Regulations will continue to evolve in support of the circular economy. Circular economy, in short, is about setting targets on waste and recycling. This directly affects certain Logistics Services  such as reverse logistics,  packaging and fulfillment.

The EU’s Circular economy package went into force in 2018. U.S. and other countries are likely to follow. Expect to see significant carbon emissions regulations in the next few years.

International 3Pl has always provided reverse logistics services to its clients reducing the carbon foot print associated with excessive handling and transportation of returned products.

Our Order fulfillment services focus on forward distribution as well as reverse logistics which is key to a circular economy.

Recycling of boxes is at the core of our packaging services . We reuse most of the boxes that we receive for shipping out parcels without compromising the look or integrity of the shipment.

We are currently experimenting with single use boxes especially with our last mile services. We deliver then make sure to get the box back to be used in future shipments.

We are planning on applying the same practices at all of our locations.

resources:

Contract Logistics

3PL Companies in Miami

Logistics Companies in South America

Cryptocurrency is a digital currency built with cryptographic protocols that make transactions secure and difficult to fake. It is a peer to peer electronic cash system.

Cryptocurrency is not a new concept, it has been around for around 10 years. Most people do not understand how it works and so far it has been used to process payments between individuals for services and products. It has not been adopted as a payment method for business transactions or at least not as it should be.

The logistics industry, including freight forwarders , order fulfillment centers  and trucking companies should start taking advantage of the secure nature of cryptocurrency. It is to eliminate fraud completely witch plagues the shipping industry. The fraud incidents in the logistics industry are very high and costly.

Many freight forwarding companies  have experienced charges being reversed by credit card companies due to fraud. A random customer pays for his shipment using a stolen credit card, picks up his shipment and disappears leaving the freight forwarder to deal with the reversal charges. The same scenario happens with trucking companies and 3Pl Companies who handle cross dock services.

Why Should logistics companies accept cryptocurrency?

1- It is extremely safe. it is impossible to commit fraud.

2- The transaction cannot be reversed or modified, once it is done, there is nothing anybody can do about it

3- It is quick. Within 2 minutes the transaction its complete.

4- It almost cost nothing, less than the traditional forms of payments especially credit cards.

Ten years after bitcoin launched its cryptocurrency, other tech giants are beginning to develop their own.

Facebook with cooperation from Visa, MasterCard, PayPal and other financial institutions are currently developing their own cryptocurrency named LIBRA.

Cryptocurrency is the money of the future

resources;

3Pl Companies accepting cryptocurrency

Logistics Companies

Omnichannel order fulfillment Or (Omni Channel) is the order fulfillment across multiple channels. To put it simply, it is about order completion.  It does not matter where the order is being shipped from as long as it is completed at the lowest cost to the retailer.

Omnichannel Fulfillment is about having inventory available across all channels from one location. In one case it is the retailer’s website.

Omnichannel Order fulfillment Simplified

You are a retailer who received an online order from a customer for one of your products. If the product is available in your Distribution Center or 3PL Warehouse, it ships from there, if not, it could ship from one of your retails outlets or a partner.

It is about completing the order and creating a great customer experience. Which  Order Fulfillment strategy should be used when an order is received? The answer is: The most cost effective fulfillment process.

Types of Fulfillment Channels

1- Straight order in warehouse fulfillment

This means that the order will be shipped from the warehouse, DC or 3PL Company as it is received. If the product is not available at that location, order is not shipped even though it might be available at a retail outlet or a drop ship from the vendor.

2- Multi Channel Fulfillment

Inventory is available at different locations from warehouses to retail outlets and vendors however it lacks integration. Multichannel is identified by a non-integrated way to approach customers and inventory.

3-Omnichannel Fulfillment.

Similar to multichannel with a major difference, It requires coherent and absolute inventory integration.

Challenges to Ominchannel fulfillment

A resistant culture. The retailer has to learn new methods of fulfillment which is not always easy and some top managers might resist.

Where to start?

Adopting Omni Channel fulfillment is not easy. You first have to choose an Ominchannel fulfillment strategy that is easiest for people to embrace.

Omni Channel fulfillment is about cutting costs and faster completion of orders. Adopting Omnichannel fulfillment means that that should one fulfillment route fail, the operations can pivot to an alternative.

When your order is placed with a retailer, the order is filled immediately from either the DC, 3PL company, the vendor or a partner without you even having to worry where the order is coming from. That is what Omnichannel fulfillment is all about.

International 3Pl has been a major partner with many retailers adopting Omnichannel fulfillment. We are an integral part of the strategies adopted by many retailers.

Resources:

Contract Logistics Companies

Order Fulfillment Companies

3Pl Warehouses

It is not a surprise that the best 3PL companies are not the largest, rather they are the midsize companies who focus on small and medium size customers with customer service in Mind.

As a customer of a 3PL company who handles your order fulfillment , you want the lines of communication open at all times. You need the flexibility that larger 3PL’s don’t offer. In most cases this will not be provided by the large size 3PL’s. They focus on revenue and they love to work with large customers.

Another reason why large 3PL’s might not be a good fit for small or medium size customers is because these 3PL companies are converted freight forwarders .

Their business revolves around ocean freight , Air Freight and warehousing services.

Best 3PL companies VS Freight Forwarders

Order fulfillment is a totally different animal that required better skill set. Freight Forwarding does not require the daily minute by minute involvement.

A shipment Via ocean from China to Miami does not require the constant attention until the cargo is about to arrive at the port. Order fulfillment ,on the other hand, requires involvement from the 3PL Company with the customer to make sure that the order is delivered as promised to the end user. That just one instance.

Here are some of the steps commonly followed in order fulfillment.

