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Services Offered:
Warehousing, Fulfillment, Pick and Pack, 3PL Services
Year Established:
2017
Number of Reviews:
7
Headquartered in Austria, this family-owned company boasts a rich history dating back over 500 years, originating from deliveries across the Alps. With... Read
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Headquartered in Austria, this family-owned company boasts a rich history dating back over 500 years, originating from deliveries across the Alps. With a workforce of approximately 8,400 employees spread across 180 company-owned locations worldwide, it offers comprehensive logistics solutions ranging from transportation and warehousing to digital services and supply chain management. Known for its modern systems and digital competence, the company prides itself on its ability to swiftly adapt to customer needs. Emphasizing sustainability, the company actively engages in ecological, economic, and social initiatives, aiming for climate neutrality across all its locations by 2030.
Services Offered:
Warehousing, Fulfillment, Pick and Pack, 3PL Services
Deals Closed:
3
Number of Reviews:
3
With over 25 years of experience in the logistics industry, this company offers a suite of services designed to streamline supply chains.... Read
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With over 25 years of experience in the logistics industry, this company offers a suite of services designed to streamline supply chains. They emphasize service quality and long-term partnerships, building strong relationships with both employees and customers.
Their vision is to become a global leader in innovative and sustainable logistics solutions, using technology and a culture of continuous improvement. They aim to empower businesses in a dynamic global economy by delivering excellence, sustainability, and customer satisfaction. Their history of achievements and certifications, including FDA approval, FMCSA certification, and membership in the World Cargo Alliance, makes them a trusted partner for businesses of all sizes navigating the complexities of logistics.
This 3PL provider has over two decades of experience in delivering efficient logistics solutions to businesses and sellers nationwide, offering services like... Read
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This 3PL provider has over two decades of experience in delivering efficient logistics solutions to businesses and sellers nationwide, offering services like warehousing, transportation management, and e-commerce fulfillment. They help businesses scale by managing logistics efficiently, allowing clients to focus on growth. With nationwide locations, they ensure quick distribution across the US, benefiting businesses seeking streamlined supply chain solutions.
With over 100 years of combined experience, this logistics provider excels in tailored 3PL solutions, leveraging state-of-the-art warehousing facilities and timely transport... Read
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With over 100 years of combined experience, this logistics provider excels in tailored 3PL solutions, leveraging state-of-the-art warehousing facilities and timely transport services. They offer a range of services, including warehouse and distribution, transportation, fulfillment, industrial services, and secure storage. With a network of over 20 warehouse locations and 500+ tractors and trailers, they are equipped to handle logistics needs on a global scale. Their commitment to customer satisfaction, security, and industry-leading software makes them a trusted partner for businesses of all sizes.
Founded in 2008, this provider operates a 300,000 sq ft warehouse in Baie D’Urfé, Quebec, with additional hubs in Montréal, Toronto, Chicago, Boston, and Champlain. One of their standout offerings is their Vault Containers, which allow for secure storage and convenient delivery and pick-up. However, there have been negative reviews citing organizational issues and problems with their tracking system and employee relations, multiple clients also said they have yet to receive their items. These highlight a need for improvement as they continue to grow.
This logistics provider is transforming the way logistics is perceived by offering comprehensive distribution chain management solutions that optimize operations across all... Read
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This logistics provider is transforming the way logistics is perceived by offering comprehensive distribution chain management solutions that optimize operations across all modes of transportation. From LTL to truckload, international freight, parcel services, and specialty deliveries, their approach focuses on continuous improvement and complete visibility. Utilizing advanced technology like eShipManager® TMS and a dedicated optimization team, the company streamlines processes, optimizes carrier programs, and identifies opportunities for efficiency gains.
With locations in various cities across the United States, this warehousing and fulfillment company offers state-of-the-art services tailored to clients' needs. Unlike many competitors, they display their pricing on the website for transparency. Although they have fewer online reviews with a lower overall rating than desired, employee feedback is positive. Their commitment to transparency is evident in their financial and recovery services, providing comprehensive audit and payment solutions for distribution chain spending. This provider is a great option for small businesses seeking high-value services and long-term success in their shipping endeavors.
