a 3pl is only as good as their data
If you can’t see what’s happening inside your logistics partner, you may not even have one.
“If you can’t express what you know in numbers,
you don’t know much about it;
if you don’t know much about it; you can’t control it;
if you can’t control it, you’re at the mercy of chance.”
Dr. Mikel Harry
Logisticians Vs. Shippers
A telltale sign of amateur fulfillment is data poverty or data opacity.
When a 3PL cannot account for what it’s doing, what is has done and what it is going to do, then they are likely not logisticians. They are just “people inside a box” working to throw orders out as fast as they can. They live out a real world version of a classic “Tower Defense” game.
The job starts to become survive the onslaught of orders, deliveries, phone calls, email tickets, etc., to make it to tomorrow. Then the crew returns the next day and repeats the same level.
In such companies, their lack of insight is not for lack of desire. Most work very hard and try to do a good job. But they’re stuck. They lack the systems necessary to begin building and sharing the bigger logistics picture. And they lack the capital to implement such systems even when they want them. Even when the systems are available, they often lack the very thinking they need to implement better technologies.
Real Logistics
A wise person, after mulling our information-overloaded modern society, once mused:
Where is the information, in all of the noise?
Where is the wisdom, in all of the information?
In real logistics, data is everywhere. A world class WMS vectorizes every single transaction performed. Ensuring the data is true is much of the actual work of real logisticians. This necessitates operators who properly act and record their actions.
The film The Matrix provides a useful analogy.
As Neo found a deep truth within the complex code of the Matrix, modern logisticians must penetrate the surface reality of their operations to grasp the truth underlying their work. To the uninitiated, this truth might seem counterintuitive. Isn't the physical reality - the hustle and bustle on the warehouse floor, the neatly stacked boxes waiting for dispatch, the visible stream of packages - isn't that the true face of e-commerce fulfillment?
In a word, no. Or rather, it's only part of the truth.
The real "truth" of e-commerce fulfillment lies in the numbers. Most notably the numbers generated by a properly operated Warehouse Management System (WMS). To grasp this truth, one must learn to see as Neo saw - to read the 1s and 0s, the data, the numbers that truly reflect the state of your operations. After all, these numbers inform vital financial records like the clients’ inventory value on their balance sheets, not the physical appearance of the warehouse floor.
As a 3PL provider, your clients live and die by these numbers. They need to trust that the data you provide is an accurate representation of their inventory, orders, and logistics operations. If the physical reality doesn't match the numbers, it's not the numbers that are wrong - it's the physical reality and ultimately the people responsible for those numbers who are in error. A divergence reveals discrepancies, inefficiencies, and inaccuracies in your operations. It's nothing short of an "untruth."
Therefore, the key to excellent 3PL provision isn't just efficient physical management of goods but precise, consistent data management. It's about ensuring that your operations accurately reflect the data, and vice versa. The better your grasp on this reality, the better your service provision, and the more trust your clients can place in you.
To the Neo-logisticians out there, who understand and embrace this truth, we salute you. You're the ones who see beyond the surface, who dive deep into the matrix of numbers, and come out with actionable insights, accurate data, and outstanding service. To those who are still seeing the world as a physical floor, we invite you to take the red pill. There's a deeper truth to discover, and it starts by actually learning to see with your WMS and through it and to ensure you team continuously ensures the truth is maintained.
So, remember, in e-commerce fulfillment, 'truth' isn't necessarily what your eyes show you, but what the numbers tell you. To see the truth - the real truth - you need to learn to see the world in data-first.