Warehousing Services: 6 Key Considerations to Keep in Mind

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Choosing the right warehousing services for your business can be daunting, especially when you don’t know what to evaluate. A reliable warehousing provider offers integrated operations of warehousing and transportation services that customers can scale and customize according to their needs.

Consider the following aspects beforehand. This is important whether you are a regular user looking for additional warehousing service or a new supplier looking for the right warehouse provider to accommodate your needs.

The Warehouse Location

Location matters more when looking for a warehouse provider. This is because the location of your warehouse can positively or negatively affect your lead times and end-to-end costs. So thoroughly evaluate your current and potential warehouse needs or supply chain. In this way, you can identify the right location for your warehouse needs.

For instance, if you want to import or export goods, it makes sense to look for a warehouse near the port you will be moving your goods through. This will be more cost-effective and convenient. This is because it will save you time and transport costs to and from the port.

Whether you want to use the warehouse as your primary shipping point or only a store for your bulk items, you should choose the ideal location to save time and money.

Understanding Your Items

When looking for warehousing services, be ready to disclose details of the items you want to store. Include the weight, size, and shape. Some of the questions your prospective warehouse provider is most likely to ask include:

Will your items arrive in large boxes or on pallets?
How much inventory do you wish to store at any given time?
How will the items be stored to maintain maximum quality?
Do your inventory levels fluctuate during the year, or are they constant?
How much movement in and out will occur during given days or weeks?
Will your inventory levels grow throughout your lease?

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These questions can help your prospective warehouse provider know how much space you need and create the right plan for your storage needs. This also enables you to identify a reliable warehousing provider such as Cargo County. The staff at Cargo County will consider your items’ characteristics to provide the best warehousing services.

Temporary or Long-Term Warehouse Storage

Why do you need a warehouse? While some businesses only need warehousing services during peak seasons, others need them all year. If you need warehouse services during peak seasons, you should also determine how long after peak you need the services, then inform your warehouse provider.

Also consider these questions:

Do you think you will need more space in the future?
Will you probably need to downsize at a moment’s notice?
What are your short-term and long-term storage needs?

These questions will help you determine how long you need warehousing services.

The Range of Warehousing Services

What range of services does your prospective warehousing provider offer? The warehouse provider you pick should be able to fulfill your current and potential warehousing requirements. For example, will you need them to pick and pack as well as order fulfillment?

On the other hand, do you need bonded storage or out of gauge services? Bonded storage is suitable for storing goods ready for international export. Out of gauge cargo refers to items that are extremely large or that have non-rectangular shapes.

Whatever your choice, you should ensure that the warehouse provider is well-accredited to provide the types of warehousing services you need.

Scalability

Having a flexible warehousing solution can significantly benefit your business. This means you can scale your warehousing requirements up or down depending on the volatility of your business. Therefore, you also need to understand your business to find the right solution at the right time.

For instance, you may need to scale up during peak seasons and scale down during low business seasons. Your warehouse provider should be flexible enough to cope with your seasonal fluctuations and requirements. Remember that scaling up or down with the same warehousing provider is more cost-effective and convenient than looking for another provider.

IT Support

Another vital aspect when choosing a warehouse provider is IT support. A reliable warehousing solution should provide you with customized automated reporting functionality to help you monitor your inventory efficiently. You should also ensure that they have a reliable disaster recovery plan for any internal or external issues. There should also be an online security system to protect you when using online services.

The Bottom Line for Warehousing Services

A reliable warehousing services provider should be able to accommodate storage and delivery options that are unique to your business.