Services Offered:
Warehousing, Fulfillment, Pick and Pack, 3PL Services
Year Established:
1997
Deals Closed:
3
Number of Reviews:
5
The company has undergone rapid evolution and emerged as a prominent leader in global order fulfillment across various industries. Their expertise spans... Read
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The company has undergone rapid evolution and emerged as a prominent leader in global order fulfillment across various industries. Their expertise spans fashion, footwear, accessories, cosmetics, home goods, medical devices, and supplements. They prioritize continuous improvement, regularly updating systems, processes, and technologies to align with industry changes, evolving consumer preferences, and technological advancements.
Services Offered:
Warehousing, Fulfillment, Pick and Pack, 3PL Services
Year Established:
2018
Deals Closed:
16
This full-service third-party logistics (3PL) company offers comprehensive solutions including contract warehousing, inventory storage, distribution, drayage, transloading, crossdocking, freight management, and e-commerce... Read
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This full-service third-party logistics (3PL) company offers comprehensive solutions including contract warehousing, inventory storage, distribution, drayage, transloading, crossdocking, freight management, and e-commerce order fulfillment. With operations in Illinois, Texas, and Tennessee, they provide extensive coverage and support for diverse supply chain needs.
Specializing in simplifying the complex processes of supply chain management, the team ensures clients can focus on growing and scaling their businesses.
This company offers effective end-to-end supply chain strategies for a variety of industries. Using a unique blend of lean processes, advanced IT... Read
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This company offers effective end-to-end supply chain strategies for a variety of industries. Using a unique blend of lean processes, advanced IT systems, and top-quality methods, they provide customized logistics solutions to complex supply chains worldwide. Their mission is to enhance clients' competitiveness with innovative, lean supply chain management, focusing on trust, professionalism, and cutting-edge technology.
Providing forward-looking contract logistics, IT solutions, 4PL, and consulting services, the company supports major OEM assembly operations and tier-one facilities. Their advanced technology and services allow clients to focus on core competencies, removing waste and increasing productivity.
If you’ve interacted with a fulfillment company for price quotes in the past, you might have experienced some of the key things that they look for when signing up new business – order volume metrics, certain types of products, etc. But one other little known characteristic that fulfillment companies look at in order to determine if they’ll be able to help is your overall SKU count. Many fulfillment companies prefer low SKU counts and high volumes since it’s easy to process and the volumes create profit. But what about companies that have large SKU counts and not necessarily high volume of orders? Are their fulfillment companies out there that can help? In this article, we’ll discuss high SKU count customers, what to look for in a fulfillment company and tips for selecting the best firm.
What is a SKU?
For those of you that don’t know exactly what a SKU is, we thought it would help to start out with a simple explanation. By definition, a SKU (or a stock keeping unit), is a product identification that allows the product to be tracked uniquely in inventory. Usually, companies provide a unique SKU number for each product in inventory. As an example, a company that produces t-shirts might have a SKU of “Fantastic Men’s Shirt-M-BL” for its men’s, medium, black ‘fantastic” t-shirt. They would simply update the code for different sizes and gender varieties. By tracking each unique SKU separately, the company can ensure adequate controls over inventory tracking and order fulfillment processes, thereby minimizing errors.
Why Do Fulfillment Centers Sometimes Focus on Small SKU Customers?
