If your company is planning to grow and export to foreign markets, a 3PL partner becomes essential for carrying out the logistics processes inherent to distributing your products abroad.
Having a product that stands out in the market because of its quality amounts to nothing if you don’t have the knowledge of customs procedures and exports practices necessary to deliver it to your clients on time and in good conditions.
The solution for small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) is to hire the exports services of a 3PL supplier, which in fact will become a partner contributing the know-how, facilities, units, and systems SMEs need for their new commercial ventures.
3PL and exports
The quest to bring your products to international markets brings great advantages for your company:
- Boost the company’s growth through sales increase.
- Gain recognition and prestige in foreign markets.
- Improve the finances of the company by creating more income.
Having a 3PL partner ensures you will be able to address the processes of the exports chain from all angles: land, sea, and air, meeting the legal, customs, and tax requirements, and even offer your product’s in-house service abroad.
Therefore, choosing the right partner becomes a major strategic decision because it will assume the risks and the unbudgeted operational costs, and will be responsible for maximizing the benefits so you can fulfill your expansion plans.
Outsourcing and productivity
To really benefit from this, it is important that the partnership you negotiate with your 3PL supplier helps you with the distribution and transport of your products from your warehouse to their destination using the 3PL’s infrastructure and resources such as vehicles, warehouses, and automated management systems.
This will not only save you money by not having to invest in building a supply chain that serves the new market; it will also save you time and human resources so you can focus on boosting the productivity of your core business.
Efficiency and competitiveness
In current markets, the factor that raises the competitiveness of a company the most is the excellence of its customer service; a logistics company contributes the efficiency in distribution that makes this excellence possible.
Efficient logistics processes allow SMEs to shorten their delivery times, take advantage of economies of scale, and satisfy the needs of their end clients.
These are some of the activities carried out by 3PL suppliers to bring you these benefits:
- Managing, packaging, and keeping control of your products’ inventories in storage facilities located in the new markets.
- Transporting and distributing your shipments according to cargo type and specific storage, transport, temperature, weight, dimensions, and hazardousness conditions, among other variables; looking to ensure the delivery of goods on time and in good conditions.
- Real-time tracking and information systems to supervise the transport of your products from the moment they leave your plant to the moment they arrive to their destinations, including all the transfers within the facilities.
- Technology that allows the gathering and analysis of information to report the process’ performance; for example, purchase orders or packing lists that help you detect any inefficiencies you need to set straight.
- Advice on legal affairs, commercial regulations, import restrictions and conditions from the target country, and management of everything pertaining customs procedures and permits so you can overcome any issue arising from culture clashes, from the difference in languages, and in ways of living.
- Last-mile services for delivering your products to end clients or stores, offering a similar service to that of your post-sales department, managing goods return, technical assistance, and maintenance that help your company gain the trust and loyalty of your foreign clients.
Choosing a partner for your exports’ effort is especially beneficial for small and medium-sized companies that lack the financial and human resources to manage their own supply chain but are yearning to grow in foreign markets.
In addition, hiring this service gives you an excellent opportunity to monitor your whole exports process and avoid being directly involved in the task.
When you pick your 3PL partner, focus on its experience, skills, capacity, and on its standing in the industry. You should also check what type of businesses hire its international logistics services and the results they’ve achieved in the markets where they are present.
