Happy Small Business Week from King Solutions! For your small or mid-sized business (SMB), even small mistakes can leave a big impact on your bottom line. Conversely, the simplest of changes to a single process can transform your business for the better. Solving the logistics and fulfillment issues listed below can drastically increase your business’ performance.  

King Solutions is a proud supporter of KARE 11’s Behind the Business, a strong initiative celebrating the small business community of Minnesota.  Learn more.

Warehousing and fulfillment
Two things many SMBs lack are space and resources (particularly manpower) both of which are mandatory to running a successful warehouse and fulfillment operation. That’s why it’s important to find the right shipping partner, a third-party logistics company (3PL) who can adequately handle your warehousing needs and implement a fast and accurate pick, pack and shipping program. A 3PL can also help determine the right packaging for items to decrease damages and costs, all while ensuring your shipments are sent out on time. 

Obtaining carriers and freight costs
So, you’ve found a warehouse to store inventory and a fulfillment program that helps you best service your customers. Now you’re faced with finding carriers to haul your freight. More specifically, you need carriers who are both reliable and affordable — another excellent reason for choosing the right 3PL partner. Not only can 3PLs help connect SMBs like yours with a fleet of trusted carriers to haul your freight to any location in the country, they can also assist with freight forwarding for international shipments. But perhaps most importantly, they can help you optimize shipping costs by negotiating rates with carriers and choosing the best shipping methods. Full truckloads aren’t necessarily always the best option. Oftentimes, SMBs can see cost savings and reduced shipping times by utilizing LTL and PTL shipping solutions.

Tracking and visibility of shipments
Once your shipment is on the road, how can you track it? It requires an understanding and ownership of the right type of technology (RFID tracking is often used at the pallet level). The challenge is that many SMBs lack access to this type of technology. More importantly, they’re not familiar with how to use the data to increase efficiency within their business. Finding the right 3PL partner gives you access and insights to the IT infrastructure 3PLs use to track shipments, provide visibility to clients and find better ways to better serve them. 

Big ideas for your small or mid-sized business
3PL companies exist to simplify and enhance your business’ logistics capabilities. If you’re looking for help with warehousing, shipping, fulfillment or any number of other logistics processes, contact King Solutions. We’re excited to learn about your business and start talking solutions.