What is 5PL? What is the difference between 3PL, 4PL and 5PL. You might be unclear on what each level of logistics services entails.

The role of outsourced logistics in the supply chain hasn’t been fully explained. It is still unclear what level of services the 3 different PL’s offer.

Supply chain and the logistics industry are getting complicated. Increasing customer expectations, growth in e-commerce, and new business models lead to more pressure applied to the supply chain channels. Businesses have to do a lot to manage their logistics. There is hardly any room for error.

What is A 3PL?

A 3PL (third-party logistics provider ) offers outsourced logistics services, which includes anything that involves management of one or more aspects of procurement and fulfillment activities. In business, 3PL has a broad meaning that applies to any logistic service that involves storing, fulfilling or shipping items. Most 3PL’s are asset based while 4PL’s and 5PL’s are not. Many companies who provide multiple types of services call themselves 3PL Companies for examples, a Freight Forwarder who handles storage and some distribution can claim that they are a 3 PL. The same applies to Trucking companies who handle storage, they too can claim to be a 3PL. It has to be noted that not all 3PL’s are created equal. To be a true 3PL, you have to offer many services under the logistics Umbrella.

What is A 4PL ?

4PL ( fourth-party logistics ) is a more sophisticated form of supply chain management, focusing on the optimization of the whole logistics process.

While some 4PLs perform similar functions to 3PLs, they are usually non-asset based, meaning they don’t own any vehicles or storage facilities themselves.

A 4PL may coordinate the activities of 3PLs that handle specific parts of the supply chain. There is no set structure for a 4PL, and some larger 3PLs may even offer 4PL solutions to their clients.

What is a 5PL ?

5PL is a relatively new term in the logistics industry and reflects the development of full logistic integration through many outsourced providers.  encompass the whole supply chain from beginning

A 5PL provider looks beyond individual supply chains, focusing instead on wider supply networks.

A 5PL will plan, organize and implement a client’s logistics solutions, taking all elements of supply chain management out of their hands. Their focus on supply networks means they’ll oversee every single supply chain within an organization.

5Pls tend to be more valuable to e-commerce businesses with AI implementations. 5PL Firms Manage Multiple 3PL and 4PL Companies

Who has benefited most Globalization? Developed industrialized countries continue to benefit most from globalization because increasing globalization generates the largest GDP per capita gains for them in absolute terms. Did we really win?

The study shows that the richest one per cent of the population are the big winners in the changing global economy, increasing their share of income between 1990 and 2015, while at the other end of the scale, the bottom 40 per cent earned less than a quarter of income.

Globalization involves the increased integration and interdependence of the global economy. Since the 1960s, there has been an increased rate of globalization, which has been demonstrated by rising trade, rising exports as % of GDP, greater movement of labor and capital, and an increased interdependence of the global economy. Large corporations such as retailers and freight forwarders have benefited, Even home values increased as foreign investors cam in.

Globalization has benefitted some countries more than others. In particular, South East Asian countries, such as Vietnam, Korea and China have seen a growth in living standards due to their export boom.

In the developed world – the US, the UK and the Eurozone, globalization has been a mixed blessing with some sectors of the economy (e.g. service sector) experiencing rapid growth, but some unskilled workers have been left behind as former manufacturing sectors decline due to greater global competition.

That does not mean the everyone in the developed country benefited, there a large sector of small businesses that had to shut down as they could not compete in such a market. Have you ever wondered where you favorite mom and pop store is? Well, it just could not compete. Later on the large corporations raised their prices.

There were many losers especially in the less developed countries where some economists claim that poor people have benefited. If you look closely, you will see that in many poor countries workers are working under sub humane conditions, the one making the money are the elite in those countries not the people and off course the mega corporations.

We should also remember that pricing did not really come down with Globalization, because we buy more things does not mean we need them. The prices of essential items did not really go down, just check your nearest supermarket.

