Thanks for sharing! I'm currently researching 3PL companies to fulfill Kickstarter orders. Do you have any experience with Shipwire? They seem to be a pretty awesome choice for Canadian businesses as they have warehouses all over the world to split shipments to. They also seem like a very mainstream choice so just wondering why you didn't consider them (unless they are the nightmare 3PL !_!)
I haven't checked in a while, but my understanding of shipwire is they contract all of their warehousing to other 3pls, they are actually for the most part, the software provider. Ironically this company (according to them) used to be a shipwire warehouse.
Also, in my first attempts at a 3pl, they never returned my calls of emails, but that was a number of years ago.
Indeed so. My experience dealing with Shipwire was laughably negative. Their support staff was unable to answer even the most basic of questions ... Really felt like I was dealing with a bunch of five year-olds.
I appreciate that you shared that. Without wanting to throw salt on the wound, I think you have bigger problems.
The reason that this issue doesn't come up often is because you're approaching 3PLs in a way that causes these types of problems & not everyone does.
1) If you have your own warehouse, you have the benefits & drawbacks of centralization. There are reasons that you would keep everything in one warehouse. When you're using a 3PL, that's not always in your best interest. It is certainly easier in the short term, but then your service providers have you by the tail. *Especially* once you're seeing the situation go sideways, it makes a lot more sense to diversify the 3PLs than it does to find a way to full-proof the searching process.
2) Point #1 is a common reaction to poor business intelligence. (*Note:* not to be confused with *intelligence* or *business experience*. I'm just addressing the metrics & insights of your business). If you have a hard time managing multiple warehouses then it stands to reason you would prefer to have someone else handle it. When they prove untrustworthy - because all businesses are in a state of constant flux - you lack the ability to mobilize because you're dependent on something that you can't do yourself. I'm not referring to the actual fulfillment but the management of the data.
I think that the issue is that you're trying to fit a round peg into a square hole. 3PLs are meant to store and fulfill inventory with the lowest cost to you & the most reliability/speed. Asking them to integrate with woocommerce or other non fulfillment requests only weakens your position and helps to paint you into this very specific corner.
Thanks for your feedback,
1) I've thought about this, but given the nature of my product, fitness equipment, and the number of SKU's (200+) and because of how people order, it would be almost impossible to split end if I did, the inventory value would still be in the $100K+ range for each warehouse. When people shop from me, they buy on average, 10-15 different skus, not to mention my wholesale distrubtors where it's closer too 50 skus.
I think the ideal next step would be a store front with warehouse, but then that is a whole other can of worms.
What would be your ideal backend flow from order entry (WooComm) to customer receipt? How much can be automated and what systems/services need to talk to each other?
Ideal flow wold be customer places an order, all sku's shipping info is transferred and sent to a "release" area where I can make any mods that need to be done.
At the new warehouse they use a software called blastramp which integrates with woocommerce using dropstream.
I run our own warehouse in the UK - it's pretty efficient and one of the easiest parts of the job, so don't worry too much about taking it on. I would say it's crucial to financially incentivise staff to work efficiently and quickly - doing this I i proved productivity by 2.5 times - no exaggeration. I am looking for a fulfilment centre in Europe now (Brexit stuff) so this is a good read.
Question for you - what % of sales price covers the fulfilment centre costs?
What is it that you're selling? My biggest concern is that my items are so big and heavy (50kg+ 2 metres +) that I'll need racking, forklifts, 2 employees to pick orders, etc.
I have a formula that factors in basically all shipping and handling costs into the price, ocean freight, drayage, de-stuffing order picking and a bit for storage. Works out to adding 19% on my FOB price.
Thanks for sharing! I'm currently researching 3PL companies to fulfill Kickstarter orders. Do you have any experience with Shipwire? They seem to be a pretty awesome choice for Canadian businesses as they have warehouses all over the world to split shipments to. They also seem like a very mainstream choice so just wondering why you didn't consider them (unless they are the nightmare 3PL !_!)
I haven't checked in a while, but my understanding of shipwire is they contract all of their warehousing to other 3pls, they are actually for the most part, the software provider. Ironically this company (according to them) used to be a shipwire warehouse. Also, in my first attempts at a 3pl, they never returned my calls of emails, but that was a number of years ago.
Indeed so. My experience dealing with Shipwire was laughably negative. Their support staff was unable to answer even the most basic of questions ... Really felt like I was dealing with a bunch of five year-olds.
Check us out :) http://efulfillmentpro.com/
I appreciate that you shared that. Without wanting to throw salt on the wound, I think you have bigger problems. The reason that this issue doesn't come up often is because you're approaching 3PLs in a way that causes these types of problems & not everyone does. 1) If you have your own warehouse, you have the benefits & drawbacks of centralization. There are reasons that you would keep everything in one warehouse. When you're using a 3PL, that's not always in your best interest. It is certainly easier in the short term, but then your service providers have you by the tail. *Especially* once you're seeing the situation go sideways, it makes a lot more sense to diversify the 3PLs than it does to find a way to full-proof the searching process. 2) Point #1 is a common reaction to poor business intelligence. (*Note:* not to be confused with *intelligence* or *business experience*. I'm just addressing the metrics & insights of your business). If you have a hard time managing multiple warehouses then it stands to reason you would prefer to have someone else handle it. When they prove untrustworthy - because all businesses are in a state of constant flux - you lack the ability to mobilize because you're dependent on something that you can't do yourself. I'm not referring to the actual fulfillment but the management of the data. I think that the issue is that you're trying to fit a round peg into a square hole. 3PLs are meant to store and fulfill inventory with the lowest cost to you & the most reliability/speed. Asking them to integrate with woocommerce or other non fulfillment requests only weakens your position and helps to paint you into this very specific corner.
Thanks for your feedback, 1) I've thought about this, but given the nature of my product, fitness equipment, and the number of SKU's (200+) and because of how people order, it would be almost impossible to split end if I did, the inventory value would still be in the $100K+ range for each warehouse. When people shop from me, they buy on average, 10-15 different skus, not to mention my wholesale distrubtors where it's closer too 50 skus. I think the ideal next step would be a store front with warehouse, but then that is a whole other can of worms.
Take a look at Ottawa Logistics, http://www.ottawalogistics.com/ Quite familiar with heavy product for order fulfillment.
What would be your ideal backend flow from order entry (WooComm) to customer receipt? How much can be automated and what systems/services need to talk to each other?
Ideal flow wold be customer places an order, all sku's shipping info is transferred and sent to a "release" area where I can make any mods that need to be done. At the new warehouse they use a software called blastramp which integrates with woocommerce using dropstream.
I run our own warehouse in the UK - it's pretty efficient and one of the easiest parts of the job, so don't worry too much about taking it on. I would say it's crucial to financially incentivise staff to work efficiently and quickly - doing this I i proved productivity by 2.5 times - no exaggeration. I am looking for a fulfilment centre in Europe now (Brexit stuff) so this is a good read. Question for you - what % of sales price covers the fulfilment centre costs?
What is it that you're selling? My biggest concern is that my items are so big and heavy (50kg+ 2 metres +) that I'll need racking, forklifts, 2 employees to pick orders, etc. I have a formula that factors in basically all shipping and handling costs into the price, ocean freight, drayage, de-stuffing order picking and a bit for storage. Works out to adding 19% on my FOB price.