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2.  A third party logistics company is an independent
business that specializes in providing a specific type of
service to a larger client.
 The majority of companies focus on one aspect of the
supply chain such as shipping.
 The purpose of a third party logistics provider is to
improve the efficiency of a client and to help control
costs.
 This is done through the economics of scale.

3.  Logistics providers like supply chain
consultants and couriers produce over $47
billion each year.
 Areas like transportation and warehousing
are growing annually at a rate of between 5
and 6 percent.
 Third party logistics companies perform a
number of different functions.

4.  Many third party logistics providers offer some
form of warehousing.
 This means that a client business can hire the
company to store products in a controlled
facility that is managed by the provider.
 This is an attractive option because it removes
the need to lease a warehouse and pay
employees who are only tangentially related to
the core business.

5.  The third party provider usually makes
extensive capital investments in the
warehouse allowing for increased efficiency
through modern technologies.
 Another advantage is that a provider might
have warehouses in centralized areas that
make shipping and receiving easier.

6.  A number of third part logistics companies
offer transportation services. This is one of
the most common services provided.
 Transportation involves moving goods
between two locations. This could be from a
coastal port to a warehouse or from one retail
store to another.

7.  Transportation does not usually include other
services such as warehousing or consulting.
 Transportation across different jurisdictions is
normally an invaluable service since local
businesses do not have the capital to invest in
trucks and licenses that would allow for cross-
country transport of goods.
 Many transportation providers have large fleets
of trucks available that can move goods between
locations quickly and efficiently.

8.  An increasingly popular type of third party
logistics is fulfillment. This is a version of
warehousing.
 Fulfillment means that a provider stores
items in a warehouse and then assembles
different collections of items in a box or other
container.

9.  This is how orders are usually filled for
ecommerce and catalog companies.
 The warehouse maintains pickers, packers
and other employees who can fulfill orders
with a high level of accuracy and speed.

10.  Most will also provide shipping services
through another third party logistics
provider. Fulfillment providers sometimes
include value added services such as returns
processing.

11.  There are third party logistics companies that
act primarily as consultants.
 These companies do not maintain assets like
a warehouse or a fleet of trucks.

12.  The goal of these companies is to streamline
the supply chain and sometimes to develop
an entire efficient supply chain for a new
business.
 Supply chain consultants specialize in
removing waste and overhead from the
procurement, warehousing and transport of
goods.

13.  The knowledge and experience of these
individuals usually results in a collection of
asset-based third-party providers who can
work together more efficiently than a group
of random businesses assembled without the
assistance of supply chain consultants.