Typically, a 4pl (4th Party Logistics) relationship has your customer wanting to open a distribution center in a city where you as the 3rd party logistics provider do not have a facility and you as their relationship manager want to control the communication. If you pick the right partner a 4pl can be a new source of revenue for your company with very little labor, time and resources invested; picking the wrong one can ultimately, damage a relationship with your client. These relationships can be tricky for a number of reasons and hopefully this will help in recognizing what to ask and how to manage this partnership.

On Friday September 17th, a delegation from the Japanese Warehousing Association visited McKenna Logistics Centres warehouse in Delta, British Columbia. Twenty three delegates from across Japan toured the McKenna facility and listened intently as we shared ideas on how we conduct business in Canada and how the owners / operators from Japan handle their facilities.

How many times have you received a quote for a service and you believed that it was too high? You diligently did your homework and gathered some quotes from other providers to ensure that the service quoted is competitive and a reflection of what the current marketplace will offer. Once you compare the quotes-the question often becomes: Which competitor is going to provide me with top of the line service and at a fair price? 3PL providers and prospects do not operate any differently-in fact, as a salesperson, I get to listen to the prospect ask all the time-well your quote, at times , is higher or lower than the rest. I always respond by walking the client through the service quoted and the value that our 3PL will provide for the rate that has been quoted. It is my job to convince the prospect that the rate quoted is a reflection of our service levels and our ability to get the job done right the first time.

We've all been there, you've moved to a new city and your not sure where the safe places are, what area has the best schools, where the best shopping is, etc.. When it comes to looking for warehouses in Toronto, I'm sure you have similar questions. The first thing that you need to understand is what your options are when it comes to storing the product that you need to service the largest market in Canada.

You've been thinking about moving your existing company to a third party logistics company but you can't decide if you should make the move or not. Rather than spend your valuable time and energy focusing on the back side of the warehouse, you're thinking that you'd much rather dedicate your limited resources to the sales and marketing that you enjoy and that brings in a much better return for the time you invest into it. So now comes the question... what's the right time to make the move from your warehouse to your new 3PL and when should you do it?!?

Update - The Port of Montreal, shut down since Monday July 19th, 2010 by an employer lockout of longshoremen, reopened for work at 8 a.m. Saturday the 24th following a compromise agreement reached Thursday evening.