, contracting with a fulfillment services company is easier and cheaper than doing the work themselves. After all, they don't have to worry about storage, transportation, or distribution of the material. With a phone call to the 3PL company, they arrange for the material to be shipped to their customer or they pre-arrange a schedule for a specified amount of product to be released to the customer on certain days of the week or month. They don't even have to call a trucking company, since most fulfillment services companies have their own fleet of trucks for transportation of goods. It takes the responsibility off the company, and they can concentrate on producing more product.

 

Qualified new clients can receive 1 months free storage.

Chicago is number one, in the country, for empty warehouse space.  How has this happened?  Will it ever turn around?

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/multiMedia.multiMedia.pl?mmId=934 pl?mmId=934

Lindsay Ellis, Head of the Logistics Sector Group and a partner at leading Law firm Wright Hassall LLP gives the following cautionary note to service providers in the Logistics sector based upon a recent High Court ruling. Read the full article at the following web-link

http://www.hillman-consulting.co.uk/logistics_providers_be_careful_what_you_sell.htm

Good business people are always looking for ways to save money, while also maintaining good quality products and services. Also, many companies, in an attempt to save money, are outsourcing anything they can to other companies. For example, a 3PL (Third Party Logistics) firm could help a business that is unfamiliar with the city find a Public Warehouse for their products they may want to ship to the area. There are many benefits to outsourcing the logistics part of supply chain management. Below is a list of ways companies can and have benefited from using these third party companies to handle their logistics issues:

1. The companies have saved a lot of money by switching to a third party logistics firm. The cost effectiveness comes in with the money companies save in terms of labor. By a hiring a firm, you do not have to pay your own employees to do the logistics part of the supply chain. Considering labor is the most expensive part of a business, this is really where a lot of savings can be made, since most third party companies do not charge as much as it would to hire a team of logistics people to work for your company.

2. When you use a third party logistics team that is located in the city where you will be storing or sending products or both you get the advantage the third party company has of their knowledge of the area. Usually, third party logistics companies can get really good rates on storage for products, since they know the area and who to go to.

3. Finally, third party logistics companies can customize their services to your business's needs. Sometimes it can be hard for a logistics team that works for your company to have the resources to meet all of the requirements that come down from management. When you outsource this work, the third party wants to please their clients, so they will have better resources to meet most, if not all, of the requirements of management.

If you or your company is considering any kind of outsourcing, it is obviously, important to do all of the necessary research first. A company can only save money through outsourcing if the third party keeps the standards of their clients and if they keep their clients happy. If you choose a third party firm and you are unhappy with their work, do not be afraid to tell them so, and if the problem is not solved you should do something different. When the wrong third party firm is chosen, it can cost the company countless amounts of money, so it is important to get it right the first time. When done properly, third party logistics firms can really help a company with saving money and by giving valuable resources to their clients.

 

Take advantage of our free supply chain assessment here!

Sometimes, owning, manning, and operating a functioning warehouse just isn't economically in the cards. In such cases, many businesses turn to third-party logistics (3PLs) to do their warehousing, storage, and often even transportation. Typically, 3PLs offer a wide variety of warehouse storage and service, depending upon the customer needs.

Transportation is typically an integral part of the 3PL operation. For many businesses, it is simply not cost effective to haul freight. Hauling one's own freight, unless there are massive amounts of it, requires a lot of expenditures and investments that many businesses aren't willing or able to make. Trucks and trailers obviously carry a huge price tag. Then, there probably must be adequate volume being frequently shipped to justify employing drivers. Also, depending upon the weight and size of the trucks and freight to be moved, special licensing can be necessary. Depending upon production speed, onsite warehouse space may then be necessary, in order to amass enough completed product to make shipping worth the cost. Issues of transportation can often be much more cheaply solved using a 3PL.

Often, the cost for storage on one's own property may not be worth it. For many businesses, storage space is limited. Factory space is much more effectively used for production, rather than storage. Some businesses, such as operations that are located in crowded, metropolitan areas, have very little extra space, and therefore storage is basically impossible. For any such business, going with a 3PL for storage and warehousing purposes is fiscally reasonable. Plus, depending upon the type of storage required, having a warehouse that fits the needs of the product can be very expensive. If, for instance, your products need to be stored in a climate controlled facility, owning and maintaining that technology can be much more costly than storing with a 3PL.

If there is a constant flow of product going in or out, full time warehouse employees are just one more expenditure that a business faces with storing onsite. Since 3PLs have massive amounts of freight being stored, and constantly coming and going, having a fully staffed warehouse makes sense. Oftentimes, when businesses do their own storage and transportation, the volume isn't sufficient to justify hiring drivers and warehouse workers. This typically means that employees who specialize in other areas have to take time away from production to fill those temporary positions.

3PLs are the solution to many businesses' warehousing and transportation needs. They can be extremely cost effective when compared to the price of onsite storage and maintenance.

The trucking industry has already seen the impact on the news media and book publishing industries, now video and entertainment industries are becoming virtual as well. For example, we are moving away from retail video stores to more and more DVDs by mail or kiosk or delivered entirely electronically over the Internet (e.g. Netflix streaming, Walmart/Vudu) and cable (video on demand). How will this change how we ship and track goods? What other industries will be impacted?