The AB e-commerce company has started operating by using a 3PL partner and benefits from saving time and money with a more streamlined order fulfillment process and inventory management. By outsourcing fulfillment, the 3PL is automatically notified when an order is placed. Also, partnering with a 3PL helps reduce logistics costs in the long run. Unlike hiring an internal team to manage inventory and shipping, 3PLs store the inventory and their team of fulfillment experts are trained to keep overall logistics costs down. Furthermore, 3PL arrangement helps split inventory across locations so the company can eliminate shipping to the highest, most expensive shipping zones and keep inventory closer to more customers. To have a more integrated distribution process, would reducing dependency on 3PL be a viable option in the long term for the AB company for cost management and control? Justify with your understanding of supply chain management concepts. also, using your knowledge of other open and multi-source industry sectors, and select advantages and disadvantages of the 3PL approach in an e-commerce set up.

Practical Management Science
6th Edition
ISBN:9781337406659
Author:WINSTON, Wayne L.
Publisher:WINSTON, Wayne L.
Chapter2: Introduction To Spreadsheet Modeling
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The AB e-commerce company has started operating by using a 3PL partner and benefits from saving time and money with a more streamlined order fulfillment process and inventory management. By outsourcing fulfillment, the 3PL is automatically notified when an order is placed.
Also, partnering with a 3PL helps reduce logistics costs in the long run. Unlike hiring an internal team to manage inventory and shipping, 3PLs store the inventory and their team of fulfillment experts are trained to keep overall logistics costs down. Furthermore, 3PL arrangement helps split inventory across locations so the company can eliminate shipping to the highest, most expensive shipping zones and keep inventory closer to more customers.
To have a more integrated distribution process, would reducing dependency on 3PL be a viable option in the long term for the AB company for cost management and control? Justify with your understanding of supply chain management concepts. also, using your knowledge of other open and multi-source industry sectors, and select advantages and disadvantages of the 3PL approach in an e-commerce set up.

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