TLC Resources
People, Information, and Groups important to TLC and to our clients. Also find useful industry links and event calendars. For older articles and previously shared information, you can visit the resource archives.
April 2010 Updates
Today's Warehouse Plays a New Role
Inbound Logistics had a great article on how warehouses are no longer just for storage. Anything that helps a manufacturer stay highly mechanized and lower labor costs is being sent to the new "warehouse" environment. As a result, the services expected from warehousing providers are expanding. Three services drawing considerable interest are:
- Shared Space Environments
- Secondary Packaging
- Cross-docking
Manufacturers are recognizing that 3PLs are often better positioned and experienced than their own internal operations to adapt to this expanded warehouse role. This is exactly where TLC can help your business. Read the who article here.
Maximizing the Relationship of a 3pl provider and their Customer - Performance-Based OutSourcing
There was a topic of discussion at the ARC Forum earlier this year surrounding why the 3PL and customer relationship fails to reach its maximum value potential. Some of the reasons given were:
- Companies want their logistics service providers to be more proactive and creative, yet they often dictate every detail of how a 3PL should operate.
- Many contracts are “evergreen, eternal” but they include a 30-day escape clause.
- 3PLs and customers approach outsourcing relationships from different perspectives. 3PLs generally want to be viewed as “strategic partners” while many customers, especially their procurement organizations, view 3PLs as “vendors” and this misalignment often creates friction in the relationship.
To get past these issues and increase the value, move to a more performance-based outsourcing (PBO) model. PBO focuses on outcomes instead of transactions, on the WHAT instead of the HOW, and on creating long-term, win-win partnerships. It is a mind shift that may be difficult for some 3PLs and customers to achieve, but for those who embark on the journey and succeed, the rewards are far greater. A couple of articles this forum included for reading were "Performance-Based Outsourcing in Logistics" and "Performance-Based Oursourcing - What's In It for We?"- Both articles are from 2009 from Logistics Viewpoints.
Food and Beverage Safety and Traceability - Get Ahead of the Curve
This article from Supply Chain Brain notes that Food and Beverage companies are now beginning to "build in" compliance and traceability into production processes. In fact, the Aberdeen Group survey of over 230 manufacturers showed that top-performing organizations were over 40 percent more likely to be taking this strategic approach than other organizations. In order to do this, two things must happen:
- First, time must be spent gaining understanding and control of the production processes itself. Compliance and traceability cannot be tested into a production process; it must be assured through continuous monitoring of the process itself.
- Second, it comes down to the ability to recreate what happened to a product through the manufacturing process – from the initial raw material to final product.
Moving forward, food and beverage manufacturers must automate product traceability across the supply chain. In the future, every manufacturer must have complete supply, manufacturing, and delivery data for every product at their finger tips and in real time. Incomplete, inaccurate or untimely data will no longer be acceptable. Total Logistic Control can help your organization move in this direction.
Third Party Logistics: Warehousing Adds Value...and Complexity
Simply handling storage and order fulfillment more efficiently than their clients could do in-house is not enough. In difficult economic times, 3PLs are being called upon–and are uniquely situated–to take on additional tasks such as kitting, light assembly, and custom labeling, that will ease the burden on their clients' operations. This article from Supply Chain Brain talks about what 3PLs have to do in order to meet demands from customers to provide value-added services. It references an Aberdeen Group study for data.