Whether you are new to the market and looking for a logistics partner, or considering switching your existing provider, knowing how to choose a 3PL provider and identify the right partner for your business can be tricky.
In this blog we explore the 5 most important features of a 3PL partner. (Which, just so happen to be the reasons that we think make us a worthy choice for all your logistical needs).
Our 5 Point Checklist to Help You Choose a 3PL Provider
1. Unparalleled Account Management
The most common account-related challenges for businesses working with a 3PL provider are often communication, and the ability to access real time information.
Be sure to look for a partner that offers you a dedicated account manager, and 24/7 access to a client portal that enables you to monitor your account. This is something that Delamode offers to every client.
However, this alone isn’t enough. Our accounts management team takes the time to understand your needs and goals, to offer a logistics solution 100% tailored to you. This is key when choosing a 3PL provider, along with finding a partner who fosters strong relationships, has a culture of effective client communication, and conducts quarterly reviews to discuss performance, as we do at Delamode.
This ensures that your performance is being monitored against your KPIs, that SLAs are met, and enables your chosen logistics provider to address operational issues before they become a problem.
2. Warehouse Capabilities & Locations
Capabilities
When asking yourself how to choose a 3PL provider, it’s critical to explore the capabilities and locations of the facilities of different providers, to identify a partner who can facilitate your products, and optimally serve your organisation.
At Delamode, we have two state of the art AEO–bonded facilities, our 67,000 pallet capacity, 470,000 sq ft warehouse in Southampton UK, and our 4,000 pallet capacity, 100,000 sq ft warehouse in Roosendaal Netherlands, which is a mirror of our UK operations.
We offer both bonded and unbonded warehousing services for fast moving consumer goods at each facility, where both teams also deploy VAS’s like rework and customisation.
Location
When choosing a 3PL provider, the metrics above are key to knowing if a provider can support your products, but location is equally key. Specifically, portside locations can offer you cost saving and environmental benefits.
At Delamode, the portside location of our Southampton facility enables us to reduce unnecessary transport and empty container miles by up to 20%, and by reducing emissions, we can save you upwards of 19%.
While our Roosendaal, Netherlands facility positions us perfectly to transport across the EU and the rest of the world, with an experienced customs clearance team to ensure your compliance with customs regulations across different territories.
Sustainability
The sustainability of a provider’s facilities should be a consideration for any organisation wondering how to choose a 3PL provider.
From 2027, warehouses with an EPC of lower than C will be at risk of incurring significant fines and being deemed unlettable. In 2030, the minimum rating will be increased to a B. These targets are projected to make 60% of warehousing space unlivable by 2030, and result in significant operational disruption and providers hiking up prices to support the required investment.
At Delamode, we are futureproofed – with our UK facility’s 467,999 sq ft solar panel system that generates a significant portion of our energy – and your chosen provider should be too.
3. Supply Chain Visibility & Control
Supply chain visibility and control is essential. When choosing a 3PL provider it’s essential to choose a provider with a powerful system that enables you to view and manage your supply chain, see the life of an order from inbound to dispatch to retailer/customer, and track each stage in real time.
We use a single system across both territories, which integrates seamlessly with your existing systems, is customised to your unique needs, and provides real time inventory metrics, the ability to schedule shipping, visibility and traceability of transportation journeys, and much more.
At Delamode, we enable clients to move products between our UK and EU facility within 24 hours, via our shuttle service, which can be scheduled via our system, to help you optimally position your goods for transportation to different retailers.
4. Value at Every Turn
When choosing a 3PL provider, ensure to establish that a provider’s value added services can truly add value to your organisation. At Delamode, our VAS’s are:
Customisation and rework: To help you serve a diverse range of customers with a generic stockline, and meet retailer agreements.
One system, two territories: Gives you full visibility and control of your supply chain, and enables you to move your products between each territory within 24 hours.
Knowledge of customs jurisdictions: We support you to navigate the clearance of your goods, incoterms, and ensure that your products comply with EU customs & jurisdictions.
Retailer compliance: Our team ensures your compliance with retailer requirements, by modifying your products, managing labelling, the booking of delivery slots, and loading your pallet to spec.
Speed to market: We ship your products to stores within 48 hours, including deploying customisation and retailer compliance work.
5. Transport Solutions Tailored to Your Needs
Retailer integrations and transportation to these retailers is an essential factor when choosing a 3PL provider, to ensure your chosen partner can fully support your organisation’s needs.
At Delamode, we ship products globally to over 1000 major and independent retailers including Tesco, John Lewis and Amazon, as well as direct to consumer.
As for transportation, it’s key to establish if a particular 3PL provider covers the transportation methods you need to ensure they can get your goods to the territories of your retailers/consumers. Be sure to also examine their carrier management processes as the reliability of shipping, and flexibility of service, hinges on this.
At Delamode, we transport products from our UK and EU facilities to retailers across the UK, EU, and ROW, via road, rail, air and sea. We offer transport services tailored to your specific needs, via our carrier agnostic model, and relationships and TMS system integrations with:
- 89 carrier integrations, giving you access to a wide huge range of carriers, from DHL and Asendia, to TNT, UPS, Whistl, Yodel, territory-dedicated carriers, and more.
- Over 30 major parcel couriers (via road), like TNT, DPD, Fedex, Royal Mail, Yodel and DX.
- A variety of large and local hauliers (via road).
- Multiple pallet networks (via road) such as Pall-Ex, Palletline, Palletways UK, The Pallet Network.
- Freight forwarders (for sea, air and rail transport).
Hopefully, this checklist makes the quandary of identifying how to choose a 3PL provider a little less confusing, and we hope it can help you to identify the perfect 3PL partner for your organisation.
Contact our team today to discuss how our bonded and non-bonded warehousing, ecommerce fulfilment, reverse logistics and transport services can support your organisation.
