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.
(more…)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.
