20 Apr What are the 3PL Sydney Processes?
The success of businesses around the world is dependent on order fulfillment. Fulfilling an order means the business is working to ensure customer satisfaction. As this is an integral aspect of all operations, handling it with utmost expertise is essential.
As a company grows, so do the orders. In this case, having a third-party logistics company is essential. The company will ensure all your operations for order fulfillment are handled swiftly to guarantee customer satisfaction. Involving third-party logistics providers is necessary so that your staff can handle other crucial in-house matters.
Let us discuss what 3PL Sydney is all about in the section below.
What is 3PL?
Third-party logistics, often abbreviated as 3PL is the process of outsourcing eCommerce logistics to another company. These processes include managing inventory, warehousing, and fulfillment. 3PL Sydney enables eCommerce businesses to achieve more with the tools and structure to industrialize trade order fulfillment.
3PL was introduced in the 1970s and 1980s when companies began subcontracting incoming and outgoing logistics services to other parties. This was to ensure smooth operations for businesses with a lot to do. With the growing eCommerce industry in the 1990s and 2000s, third-party logistics became more popular, thus, expanding its services. Today, 3PL Sydney is an essential part of nearly all eCommerce dealings and has plenty of advantages.
What Processes Occur in 3PL Sydney?
Fulfilling an order is not an easy process when it happens in-house. There is a lot of logistics involved. However, working with 3PL Sydney will help streamline the order fulfillment process. Read on to find out what happens for an order to be fulfilled.
Receiving
A third-party logistics provider should have an inventory to ship orders to various parts. Therefore, the company has to accept the inventory from a company and take it for storage. Different 3PLs have unique processes and the capacity to receive and store inventory. Receiving inventory helps a 3PL company stay organized and timely to fulfill the orders fast and efficiently.
Warehousing
Upon receiving the inventory, the goods are stored in the fulfillment facilities. Every stock-keeping unit (SKU) comes with different storage options on a shelf, pallet, or bin. 3PL providers have various storage capacities depending on the services they deliver. In this case, it is essential to partner with a company with sufficient space for storing inventory. The bigger your business and product line, the larger the 3PL Sydney scale.
Picking
A 3pl fulfillment process begins as soon as a customer places an order. Some companies rely on up-to-the-minute technology that directly integrates with your eCommerce marketplace. The technology is less complicated and makes work easier for both parties.
Software integrations bring inventory, orders, shipments, stock levels, and tracking in one place to simplify the fulfillment process. The process includes automatically pushing online orders to a 3PL. Upon sending an order, a 3PL warehouse picking department receives it. The picker gets a list of items to be picked, quantities, and storage sites to collect the products.
Packing
Once the items have been picked and confirmed, the next process is packing them securely for shipping. The items will determine the packing materials to ensure they safely reach their destination. Generally, the packing materials are determined by the capabilities of the 3PL Sydney and your preferences.
Shipping
Once the order is packed and labeled, it is taken to a preferred mode of shipment. Some providers have carrier partners they prefer, whereas others compare the shipping cost from different carriers. A 3PL should always use the most affordable pricing to ensure customer satisfaction.
Returns
The best 3PL Sydney will offer return processing services. It means that a customer can return an order. When it happens, the 3PL processes the return and replace or dispose of the item.