We know how tough it is to find a warehousing partner who consistently meets your needs, year after year. Many companies struggle to find warehouse partners who offer communication, consistency and commitment. Digital audits are a sure-fire way to ensure there are no surprises, or disappointments, from your third-party logistics (3PL) partner.
What to look for in a good warehousing partner
If you have a warehouse partner that runs multiple sites with your stock in it, the main thing to look for is consistency. And we mean consistency of service levels to the highest standards:
- Across all the areas of the management of the warehouses.
- In the way your teams experience multiple warehouses.
- In the way your stock is managed.
So, this is all good and well, but how does a partner deliver consistency? Aside from a catchy slogan on their website, here’s what you need to ask about: Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
SOPs are a building block upon which consistency is built. SOPs are how all the processes and key areas within a warehouse structure are planned and documented.
These SOPs are the mechanism that ensures that every team in the warehouse structure across various locations follows procedures the same way. Companies spend huge amounts of money to meticulously map out the processes and SOPs to ensure consistent high level results.
Why and how to audit your logistics and warehouse partner
While many companies are generally satisfied with the service from their 3PL providers, there are recurring issues that even the best partnerships face. It’s no surprise that surveys show that roughly half of all outsourcing arrangements with 3PL suppliers wrap up within just three to five years.
For most, it’s not just about cutting costs, but about fulfilling expectations. An effective audit of the 3PL warehouse should include a thorough review of the SOPs in action.
When carrying out a warehouse audit, here are a few key areas to check:
- Inventory – Does the physical stock match what’s recorded in the inventory management software? Are items stored securely? Do they do a physical count to ensure financial statements reflect accurate stock levels?
- Warehouse Layout – How much of the warehouse space is being used efficiently? Are you charged for unused space?
- Hazardous Materials – Are hazardous items clearly labelled and stored safely?
- Storage Areas – Are storage areas clean and free from pests?
- Heavy Items – Are heavy items stored on the lower racks for easy and safe access?
- Equipment – Is equipment like forklifts, pallet jacks, and racking being used?
- People – How do the people work within the warehouse space? Are they following SOPs?
These checks give a well-rounded view of the warehouse’s functionality and safety. Of course the audit should be constructive and not only looking for problems to identify and solve. This process should look at positive points as well as points to improve.
Where the rubber truly hits the road is: do the warehouses deliver these results and follow the SOP’s all the time? I.e Does our warehouse partner consistently do the right things.
How Nexus audits ensures predictable results across all warehouses
At Nexus, we don’t wait for you to request an audit. In order for us to stand by our promise to consistently deliver excellence at all of our warehouses, located in nearly 60 different locations, we needed our own clear inhouse audit process. An audit process that is well-documented, and where all the key processes and SOPs are checked by site.
How do we do this? As a leading logistics business, we see the tremendous benefits of technology to enable scale and efficiencies in our daily operations and innovation. Just consider our Events Management System as an example. We took the same approach with our audits.
Our digital audits give you constant clarity, consistency, and improvement
Technology that supports our SOPs is at the heart of our warehousing solution. We make use of our own online audits at every single warehouse.
We audit every one of our warehouses each month, and satellite warehouses at least every quarter. These audits are conducted on handheld devices wherever possible, which includes:
- Geolocation. When the audit is conducted it records where the person was in terms of location. This ensures that the auditor has to be there.
- Clarity on non critical and critical areas. This gives clarity on what matters more, and ensures that you focus your energy on the right issues.
- Photos and 5S checks. We take photos of multiple aspects and add it to the report. This is very helpful when conducting 5S checks and physical site checks such as security systems.
- Score results. Our online audits allow you to set scoring thresholds and pass rates so that you can focus on locations or areas that are not meeting the pass rate.
- Preset schedules to ensure what date sites should be audited, together with progress reporting against those schedules.
- Predefined actions that need to take place together with timelines with reminders and escalations so that all actions take place.
Enquire with the best warehousing partner in South Africa
At Nexus, we are more than catchy slogans. We use these systems and audits to ensure that your stock is managed consistently. We use these audits to ensure we always deliver on the promises we made.
We do this so that you can sleep easy at night. You can rest assured, knowing that your stock is well taken care of, and that we are the ones who check that everything is going according to your plan.
Ask the experts to take care of your warehousing needs. Ask for Nexus.
