5 Signs an Industrial Supply Company Needs a 3PL

3PL

Third Party Logistics

A logistics team cannot start solving these issues unless they have the right skills and solutions to set their supply chain straight. If your industrial supply company exhibits any of the signs below, you can be confident that it’s time to invest in tools including a logistics solutions provider (LSP) and transportation management system (TMS).

RED FLAG: There are no key performance indicators (KPIs) or benchmarks currently maintained on the status of the supply chain and no forecast set for the upcoming year’s freight pricing.

Pro-Tip: Creating and regularly reviewing logistics management KPIs are crucial to maintaining a transparent logistics operation and achieving quarterly and yearly goals.

1. Freight is moving off of a carrier tariff and is not custom-contracted based on your supply chain’s specific commodities and frequent lanes.
2. Carriers are dropping the ball in certain lanes and are not providing corrective action plans and root cause analyses to prevent problems from reoccurring.
3. Shipment issues such as lost shipments and damaged freight are handled in-house and there is no documented standard operating procedure (SOP) on resolving claims with the carriers.
4. As invoices come in from carriers, no auditing is conducted on each freight charge against the tariff or contract. 

Pro-Tip: There are key elements that every supply chain auditing process should contain, but regardless, this practice is a must for companies looking to boost their savings and run an effective supply chain.

Do these issues sound familiar? If you’re ready to take action on these debilitating logistics problems, take a look at another company’s real experiences with a transport brokerage company. Download the case study below to read about the challenges one material solutions supplier faced and how they successfully solved their issues with the help of a logistics solutions provider and advanced transportation management system.