In some cases, fulfillment centers focus on trying to obtain new customers that don’t have large SKU counts in their inventory. There are a couple of reasons they prefer smaller SKU count clients. First, it takes less time to set up a new customer in their warehouse when the new client only has a few SKUs – from adding the items to inventory in their warehouse management software program to setting up spaces in their racking systems. Second, the fewer the SKUs, the lower the chance of ‘mis-picking’ orders. If there are a large number of SKUs, especially when the SKUs are similar in size and appearance, there is a much greater opportunity to pull an item incorrectly when picking an order. As an example, our Fantastic Men’s Medium Black t-shirt can easily be mistaken for a Fantastic Men’s Large Black t-shirt. Third, it takes a lot less time to receive product when it hits the dock and is comprised of only a few SKUs. Fourth, it takes a lot more space in the warehouse to organize all of the products if there are a great number of SKUs. Most fulfillment centers operate in a way that segregates “bulk” storage from “pick” space. The “pick” space is organized in such a way to easily pick and package orders, oftentimes organized using bins or shelving. The more SKUs, the more “pick” area needed.
What is Considered High SKU Count and What are Some Examples?
Fulfillment companies that shy away from high SKU count customers generally start getting a little more uncomfortable once the SKU count approaches 50-100 SKUs or more. Of course, there are many companies that have hundreds, thousands, and even more SKUs in inventory. It’s quite common to see high SKU counts. In fact, any product business could potentially have quite a large SKU count in inventory, depending upon how many products they’ve decided to sell. Some examples include apparel businesses, some vitamin and supplements companies, certain food products merchants, automotive business, many consumer products companies, pet and toy products producers – it could literally be any type of business!
Are There Companies that Work with High SKU Count Customers?
Thankfully, there are a lot of fulfillment companies that can help if you have a lot of SKUs. Some companies are able to help both small and large SKU clients, whereas some fulfillment centers have focused almost exclusively on higher SKU count and more complicated customers – almost making this a core capability and specialization of their business. For example, there has been a need in the industry to help companies that don’t adhere to the “norms”. Some industrious fulfillment centers have carved out a niche in helping companies with large SKU counts, not necessarily high order volume (though they can certainly help with this as well), complex moving parts, custom kitting and assembly services, and other ancillary services that many fulfillment providers fail to offer. By performing in-depth research, you can find companies that specialize in the type of fulfillment you need for your specific project.
What Makes a Fulfillment Company Good at This Type of Scenario?
There are a number of factors that ensure a fulfillment center operates at a high level with very complex accounts. First, they tend to be better communicators. They require a lot more info from the client in most cases, so they’ve learned to master the art of communication. Second, they almost certainly have to employ some sort of technology in order to manage such a large and complex set of products. At the very least, you will typically see bar coding used in all cases, though there may be even more technology systems to help with storing, picking, and shipping items. Third, the best companies have usually been doing it for quite some time so they are extremely experienced at operating with these types of accounts. Fourth, they’ve mastered the art of properly locating product in bins and shelving systems within their warehouse so that they can quick search for product, pull orders, and cycle or full inventory count products. Fifth, fulfillment companies that specialize in this area usually have a very diverse layout structure to their warehouse and don’t necessarily conform to a very rigid pallet system. This gives them the flexibility to bin located large and small items alike. Sixth, these providers take plenty of time to onboard new clients, knowing that getting all information up front will ensure success – and it takes a great deal of time to set up an account properly. Seventh, they will usually implement some sort of numerical bin ordering system and they will use bar code scanning to pick rather than relying upon visual picking. Finally, they usually spend a great deal of time receiving product and have strict controls over the receiving process.
Tips for Selecting the Best Fulfillment Company When You Have a High SKU Count
If you find yourself in the market for a fulfillment company that can help you with your high SKU business, then there are a couple of things that you should do in your search:
Ask the provider how long they’ve been doing high SKU count fulfillment. This will give you an idea of their experience level.
Ask for references of high SKU count customers. There’s no better way of finding out how well they perform than to ask their current clients.
Tour their warehouse to see the bin systems and bar code picking in action. Also, pay close attention to process, procedures and any technology they use to eliminate errors.
Be wary of choosing the lowest cost solution. Remember, it takes a lot of time to do fulfillment right when there are more SKUs – from receiving to onboarding to fulfillment and picking, so it costs more to operate at a high level. Choosing the lowest cost provider could put you in jeopardy of errors.
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Location:
Elgin, Illinois, USA 
Location:
Elgin, Illinois, USA 
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