And we should no forget about shipping costs. Freight rates have increased and do contribute to price increases. It is just not worth it anymore to invest in foreign countries. The problem we are facing now is that if we decide to bring manufacturing back, we need to wait few years for the factories to start producing.

In my opinion, globalization might have served a purpose in the beginning but just like every other policy, it lacked oversight. Some may have benefited but in the long we paid a a hefty price when it comes to our values and beliefs. The normal hard working people have lost.

Let us know what you think. e-mail us

Resources:

Inflation

Logistics

Causes of inflation:

Shipping to Kuwait is made easy. We offer Ocean freight services to Kuwait  and air freight services to Kuwait in a timely manner at good rates. We speak the language and have agents that can make any shipment.

Kuwait, a country in  Asia, with a population of around 4. million.

Kuwait City is the capital of Kuwait which is also the political, cultural, and economic center of Kuwait.

A sizeable percentage of the country’s imports come from the United States.

Kuwait Has The World’s Sixth Largest Oil Reserve

Kuwait holds 8% of the world’s oil reserves. It has the world’s sixth-largest oil reserve. It claims to hold about 104 billion barrels of oil with most of it (70 billion barrels) being located in the Burgan field.

The Kuwaiti Dinar Is The World’s Highest-Valued Currency

The Kuwaiti dinar is the currency of Kuwait. It is sub-divided into 1,000 fils. As of October 2019, it is the world’s highest-valued currency unit per face value. The dinar was introduced in 1960 in Kuwait and initially had a value equivalent to one pound sterling. It replaced the former currency, the Gulf rupee. For a short period, during Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, the Kuwaiti dinar was replaced by the Iraqi dinar. After the invading forces were driven out, the country’s currency was once more restored. A lot of banknotes were stolen by the Iraqis during the invasion. The Kuwaiti government demonetized the currency to render the stolen notes useless and introduced a new series of banknotes.

Shipping to Kuwait Options

When sending merchandise to Kuwait, you have two options: FCL (a full container load) or LCL (groupage), a shared container.

20′ containers can accommodate 10 pallets ( 20 Double stacked )

40′ Container can Accomdate around 20 pallets ( 40 Double stacked )

Air Freight Services

Parcel delivery to Kuwait.

Consult International 3PL for rate quotes.

Ports in Kuwait

Kuwaiti Ports are the window for the State to the external world. They contributed much in Kuwait economic and constructional development. Kuwait has three important ports, which are Shuwaikh Port, Shuaiba Port and Doha Port.

Resources:

Ocean freight to Kuwait

Importing From Kuwait

The transportation industry is vitally important to the global and American economy. The transportation services have been greatly affected by COVID 19. It does not matter if you are looking at Ocean Freight Services, Air freight, Inland transportation or Even Package delivery. Every part of the transportation sector has been affected.

Let us start by looking at Ocean Freight Services . At the time of writing this article, ocean freight rates from China to the East Coast ports in the USA are at an all time high of around $20,000 for a 40′ Container. You would be lucky to find space. Then comes the booking roll overs because the vessel was over booked, the congestion at the port, etc..

Then when the containers arrive at the port of destination, you are faced with port congestion, delays at availability of container and then off course the availability of truckers to handle the drayage to your warehouse. In Miami, in some cases, there is no availability for truckers for two weeks. A congestion fees is being charged by most truckers because the ports are requiring truckers to make appointments to pick up the containers.

Freight forwarders in general are struggling with the delays at the port, angry customers are rising drayage costs. Some truckers are charging $200 per hour for waiting time. The situation does not seem to be getting any better, on the contrary, it is getting worse.

Now let us talk about Inland Transportation Services . America’s trucking industry is the lifeblood of the U.S. economy. Nearly every good consumed in the U.S. is put on a truck at some point. As a result, the trucking industry hauled 72.5% of all freight transported in the United States.

Recently, we have been experiencing many issues pertaining to pick up and delivery of goods. As an example, common carriers miss the scheduled pick up appointments on regular basis due to lack of capacity. Here is a message from dispatch of one of the major carriers ” The carrier is currently handling a back log. They are working as fast as they can to get freight picked up ” .

