Warehousing is a major consideration for many businesses. How do you secure proper storage? How do you access your materials when you need it? And how do you get trustworthy service without paying a ton of money?
A 3rd party warehouse can save you a lot of time and money. Here’s what you stand to gain by using a 3rd party warehouse.
Lower Cost
Managing your own storage and logistics operations can be very expensive. Leasing your own warehouse simply doesn’t make sense for many businesses. Those without large-scale operations simply aren’t going to have enough materials to necessitate that much space. This means you end up paying a large price for square footage that you don’t end up using. And paying for resources you don’t need translates to a loss of money.
But outsourcing your warehousing needs to a 3rd party warehouse means you only pay for what you need. And this will almost always shake out to mean you save money on your overhead costs.
Expertise
Why try to figure out an entirely new industry when you have your own services and products to focus on? Leave the logistics considerations to people who spend all their time maximizing their logistical capabilities. Order fulfillment, transportation, and cold storage warehousing are all skills that can be done well or not so well. Using a 3rd party warehouse means your goods are in the hands of professionals.
And these skills, methods, and technology are constantly being updated. Using a 3rd party warehouse means your storage needs are always being addressed with the best methods and tools available.
Flexibility
Your needs are going to change. Growing businesses need a certain level of flexibility in their operations to account for an increase in demand, or even the occasional ramp down. 3rd party warehouses allow for these changes by not requiring long-term contracts with specific needs and restrictions. You have the option of increasing or decreasing your storage needs much easier than if you were to take on logistical operations on your own.
This flexibility and scalability allows you to adjust your needs specifically to the recent operational changes. Perhaps your business is seasonal in nature and one part of the year is much busier than the rest. Make use of a 3rd party warehouse to store these products so you can supply your vendors during your busy season.
Increased Efficiency
A reduction in cost while improving levels of productivity means your company is becoming much more efficient. And this is exactly what a 3rd party warehouse can do for you. Your overhead costs are reduced because of a lack of capital spent on constructing a warehouse. You’re also saving on the labor that is required in staffing an entire warehouse. And finally, you’re saving on the equipment you would have to install in order to fulfill all of the duties of a warehouse.
This trims the fat on your company and allows you to save time and money by letting somebody else take care of the logistical concerns.
Allows For Potential Expansion
Have you been curious about trying new markets? These desires can often be stopped before they get a chance to truly start because of logistics. Transporting your products to a new, unproven area can be a risk. A 3rd party warehouse, however, can help mitigate this risk.
These warehouses can be a temporary assistant while you try to break into a new market. If it goes well, your products are right there waiting for you. And if not, it’s easy to scale back your storage needs without necessitating a large upfront payment.
Focus
All of the various aspects of the supply chain and logistics can take a lot of time to learn. And when you’re trying to get a new business off the ground, you don’t have a lot of spare time to try to figure out a new industry. A 3rd party warehouse lets you hand off the logistical concerns to logistics professionals.
Not only does this allow you to focus on your business’ services and products, it ensures these considerations will be properly taken care of. You have more pressing issues than worrying about storage, climate controlled warehouse and transportation. Let the professionals handle this important aspect of your business.
More Resources
A 3rd party warehouse is going to have access to complete 3rd party logistics (3PL) services. This gives you a much better system of resources that can support every aspect of your supply chain needs. Creating a great product is only half the battle. You also have to get it into the hands of your customers. 3PLs have made this aspect of the supply chain their whole world. And it’s right at your fingertips just waiting for your company to give them the chance to help you.