Logistic Service Providers - The Lifeline of the Market!

Posted by Dedicated Freight Handlers Inc. on December 18th, 2019

The point of procurement to production to end use by the intended customer is a long and complex process that requires a lot of management and coordination amongst various parties involved.

How does one do so?

It is impossible for any company that operates on a large scale to manage its operations from end to end on their own. The complexity of the processes involved and the diversity in fields of work make managing everything smoothly very difficult.

This is why most companies rely on 3rd party logistics services to help them manage various aspects of their supply chain.

Who are third parties?

Third parties are logistics services providers who help the company manage various aspects of their business in parts or as a whole. For e.g.: a company can outsource its warehousing, distribution, transportation, packing, goods forwarding and logistics management to either one single service provider or various processes to multiple providers.

Who are 4th parties?

4th party logistics services providers differ vastly from third party logistics services providers in the following manners:

• Fourth parties always have a long-term relation to the client company owing to a joint venture or a long-term contract between them. This also makes them a separate entity in themselves.
• They take over all aspects of the clients supply chain.
• This means that the fourth parties become the face of the client when it comes to dealing with various third parties to undertake and complete the jobs assigned to them.

What services are covered when it comes to managing a warehouse?

Managing a warehouse is not an easy task. It requires highly skilled people or Freight Handlers at the helm to ensure that all the goods are stored in perfect conditions and are also thereafter transferred safely to the end shops. Warehouse Management includes:

• Loading and unloading of goods
• Transferring and storing goods in within the warehouse
• Maintaining stock and inventory and Freight Lumping Services
• Loading goods for final dispatch to the intended supplier

Apart from the people at the helm, even the workers employed to run the day to day handling of the goods should be skilled at what they do. For e.g. if the forklift operators at the warehouse are not proficient at maneuvering and working with the forklift, goods worth a lot of money can get destroyed due to poor transportation and placing in the warehouse itself.

What is cross docking?

Cross dock support is the process of receiving the inbound goods and immediately loading them on to outbound vehicles on the other side of the dock. This means, any trailer, truck or railroad cars bringing in the goods from the factory are unloaded on forklifts, conveyor belts or other equipments and the goods are directly transferred to outbound delivery vehicles. In essence there is no middle warehouse where the goods need to be stored before final dispatch. The goods are transferred across the dock immediately after unloading.

Companies like Dedicated Freight Handlers ace in providing you the logistical help needed when managing warehouse handling and its operations.