And finally let us mention the chaos in the courier delivery companies. I will point out a few issues that we have been experiencing: Courier companies are losing packages. I was personally involved in 3 different occasion where i handed the packages to one of the major courier companies only to find out that the packages were lost. Let me also mention how the packages are not picked up on time not to mentions the excessive damages. As a 3PL Company, we are directly affected by all of the issues in the transportation industry. There are a lot of work stoppage to resolve issues or deal with angry customers. The end result is the rising cost of doing business.

Resources

POP Freight

Miami Freight Forwarders

Logistics Companies

Supply chains have been disrupted by the Novel Corona Virus due to flaws in the design, lack of planning and inflexibility. This disruption could have been avoided or at least mitigated if supply chain managers were more proactive and had a vision of the future rather than focusing on the bottom line regardless of the practices.

By definition, supply chain involves the management of the three most important resources of an organization: Inventory, Money and information. When key information pertaining to the Corona Virus were not conveyed to parts of the supply chains, there was no viable reaction to the spread of the Corona Virus. No preparations made to continue shipping products by protecting shippers and manufacturers.

Factories could not have enough raw materials or components brought in from other regions or countries to start production since International freight Forwarders were crippled by the Corona Virus. There was a long-term impact on the Shipping Companies.  Many freight forwarders have permanently closed their doors especially the smaller ones with the personal service to its clients.

Not having raw materials to produce finished products because there were not people to work in the factory combined with lack of failure to deliver the finished product, if available, to the end user resulted in shortages in many commodities.  Even when the finished products were available, they could not be delivered reliably to the end user. No to mention that most of non-essential products were not being shipped as more preference was given to PPE products.  Amazon is a perfect example. They focused on Personal Hygiene products and stopped shipping other items even if they are available which prompted some of their third party sellers to use 3PL companies to fulfill their orders. This has revitalized the regional Fulfillment Centers.

How to design better supply Chains

1. Information is key. Had information about the corona virus and the ways to mitigate the spread used in the design of the supply chains, we would not have witnessed such shortages.
2. Emergency plans should always be in place to combat any disruptions just like we have emergency plans in the case of hurricanes. These plans might involve adding extra locations or using different shipping routes or changing the procurement practices.
3. Design smart Supply Chains with more flexibility and transparency.
4. Locate and utilize multiple sources for products, do not put all eggs in one basket.

Impact of Corona Virus on many producers

During the height of the Corona Virus infections, many milk producers had to throw away the milk because they did not have enough storage facilities. Instead they should have plans to make cheese instead of throwing it away. Produce loaded on export containers had to be discarded as vessels did not ship. Excess produce could have been distributed to communities or even frozen and canned.

This is all due to improperly managing the information which is essential for the effectiveness of supply chains. Some businesses have closed down permanently unnecessarily.  Which will impact the economy.

Supply Chain consultants better learn from this experience and design ethical supply chains that focus on efficiency and sustainable practices and not only the bottom line .

Resources:

Supply Chain Consultants

Third Party Logistics Providers

International Shippers

e-commerce Fulfillment

Carbon free shipping is aiming at reducing the carbon footprint created by large container ships. 85% of all cargo around the world is shipped using mega ships. Shipping Companies  are under a lot of pressure to meet the requirements of the International Maritime Organization.

The Shipping industry is going through a transformation that has not been seen in 100 years by switching from Heavy Fuel powered ships to Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).  Some of the largest container shipping operators have already placed orders for ships powered by LNG.

Impact of Carbon Free shipping on the Environment

It is estimated that the use of LNG will reduce carbon emissions by around 20% however; there is draw back.  Methane is the main ingredient of natural gas.  Some of it will still be released into the atmosphere when natural gas does not burn fully.  LNG manufacturers claim to be able to produce engines that will release less liquefied natural gas.

Some scientists claim that using LNG in ships will emit more greenhouse gases than ships using traditional fuels.

