This is a guest blog post written by Will Schneider with insightQuote.com

Fulfillment and shipping is a critical aspect of the supply chain function. From one-day deliveries to the increased desire for free shipping, customer expectations are driving companies to not only provide exceptional logistics services but also leverage the fulfillment function as a source of competitive advantage. These increasing demands are causing more and more companies to look outside their own warehouse walls to pursue 3PL outsourcing. In fact, 66 percent of companies use outsourcing, according to the Current State of 3PL Market 2016 Study.

The potential benefits of outsourcing are many – improved flexibility, quality, and responsiveness, access to new markets, increased speed to market, decreased customer response time, and decreased costs, not to mention time savings from not performing the function in-house. But is outsourced fulfillment the right solution for your business? In this article, we’ll walk you through the decision-making process to help you determine if this avenue is the right fit for your company.

There are many factors to consider when deciding whether to keep the fulfillment side of your business in-house or whether you should outsource this part to another company. Before jumping into the financial aspects to see if cost savings will be achieved, it’s important to take a look at some key strategic reasons that might deter you from taking this course of action.

Robert Lockard

Robert Lockard is a copywriter with Fishbowl. He writes for several blogs about inventory management, manufacturing, QuickBooks, and small business. Fishbowl is the #1-requested manufacturing and warehouse management software for QuickBooks users. Robert enjoys running, reading, writing, spending time with his wife and children, and watching movies.

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