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When you’re running a small to medium-sized
enterprise (SME), it’s easy to fall into the trap
of the day-to-day. You’re focused on managing costs
and keeping customers happy, which often comes
with its fair share of fires to put out and obstacles
to overcome. There’s barely time in the day to get
everything done, much less strategize and build the
most efficient logistics program possible.
Eventually, many SMEs that manage warehousing and
logistics in-house run into rising costs and faltering
service, harming their brand reputation in the process.
Others make the sound decision to hire a third-party
logistics company (3PL), but wind up feeling stuck
with a provider that isn’t meeting promises and
expectations. Hiring a 3PL is usually the way to go
for an SME, but it’s important to choose one that will
truly commit to not only handling your orders but
also, on a larger scale, helping you grow your business
through streamlined, efficient logistics. At Customized
Distribution Services (CDS), we set ourselves apart by
focusing on the following:
1. Planning
Every SME wants and needs efficiency. It drives cost savings, customer satisfaction, and company culture all at once. But uncovering and implementing efficiencies in logistics can be more challenging than you’d expect because everything connects; changing one step in the process can potentially disrupt the next. That’s why it’s helpful to work with a 3PL like
CDS that can come in and examine every aspect of your supply chain, from warehouse and inventory management to transportation and distribution. From there, we can develop a plan that fulfills present needs and fuels future growth. Planning is the differentiator that creates scalable infrastructure and a return on investment in logistics.
2. Performance
Final fulfillment may seem like the end-all and be-all, but there are many other metrics behind the scenes that define efficiency and success. Even the most capable in-house logistics teams are usually stretched thin and unable to dedicate significant time to analyzing data. As an outsourced provider, it’s in our nature to be performance-driven and data-centric. We hold ourselves accountable to key performance indicators (KPIs) and detailed reporting designed to enable better decision-making. We also manage carrier and vendor scorecarding that can help ensure you get the best carriers and prices for your freight. Logistics will always be partly reactive, but your 3PL should tilt the balance more toward being proactive.
3. Partnership
Above all, a winning working relationship between you and your 3PL should look and feel like a partnership. Especially in the age of e-commerce, you need a logistics partner that brings flexibility, versatility, and reliability. At CDS, we can work with your existing warehouse management system or onboard you to ours. We’ve invested in emerging technologies like industrial robots, automated pallet racks, and drone inventory management at our distribution centers to unlock efficiency and provide stability for our customers. Meanwhile, our in-house engineering team is continually analyzing customer data and suggesting potential solutions. Logistics isn’t your niche or forte—and with a partner like CDS, it doesn’t have to be.
Customer Case Study:
Service Delivered, Value Added
As an example of all the above in motion, we look to a beverage company in New York. They were initially managing their warehousing internally and needed CDS to fulfill just-in-time orders daily, 365 days per year. The customer started with our bulk warehousing solution and eventually moved to value-added services including packing, labeling, segregating, and palletizing for 29 different end users.
In the early phases, we worked with the customer to set up project teams, sharing our project plans through weekly and sometimes daily conference calls and in-person meetings. To better understand the customer’s processes, we sent members from our team to the customer’s facility to observe and learn the operation first-hand. The changeover
was gradual, transferring one or two end users’ products at a time and replenishing orders for one to two weeks before moving on. Frequent check-ins helped ensure a seamless transition.
Due to the nature of the business, we created contingencies to address conditions such as weather and traffic that would affect our ability to deliver on time, every day. Throughout the first winter (one of the worst in the Northeast in many years), we were able to effectively use these contingencies to successfully maintain the service level requirements despite disruptive conditions.
