Businesses that sell physical products to customers require some form of warehouse logistics to store, inventory, and ship their products. The cost in manpower and money to maintain warehouse logistics can be a severe drain on a business. Fortunately, external warehouse companies can take over warehouse operations for their business clients, providing a variety of advantages that may give the business a significant advantage over their competitors.
Warehouse Companies Excel at Managing Inventories
When a business’s inventory is poorly managed or not managed at all, the cost in terms of wasted labor or lost sales adds up swiftly. Also, mismanaged inventory causes problems such as theft, damage, and understocks undetected until they become major problems. A warehouse company can organize, track, and resupply companies’ inventory, reporting trends to the business and warning them of potential issues. And many warehouse companies can store a business’s inventory in their own warehouses as opposed to the business’s facilities, freeing up space that the business can reallocate.
Warehouse Companies Clear Up Bandwidth for Their Clients
The time and money that a business spends managing its inventory is time that is not allocated to other important tasks, such as marketing, sales, and customer satisfaction. Hiring an external warehouse company allows the business to focus their resources and manpower on other business-critical tasks.
Warehouse Companies Save Businesses Money
Warehouse companies can manage inventory, shipping, and related activities at a lower cost and a higher rate of efficiency than most of their business clients. By paying less to have a warehouse company manage their inventory than to manage the inventory themselves, a business can apply the savings to other business-critical expenses.
Warehouse Companies Handle the Logistics of Shipping
After a business makes a sale, the business is responsible for sending the product to their customer safely and in a timely manner. Warehouse companies handle the shipping and transport of goods for the business, leaving one less source of potential problems for the business. Most warehouse companies will provide complete coverage and transparency from the moment that the order is placed to the final delivery.
Warehouse Companies Are More Flexible with Regards to Scaling
Businesses that manage their own warehouse logistics will have to make significant changes as the business grows, adapts, or makes significant changes to their products. Necessary changes may include buying new facilities, renovating existing facilities, and hiring additional employees. Warehouse companies are experienced with managing their facilities to respond to – and to anticipate – periods of high activity and down-cycles.
Businesses that outsource their warehouse operations can save themselves time, money, and reputation (via reduced shipping-related incidents). Warehouse companies are specifically configured to handle their clients’ inventory and shipping needs. Businesses should get quotes from warehouse companies prior to investing in their own warehouse infrastructure.