When companies choose warehousing companies, they tend to focus on basic warehousing logistics:
While all critical components to consider, simply focusing on these elements can limit your company. That’s because there are third-party logistics (3PL) companies that can offer much more through value-added services.
Value-added services in logistics are services that anticipate the additional needs you may experience through the import/export, warehousing, and transportation process and help fill those gaps, creating a more seamless shipment-to-market journey. Instead of simply thinking of getting your product from Point A to Point B or Point C, value-added services consider any steps that need to be taken in-between.
And when you have a trusted 3PL handling more of your logistics, that’s one less vendor you have to source and manage.
Below are a few examples of helpful value-added services that can benefit importers, manufacturers, distributors, and other companies moving products through the supply chain.
Customs bonded warehousing allows you to delay payment of customs duties on imported goods for up to five years. This is because you’re not required to pay duties on goods stored in a customs bonded warehouse (which is supervised by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)) until the goods are released to the U.S. market. Or, if you elect to re-export your goods before the five-year deadline, you could avoid paying customs duties altogether.
Customs bonded warehousing can be especially helpful for importers who are dealing with fluctuating demand due to seasonality, challenging tariff climates, particularly tight budgets, and more. Learn why a bonded warehouse in Savannah, GA belongs in your tariff strategy.
Many chemical products arrive in bulk quantities such as tank trucks, railcars, totes, or drums, but end-users often require smaller package sizes for manufacturing operations, retail distribution, or specialized applications.
Through chemical repackaging, a qualified 3PL can safely transfer materials into containers ranging from pails and drums to intermediate bulk containers (IBCs), ensuring proper handling, labeling, and product integrity throughout the process.
When your warehousing provider is a 3PL that also offers a chemical repackaging service, you’re able to simplify and streamline the process of getting your products to market. Whether you’re looking for chemical liquid repackaging or repackaging for dry chemical goods, you need to know that your products are being handled with the highest level of quality assurance and compliance. (Find out how to find the best 3PL repackaging companies for chemical and food-grade products.)
The food and beverage market is another highly regulated area that calls for compliant repackaging processes. A qualified 3PL can safely repackage food-grade products while maintaining strict sanitation standards, preserving product quality, and ensuring compliance with food safety regulations.
Through your 3PL’s food repackaging service, you can get assistance with needs such as liquid food drumming and IBC filling, dry ingredient bagging and supersack filling, packaging-to-packaging transfers, labeling, documentation support, and more. And even better? Your food-grade repackaging can all be done within your existing warehousing and logistics infrastructure. (Find out how to find the best 3PL repackaging companies for food-grade and chemical products.)
Transferring bulk goods between transportation modes can be tricky, especially for materials like hazardous liquids. You may be in need of hazmat bulk liquid transloading or dry bulk transloading, which allows for the safe and compliant transfer of your products from transport modes such as tankers, railcars, ISO tanks, and hopper trucks.
Your bulk transloading logistics may encompass needs such as pump-assisted liquid transloading, short-term storage before and after transfer, comprehensive compliance documentation and support, and more. Precision and quality control of the utmost importance when it comes to transloading bulk commodities.
If you produce or sell chemical products or food and beverage products, you may have a need for toll blending, which involves mixing raw ingredients (dry or liquid) to create specific formulas or compounds for use further down the supply chain.
Companies usually hire third parties to provide toll blending services because this process requires specialized equipment, technical expertise, rigid quality control systems, and compliant facilities, and it can become especially complex when dealing with bulk quantities.
If your warehousing facilities are equipped to provide toll blending and packaging onsite, that helps minimize your site-to-site transport, which can help protect the quality of your product. Take the time to ask any 3PL you’re considering about their chemical toll blending or food-grade blending and mixing capabilities.
Product quality and safety is paramount when you’re storing, processing, and transporting, especially when those goods are highly regulated. An on-site laboratory at your warehousing facilities allows for immediate and easily accessible product quality inspections, incoming shipment inspections, sampling and material testing, batch and lot verification, and more.
Adding 3PL quality assurance to your existing warehousing setup makes it easier to maintain regulatory compliance and protect the integrity of your products, which is good for both consumers and your business. Make sure to consider 3PL quality control and inspection practices when choosing a logistics partner.
When working with a reliable 3PL that offers the right value-added services and executes them well, your business can benefit in the following ways:
Porter Logistics is a value-added services 3PL that can help remove complexity from your logistics. Our 3PL warehousing customers can choose from a full host of value-added services (which includes all the services listed above) that are designed to keep their operations working like well-oiled machines.
Find out how your business can benefit from our certified warehousing facilities, safety-first processes, advanced technology, and expert staff. Learn more about our value-added logistics services and call to speak with a member of our team!
