3PL Supply Chain

The 3PL Supply Chain is at the core of business for all third party logistics companies. It is an overarching connection of the individual 3pl services offered by logistics providers, and its efficiency is the ultimate litmus test of their business capabilities.

The purpose of a supply chain is to manage all the individual steps required for successful order fulfilment. In its complete form, a supply chain encompasses all stages of goods manufacturing—including steps such as raw material procurement—all the way to shipment and delivery. 

The 3PL Supply Chain is a much more condensed process. It commences with the outsourced procurement of (pre-delivered) goods from storage in 3pl warehousing, followed by the packaging and tracked distribution and delivery of the customer order. 

All reputable 3pl companies constantly work to optimise their 3pl Supply Chain solution and make it unique. By focusing on improving service efficiencies, resources and facilities, and minimising 3pl costs, 3pl providers are ensuring they remain competitive in the eCommerce 3pl industry. 

A 3PL Supply Chain is the outsourced management by a third party logistics provider of the core order fulfilment steps required to deliver a product from business to customer.

For eCommerce 3pl, the basic steps include:

1. Procurement of goods from 3^rd party warehouse storage as per the customer order.
2. Packaging the order.
3. Coordinating shipment and delivery, including tracking information.
4. Updating the goods inventory to reflect new stock levels.
5. Where relevant, sharing data with the partner business regarding information unique to them, such as product demand, procurement cost per item, delivery time and carrier flexibility. 

Using a 3PL Supply Chain gives eCommerce business owners the opportunity to redirect the significant personal time and labour previously spent on order fulfilment and manual inventory checks, and instead focus on more important tasks such as business growth strategies and product development.  

Invenco are specialists at 3pl logistics in Australia. We’re committed to providing the highest quality customer service. By developing strong, genuine relationships with our suppliers and customers, we’re able to secure the most competitive 3pl cost rates and provide you with the most cost-effective and efficient supply chain solution. 

There are many benefits to using a 3PL supply chain. 

For the eCommerce business seeking a 3pl fulfilment service, it provides security and the tools for strategic business development in the form of:

• Real-time inventory management – including the receipt and safe storage of goods and access to live updates of warehouse stock data, supporting product manufacturing and financial forecasting.
• Order procurement and packaging – ensuring all customers receive their goods safely and exactly as ordered. 
• Shipping – nationwide fixed-price shipping across all orders, with real-time tracking information provided to customers and delivery via numerous 3pl freight companies to achieve short, accurate delivery times.
• Reverse logistics – managing returned or damaged goods, in addition to maximising the lifecycle of eco-friendly packaging for economic and environmental impact. 

3PL Supply Chains provide a seamless end-to-end order fulfilment process for the benefit of both business and customer. This means that once your customers have placed their orders online, your third party logistics provider is in charge of fulfilment. This is different from 4pl operations, wherein individual contractors are engaged across multiple sites throughout the order fulfilment process.  

Choosing to outsource your inventory, order fulfilment and distributor operations to a 3pl provider like Invenco is the ultimate investment in your online business. By utilising our 3PL Supply Chain, the significant personal stress and cost involved in manually checking inventory, completing the order fulfilment process, and negotiating shipping daily will disappear. In doing so, you’ll immediately gain back time so you can concentrate on growing your business.  

Our cost-effective 3pl solutions provide the perfect framework with which you can scale your business. From automated reporting to ensuring your chosen online eCommerce platform will integrate smoothly with our software, you’ll have a host of user-friendly tools at your fingertips. 

These can be accessed 24/7 via our efficient online customer portal.  It is specially designed to help you easily analyse every aspect of your business from inventory, income, and freight expenditure, right down to warehouse storage and logistics cost per product. This information can directly inform your business strategy and allows you to easily assess and adapt our 3pl services to meet your specific business needs. 

Invenco also offers a comprehensive range of 3pl business resources to assist you in understanding how our 3pl services can help optimise your online business. You can find these resources on our website, along with our handy online quote form. If you have any pressing 3pl questions, you can ask one of our customer representatives through the pop-up chat window.

With real-time inventory management, order picking and packing using eco-friendly packaging, fixed-price nationwide shipping, and individual customer order tracking, the sky is the limit for what your online business can achieve through our 3PL Supply Chain. 

We’d love to connect with you and help your online business take flight!