By Jan McCormick Jr., Director of Marketing and Communications
As a 3PL provider that offers end-to-end supply chain solutions, we get asked a lot to provide single-source logistics. In simplest terms, single-source logistics is having one company handle all of your supply chain needs and provide a solution for anything that might come up. This includes warehousing, packaging, and transportation services, or could even breakdown deeper into specific services like e-commerce fulfillment, kitting and variety packs, or white glove delivery services.
The alternative to single-source logistics would be to have different providers handling each of these services separately, say one for warehousing, another for packaging, and even another for transportation. You could even have one for storage, another for fulfillment, another for variety packs, another for truckload, and yet another for small parcel. I think you get the idea!
I sat down with an executive in each of our divisions to get their perspective on how being a single-source logistics provider helps them as well as the clients they serve. Here’s what they had to say.
Warehousing Perspective – Sean Kelley, VP of Business Development at Bonded Logistics
“What’s nice about being a single-source logistics provider is that we have everything together under one roof. It’s a seamless operation, allowing clients more time to focus on their core business because they don’t have to spend as much time dealing with different companies that handle different services for them.
“Having contract packaging and transportation services internally is a big selling point for me. Clients that we bring on from a warehousing perspective are almost always looking for some kind of transportation assistance, especially on the front-end. And when we find out a client has a need for repackaging or rework, it comes in handy that we have a dedicated contract packaging group that handles those types of projects.
“Another nice thing about having these services at our disposal, it brings diverse leadership and expertise to the table that ultimately will help to improve our client’s supply chain.”
Contract Packaging Perspective – Jon Hayward, VP of Bonded Pac
“There are many benefits to being a single-source logistics source for our clients. One that immediately comes to mind is our ability to look at the bigger picture and address growth concerns when we can see what’s going on across the entire supply chain. This allows us to spot inefficiencies or potential issues and get ahead of them to minimize any risk.
“Another is special projects like rework and testing. These are a fact of life in the warehousing world, and some are large and complex. Having a contract packaging group like Bonded Pac that’s part of the overall business allows us to do this type of work in-house. It’s much easier to coordinate than if you’d have to outsource that to another provider.
“Ultimately, our job is to make the logistics process seem seamless for the client. There needs to be synergies between our divisions and our clients expect to see this. Communication is probably the biggest piece of this, and we make sure that we are communicating with other divisions on an ongoing basis. If we have issues, it’s much easier to communicate internally than if we were having to deal with different outside groups.”
Transportation Perspective – Sean Ryan, Director of Bonded Transportation
“I think our clients really see us as a turnkey option when it comes to single-source logistics solutions. A lot of times they don’t have the capacity to be able to deal with these things, so relying on us to work as one and quickly spot redundancies. This helps their supply chain become more efficient by cutting out any excess waste. This is much harder to realize when you have multiple providers working independently of each other.
“From a transportation perspective, we provide a nice add-on service that makes it easier and smoother when it comes to bringing in loads for the warehousing and packaging divisions. This may be when a new client comes on, or if they are in a jam and in need of assistance. At any time, we are just a phone call away and they know exactly who they need to speak with.
Another area where this helps is when we have set-up dedicated runs from our facilities to the client or their customers. There is so much communication that needs to take place to make these seamless, and it makes things way easier when you know who you are working with and can easily get them on the phone to talk through an issue or make them aware of delays.”
Ready to see if a single-source logistics provider might be the best option for your business? Click here to start a conversation with us today!