Two days. Next day. Free delivery. Free returns. Total visibility. Perfect order. Cost stability. Unpredictable order mixes. Last mile. Omnichannel. Anxious yet?
3PLs face these competitive pressures due to higher customer expectations, higher costs and lack of available people, transportation and space resources. As Mark Richards, vice president at Associated Warehouses said, “At AWI, our consortium of 3PLs has been seeing labor and space constraints leading to more 3PLs embracing automation.”
The good news is that many clients are looking for longer-term 3PL partners rather than just temporary relief valves. However, being a longer-term partner means 3PLs have to up their game to provide greater responsiveness, visibility and accuracy while being cost competitive. Oh, and 3PLs need to do that while trying to serve multiple types of customers with variations in competitive strategies. Bruce Welty, CEO of the 3PL Quiet Logistics, said that, “Technology is changing everything, but the inertia for many companies makes it difficult to shift from the push driven world to one that provides constant change in order mix by the minute.”
Tecsys, a global provider of supply chain solutions, is sharing are six reasons why 3PLs need to embrace technology in order to gain, retain and even delight customers.
Please CLICK HERE to download the white paper.