Warehousing Services

1. OUTSOURCED
WAREHOUSING
SERVICES:
A Checklist For Small Businesses

2. WHY USE A • A third party warehousing company will generally be able
to meet all of the warehousing and distribution needs of a
THIRD PARTY small business.
WAREHOUSING • They will be flexible in the amount of space that you have
COMPANY? to rent as they charge by the square metre.
• As your company grows you will be able to increase the
amount of space that you rent depending how fast your
business is growing.
• You will be able to rent more space when you need it, for
example during busy time such as Christmas, when you
may need to ship more goods or have them ready for any
increase in demand for goods. This helps reduce the cost
of storage as you do not have to rent a fixed amount of
space for a given time.

3. • When a small or medium sized business outgrows their existing warehousing facilities,
they need to start to consider and look at outsourcing their warehousing and
distribution needs to a dedicated warehousing facility that fits with their logistics
requirements…
• Start-up businesses need the ability to be flexible with the amount of space they can
hire as the business could grow fast or slowly. Discount warehousing rates for start-ups
also may be another factor to take into consideration.
• This is a guide that will help you to decide on your logistics and warehousing
company…

4. YOUR
REQUIREMENTS
• Draw up a list of requirements and must haves from your warehousing
company. A few could include:
• Short delivery times for goods
• An entire warehouse staffed and managed
• Shared space that expands and contracts as required
• No long term leases
• No capital expenditure
• Discount prices on start-up businesses
• A company that can also offer freight forwarding services for transportation
of your products.

5. THIRD PARTY WAREHOUSE
MANAGEMENT CHECKLIST
• It can be difficult to find a company
offering safe and reliable warehousing
services, so here is a helpful checklist to
ensure that your company gets the right
level of service when outsourcing its
storage needs.

6. 1. INTERNAL
ORGANIZATION
• How are the items stored? Will they be
stored in such a way that they will be easy to
find? It is essential that all items are correctly
labelled so that anybody looking for a
particular item can find it easily based upon a
label.
• You should ask to look at how they store
products for other clients, this will give you
an idea of how their operation is run.
• You should also ask them to do a test run of
their fulfilment process to ensure that it is
efficient.
• Efficiency is essential when running a
warehouse and storage operation, if a
company is found un-organised at this stage,
you should look somewhere else.

7. 2. SECURITY
• Having proper security in place at a warehouse facility is
essential. Make sure that the facility has an alarm and well
trained security staff.
• Although you have insurance in place with the company,
you should never rely on it for any stolen or damaged
goods. Make sure you are insured in the terms and
conditions of your contract and take out extra insurance if
needed.

8. 3. INSURANCE
• It is absolutely essential that
your 3rd party logistics provider
has the right kind and amount of
insurance to cover the kinds of
goods that you are looking to
store at the facility.
• You will need to ask them to add
your business to be listed as an
additional company to be
insured and you should request
to see proof of documentation
to ensure you are covered
correctly.
• You will also have additional
insurance responsibilities and
you will need to speak to your
insurance provider to make sure
you have also have the right
cover.

9. 4. BUILDING & FIRE
REGULATIONS
• You should ensure that the facility is
properly managed and has all the
necessary building and fire regulations
in place, for example working fire
alarms, sprinkler systems and fire
extinguishers.
• Ensure that the staff have the right level
of training to deal with any hazardous
situations that may arise as they will
need to be able to protect your goods
and stock.
• You should also ask to see all of the
necessary safety certificates.

10. 5. PEST CONTROL
PROCEDURE
• Ensure that there is a procedure in place
for dealing with pests. You may not see
any on your visit, but if pests are not
controlled in a warehouse environment
they can wreak havoc with your goods,
especially if you store food goods and
furniture.
• Without the correct procedures in place
pests will get into the building and its
essential that the warehouse provider
that you choose is fit to handle them.

11. 6. OVERALL
CLEANLINESS
• Finally you should carry out a spot check
to ensure that the facility is clean all of
the time, not just on the day you are
appointed to come.
• If the warehouse is untidy, this can
reveal a lot about how it is run and
managed. If they warehouse is messy
this provides you with enough evidence
not to go with the provider, as you do
not want your products stored in an
untidy environment.

12. Choose your Warehousing provider carefully and ensure
they have all the necessary needs for your business.
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