The other problem facing ship operators is that the cost of manufacturing LNG powered ships is higher than traditionally powered ships however; the cost to operate is significantly less heavy fuel powered ships.

Many mega retailers have been looking for a solution to reduce the carbon foot print of shipping their products. They have instructed their Logistics Providers to use LNG powered ships when they become available in about 2 years.

This does not change the fact that many of the products being shipped by those mega retailers are not environmentally friendly and are a major cause of pollution in the world.

International 3PL is committed to reducing the carbon foot print by using Liquefied natural Gas-powered ships. We have a signed agreement with CMA shipping line to start using LNG powered ships once available. We will do our best to help reduce greenhouse emissions.  We will be launching a new plant a tree program to help reduce carbon emissions.

Trees remove CO2 from the atmosphere and produce O2. If each one of us plants a tree every year, we will help save the environment.

Resources:

 Eco Friendly freight Forwarders

International Freight Forwarders

International Shipping Companies

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

Freight cost, sometimes, make up a large portion of the total cost of a product specially when it comes to low value and high weight products.  For example, if you are importing ceramic tile, the freight cost alone could make up over 50% of the price of the product.

How can you save on Freight Cost?

There are several ways you can save on freight depending on the mode of transportation.

1- Ocean Freight: If you are shipping a container, make sure to maximize the load as long as you do not exceed the maximum weight allowed. Also, if you are shipping a container of heavy, low value products, try to add a high value product in the same container and off course negotiate the best rates with the Freight Forwarder

2- Air Freight: Make sure you do not ship half full boxes; you will be paying for air. Consolidate items into a little number of boxes as possible.

Do not Mix dangerous goods with non-Dangerous goods in the same shipment, you will be paying the rate applicable to DG goods which is the highest

3- Inland Transportation

A- If you are shipping a full truck, fill it up to the max weight, Choose the best Inland Transportation Company.

B- For LTL shipments, make sure you use the right NMFC Classification. The higher the classification, the more you pay. Once again, do not ship half full boxes.

4 – Courier Shipping; When shipping Via UPS, FedEx or USPS make sure to use the smallest size box as they charge based on what will net more revenue which is weight or volume. Refer to Dim weight calculation. Shipping a pillow that weighs 5 lbs. will cost you more than a computer that weighs 5 lbs. since the pillow shipping cost will be charged based on dim weight.

If you are an importer, make sure you use the correct harmonized Tariff Code , there is no need to pay  more in duties than you have to, remember to do your research and get the best shipping rates without compromising service

Resources:

International shipping rates

Ocean Freight rates

Request a freight Quote

FDA Approved warehouses are required to handle the storage, Cross Docking and distribution  of all food products and supplements.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates food, beverage, and dietary supplements intended for consumption in the United States by Humans or Animals. FDA Registration is required for all facilities that manufacture, process, pack or store food, beverage and Dietary Supplements

Prior notice is required before food shipments may enter the United States. A Bar code prior notice confirmation number issued by the FDA must accompany most shipments. All foreign companies must have a designated U.S. agent.

As an importer of food products or supplements, you need to have an FDA number. The manufacturer may either apply for an FDA number or assign an U.S. Agent.

Your International Freight Forwarder must be aware of the nature of the product being imported. If it is a food product, they will ask for the FDA number.

FDA Approved Warehouses

If you are importing products such as meat, poultry, vegetables or fruits that will require the approval of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)

Many warehouses in Miami are not aware that they need to get the certification authorizing them to handle the storage and distribution of food products. Even if you are only doing the fulfillment for coffee beans or tea, you still need to have the warehouse approved by the FDA

International 3PL, possesses the necessary certifications from the FDA to store, pack and repack, and distribute food and beverages. This makes us one of the few 3PL Companies that can handle the fulfillment of food products.

We also can help you get all the necessary certifications and permits to import food products.

For a quote, please call us at 305-800-ship or Contact us

resources:

Miami Warehouses

Miami Freight Forwarders

Food Storage facilities in Miami