1-Customer initiates shipment to end user either via email or the 3PL ecommerce portal.

2- Order confirmed by the 3PL

3- 3PL prepares shipment ( “Pick and Pack” ) paying attention to special instructions.

4- Order is shipped

5- Both customer and end user ( Consignee )  are advised

6- Delivery is confirmed.

The above applies to any shipment large or small. A true 3PL company typically handles hundreds of such orders on daily basis.

One of the best 3pl Companies we have worked with is International 3PL in Miami, Florida

resources:

Best Logistics companies in Miami

Contract Logistics

7 Pl companies

Inventory Control is not only about making sure that the physical count matches what the WMS or ERP software shows, It is about having the right mix of products to sell, about not having too little inventory or too much inventory, it is about controlling the flow of inventory from the manufacturers.
This article is about the right practices to make sure you have what you think you have in stock.
These principles apply equally to manufacturers, distributors and Even 3PL Companies who handle inventory for other companies.
Whether a shipment is being delivered via Ocean Freight or Air Freight

Necessary Inventory Control Practices

1- Before the product is shipping to the warehouse make sure it is labeled properly. Bar codes are essential. Make sure the vendor or shipper send an SKU list with the complete description.

2- As you receive a shipment, make sure you have a packing list to receive against.

3- As the Inventory is received at the warehouse, verify that the BOL quantity matches what the packing list states in pallets or master cases. Record any discrepancies.

4- Record Damages to the BOL and the Warehouse receipt.

5-Advise shipper of any Discrepancies.

6-Receive product in WMS system and send to Shipper ( Customer ) to verify

7- If the inventory exists in stock, count what you have in stock and indicate on the receiving report

8-Label all boxes or pallets received with Warehouse receipt number. Record the location of the Cargo.

Inventory Control and Shipping

1- The warehouse gets a pick ticket, the items are picked accordingly.

2- pack the products in a way where you know what is being shipped. Avoid Mixing of products as much as you can.

3- Report Insufficient inventory to office immediately. This means a discrepancy. It could be a shipping mistake or you just can’t locate the product. This needs to be taken seriously.

4- As you pick the product from inventory and you notice low levels of inventory, report back to the office using a low inventory level form.

5- As you pick orders, make sure you do a random verification of the quantity available in stock and annotate on the pick ticket.

6- If possible, have one person pick, another pack and another ship. This will cut down on the mistakes.

7- the last step is for a random check: take the packing list and verify that what you have on the doc is what is on the packing list.

8- Make sure order entry department, closes order to deduct from Inventory.

9- Perform random inventory counts on regular basis. That will save hours of doing a total count. Technically within a period of 2 months of doing the random inventory count, you would have counted the whole inventory.

If the above steps are followed, you should not have any issues with inventory discrepancies. Most of the mistakes happen during shipping or receiving.

The term logistics remains an enigma, many people associate the term logistics with shipping. By definition logistics is the movement of goods or services from point A to point B however, the definition fails to add on all the other activities needed to facilitate such movement including custom clearance, drayage and final delivery to point B

To make matters more confusing, we have terms such as supply chain and procurement that are used in its place of logistics.  Too set the record straight, logistics, shipping, transportation, etc. are part of the supply chain umbrella and then came the term “third party logistics” which people somehow associate with warehousing.

The first 3PL companies started it out as freight forwarders who opened warehousing and delivery and then expanded to other services.

Any warehousing company or trucking company can call itself a 3PL that is why you need to check the services that company offers.

A true 3PL company offers a multitude of services such as:

1. Ocean and air freight services
2. Inland transportation
3. Order fulfillment or pick and pack
4. Warehousing services
5. Cross dock services
6. Customs clearance
7. Packaging services
8. Inventory control

Lately, many associate the term 3PL with order fulfillment.

Now, keep in mind that not all 3PL companies are created equal. In reality, only a few of the 3PL companies that show up on search engine searches are a true 3PL company; most of them just offer warehousing services.

A 3PL company should be able to take over your day to day fulfillment needs.

After a careful research you will find out, hopefully not the hard way, that only a few can deliver a solution.

A true 3PL company should be able to pick up the goods from your vendor and deliver them to the end user transparently with a continues flow of goods and information.

In a time where online shopping is blooming, thanks to Amazon, many small to medium size companies are outsourcing their fulfillment services to 3PL companies taking advantage of their expertise and off course cutting the operational cost.

A fulfillment service is a third party warehouse that prepares and ships your orders for you. Using a fulfillment service is a great option if you don’t want to have to deal with shipping, or if you’ve grown beyond your existing warehousing capabilities to a point where you can’t ship items manually anymore.

Order fulfillment, in general, refers to the steps involved in receiving, processing and delivering orders to end customers.

This general definition can apply to many types of orders, from large business-to-business (B2B) orders, to individual direct-to-consumer (D2C) orders.

Receiving
Whether you outsource your order fulfillment to a company like eFulfillment Service, or you choose to do it in-house, receiving inventory from your manufacturers or suppliers is the first step toward getting orders to your end customers.

Inventory Storage
Once inventory has been received, counted, inspected, labeled, and added to your warehouse management software, it is time for it to be shelved.

Shipping
After an order has been picked and packed, it is moved to a shipping station to prep it for delivery to the end customer.

Returns Processing
When answering the question, “What is Order Fulfillment?,” it’s important not to forget about returns.

For online buyers, the ability to easily return purchased items is an important part of the buying decision. For online sellers, the ability to effectively handle those returns is critical to their fulfillment operations, and to their overall businesses.

If you shop online, most probably you have used a fulfillment Service.

International 3PL specializes in fulfillment.