Why OMS is Mission Critical in 3rd Party Logistics (3PL) - An OMS Conversation Starter; Part 1 of 3

For the purposes of this paper, the term “3rd Party Logistics Services Provider(s)” or “3PL(s)” is intended to cover all, though not limited to, these companies:

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• Third Party Logistics (3PL)
• 4PL and 5PL
• Supply Chain Services
• Commerce Fulfillment Organizations
• Internet Marketplaces
• Logistics Service Providers
• Supply Chain Intensive Industry Organizations
• Distribution Heavy Industry Organizations
• Multi-Enterprise Industry Organizations

Executive Introduction

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If my 13+ year career at United Parcel Service (UPS) taught me anything, it was that there are few industries more complex and demanding than Third Party Logistics.?This practitioner experience led me to diverse opportunities in Supply Chain & Logistics software over the next twenty (20) years that are second to none and ultimately led me to K?rber Supply Chain Solutions.?Yea, I’m that old.

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Through years of proven success with customers, K?rber Supply Chain Solutions can claim one of the most robust and flexible Order Management Systems (OMS) platforms for world-class 3rd Party Logistics Providers (3PLs) of all sizes.

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Redshift Enterprise Consulting Solutions LLC, a K?rber OMS partner, has delivered a multitude of OMS projects.?We asked their President, Ram Yeleti, to describe both the path toward and shift being made by 3PLs toward transformational OMS:

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"Traditionally, 3PLs invested in the execution systems such as WMS and TMS to gain efficiencies. With the increasing complexity of multiple sales channels including marketplaces, an Order Management System is essential for 3PLs to be competitive."

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-????Ram Yeleti, President, Redshift Enterprise Consulting Solutions LLC

With the K?rber’s OMS, a 3PL can manage a multi-enterprise environment that incorporates best practices across multiple industries through shared services while still maintaining their clients’ individual and competitive uniqueness and competitive advantage.

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Behind the scenes at many 3PLs is a complex and rigid infrastructure of “one-offs”, manual interventions, repetitive and one-time integrations.?There exists difficulty in sharing learned practices and the ability to offer “turn on a dime” systemic pivots to incorporate real-time business process change, configuration and flexibility.

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Additionally, an excessive amount of tribal knowledge resides in the brains of senior logisticians.?Typically, this tribal knowledge, often referred to as "heuristics", is not transferred into systemic capabilities as it takes to long and or is too complex to configure.?Many of these "heuristics" should be captured and labeled as “Best Practices” so that they may be reused / applied across industries and customers.?This way a best practice in one industry may be applied to a single customer in another.?Why??Because the customer wants it that way.

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To provide limitless options and unprecedented flexibility, 3PLs require a transformational platform that embraces their complex environment and challenges the acumen, experience, scale, guidance and risk associated with new client on-boarding, strategy and execution.

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…only OMS can deliver on this promise of transformation, from customer acquisition into rapid time to production and value, profitable new business opportunities and unparalleled levels of execution excellence.

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Organizations with diverse clientele across different industries with multiple brands and strong revenue and growth goals have more challenges than any single industry / brand organization.

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3PLs serving these clients have the added challenge of rapid response to “change requests” and the requirement to provide service levels that act as switching barriers to maintain their existing customer base. Achieving the types of goals and metrics (e.g., On Time, In Full (OTIF)) defined in a Service Level Agreement (SLA) requires transformation / adoption / adaptation and coordination of effort along with consensus of strategy and vision far beyond how things are done within single-threaded entities.

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3PLs need to be able to offer their clients the unparalleled flexibility that their clients are offering their customers. The changing and fickle mind of the consumer demands a rapid response engine.?In the simplest terms:

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Customer Experience & Demand becomes the Brand’s Marching Orders and in turn becomes a 3PL’s Charter.

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These challenges, or should I say opportunities, have increased over the past several years as even a small, local business can become a global seller and / or supplier. Small and mid-market businesses (SMBs), as well as very large multi-national (VLM(s)) companies that have neither the subject matter expertise, nor the access to resources to provide logistics services are looking for logistics and supply chain professionals to provide the guidance and expertise required to operate in the “new normal, omnichannel” global economy.

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The right technology also allows 3PLs to acquire clients at both high profile VLMs and SMB organizations in a manner that makes both highly profitable targets.

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So how does this transformational journey create the promise of “Commerce Nirvana” from such a complex and diverse environment as the world of the logistics and supply chain service industry providers? Good Question. Are there any 3PLs that have adopted this strategy? Yes, several. How? Let me tell you…

Ominchannel, Global, Unified Commerce Nirvana

Our commitment to providing the 3PL industry with the platform and toolkit for what you require, when you require it, is only one aspect of our strategy. Our many years of experience with 3PLs allows us to anticipate your needs and provide a perspective ahead of trending markets that is second to none. Our pedigree for making vision a reality by delivering transformation to our clients, and our clients' clients, is well documented.

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When choosing a software partner, you need to choose the one that matches the stated Charter of your organization as well as the universal challenges of the 3PL industry, not simply one that views your business like any other or your strategic initiative as a transaction. A partner that constantly delivers value and mind-share…we maintain a high standard of ownership in our clients’ success.

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The same goes for the consumer of logistics services...consumers want to choose a partner that offers a wide variety of relevant services from which they can choose capabilities for which they do not have a core competency. The ability for the 3PL to quickly onboard clients based on a selection of services (much like a “a la carte” restaurant menu (see images above & below)) reduces time to value and provides adoptable services in conjunction with industry best practices and in-house intellectual property.?This capability is MISSION CRITICAL.

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Benefit of K?rber’s Unified Commerce Platform

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Our Platform allows a single instance of the application to be configured in a multi- tenant manner while leveraging custom components through interfaces with a proprietary and “in the box” Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) …

3PL "A La Carte" Client Services Offering

3PLs strive to provide high quality, rapid response and flawless Omnichannel, OTIF execution of all types of global commerce activity for their clients at a pace, reach, expertise and / or cost that their clients are not able to attain on their own.

In Part 2 (tomorrow) we will cover the "Business / Order Process" that continues the OMS Conversation.