To outsource e-fulfillment or not. That is the million-dollar question. There are many reasons why a company might decide to outsource its e-fulfillment. Some of these reasons are obvious other are not that obvious and many companies just do not pay attention to the benefits of outsourcing its fulfillment services.

The Obvious reasons why you should outsource E-fulfillment

1. Lack of capital:  Many Startups and even established companies do not have the capital to rent a warehouse, hire employees, lease a forklift, pay for insurance and many other charges. Using 3Pl companies to handle the fulfillment services is the way to go, not by choice in some.
2. Faster Turn Around time:  If you are selling products online and in order to succeed in the e-Commerce business you need to ship fast. customers these days just do not wait to wait a day or two to get their product. Most “fulfillment centers” have enough staff to ensure that the orders leave as quickly as possible, something you might not be able to do if you have limited resources.
3. Focusing on your own business: A company needs to focus on its core competencies be it selling or developing new products. That is why several companies outsource their order fulfillment services.  It is just wiser to worry about sales than receiving, warehousing, shipping and inventory shortages.
4. Flexibility:  Companies that are selling online can choose which 3PL company and which location to ship from.  The company could be located in the middle of Utah yet its customer base is in Miami, they can choose any of the Miami Fulfillment companies to ship from. They also can have multiple locations to ship from without the haste of renting space in all of these locations.

The not so obvious reasons why you should outsource E- Fulfillment.

1. Lower shipping rates: 3Pl companies usually have high shipping volumes which qualifies them for larger discounts and much lower rates than if you try or ship on your own. This applies to all forms of shipping such as Inland Transportation, or even Ocean freight.
2. Expertise: many of the fulfillment centers have been doing this job for many years and developed the know how to help you with your business. You just can’t put a price on experience.
3. Cross Selling: through working with the fulfillment company you get to meet potential clients. More revenue
4. Global reach: if you are planning on exporting your products, you do not have to go somewhere else to get these services. Many of 3PL Companies are freight forwarders.
5. Value added services: Fulfillment centers can help with branding and marketing in addition to other services such as collections and receivables management.

According to a study by the Harvard business school, it is much more economical and efficient to use a fulfillment company as opposed to doing the fulfillment yourself. Even Amazon outsources some of their fulfillment services to a company like International 3PL.

Resources:

Fulfillment centers in Miami

Fulfillment centers in Doral

Contract Logistics

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

The new world economy has given rise to new services. Product sourcing services are being used by different companies, medium and small-sized companies. The procurement service provider marketplace has evolved dramatically over the past 15 years. Business process outsourcing has almost removed barriers within companies to move towards outsourcing crucial parts of the procurement function. Companies spend a considerable part of their budget to procure goods and services form various provides and from other countries. When you consider options to reduce overheads and find efficient and effective procurement services, service providers are the best bet. The need to globalize spend is a necessity for most companies across the world. The management of procurement functions has also turned into a scale-driven game. The emergence of strategic sourcing and reliable procurement service providers has led to the appreciation of the value of procurement service providers.

Product Sourcing Services

The purchasing of products is difficult to manage in most organizations and often warrants using multiple providers. Nowadays, you can transform the way in which you approach product sourcing to realize financial returns and increase efficiency. There are a number of global players who are focused on the outsourcing of the end-to-end management (from sourcing to procure-to-pay) of the indirect spend.

Procurement Service Provider

Although a number of companies are aware that procurement can help them generate savings, what they need is a service provider who will initiate, accelerate and also help complete the process for REAL RESULTS.

By choosing to outsource services and products , companies can successfully take advantage of spend consolidation and aggregation, enable greater visibility and control over the sourcing process and benefit from the service provider’s resources.

Better service delivered at lower total costs – this is exactly what product sourcing services will provide. There is no one-size-fits all approach, which is why it is extremely important to determine the strategy which will work for your organization. A combination of supply chain professionals and a global delivery network to aid supplier management in low cost countries awaits you with a reliable procurement service provider.

What is Outsourcing?

When businesses need expertise or skills that they don’t have within their organization, they often turn to Outsourcing companies to fill in the gaps so that they can deliver exceptional experience for their customers.

Outsourcing means going out to find the source of what you need. These days many business outsource for what they need to serve their customers, both internal and external. An external customer is the entity that ultimately purchases a company’s product or services, while an internal customer is the company’s own employees or shareholders. Business can obtain both products like machine parts, and services like payroll, through outsourcing.

Outsourcing is not a new concept, many companies outsourced the manufacturing of components of their final products to other companies.

The big shift in recent years, however, is service outsourcing, which refers to companies hiring outside businesses to provide specialized work and expertise.

Outsourcing offers many advantages. For instance, outsourcing allows companies to seek out and hire the best experts for specialized work. Using outsourcing also helps companies keep more cash on hand, freeing resources for other purposes, such as capital improvements. It’s also often cheaper in terms of salaries and benefits and reduces risks and costs.

Outsourcing can also help a business focus on its core competencies without distractions from ancillary and support functions.

Some outsourced services include:

Outsourced service functions can include:

• Ocean Freight Services and freight forwarding services.
• Collection Services
• Call centers
• IT Services
• Payroll and bookkeeping
• Advertising and public relations
• Building maintenance
• Consulting and engineering
• Warehousing and distribution
• Purchase Order Management
• Food and cafeteria services
• Security
• Fleet services

Making your business more ethical is no longer just a moral obligation for businesses it’s also a strong selling point, as consumers become increasingly concerned about where their produce and products are coming from. That means whether you feel ethically responsible or not, it could be a big business advantage to source ethically.

What is ethical sourcing?

Ethical sourcing means ensuring that the products being sourced are created in safe facilities by workers who are treated well and paid fair wages to work legal hours. It also implies that the supplier is respecting the environment during the production and manufacture of the products.

Ethical sourcing is very important these days. Would you buy from a company that does not treat its workers fairly, does not pay them a fair wage and they live under miserable conditions? I guess not.

sourcing ethically means that the company has shown social responsibility and goes a long way in portraying a professional and caring company.

Does your company need to outsource?

The decision to outsource is a strategic one. Most companies hesitate or feel threatened to reliquish control. Some believe that doing it yourself is easier and faster which raises the question: ‘Why consider outsourcing?’

1. Reduce and control operating costs – Small business owners need to “think big.” Just like Fortune 50 companies, the small business owner needs to identify his/her strengths and then find someone else to do everything else – outsource it.
2. Improve company focus – By outsourcing non-core functions, a small business owner can focus on growing the company.
3. Gain access to world-class capabilities – For small start-up businesses seeking investors and partners, showing that the company outsources its financial functions to a professional, bonded, insured service provider firm with secure technology will help potential investors realize the start-up owner is running the business well.
4. Free internal resources for other purposes – Business owners who are great at their business but realize they are weak at finances or are too busy and don’t have time to do the books or have tried but failed and as a result have a financial mess to clean up.
5. Resources are not available internally – Knowing what the finances really are at a given moment gives a small business owner much more capability, not only for real-time decision making, but also for accurate decision-making and confidence in the decisions.

For More information: http://www.pomanagement.com | http://www.budgetsource.com