3rd Party Logistics

3rd Party Logistics, also known as 3PL or TPL, involves the outsourcing of all (or part of) your warehousing, distribution and fulfillment service requirements to a specialized team of external service providers.

B

Blister Packaging

A special type of packaging, usually made from thermoformed plastic or other forms of formable web materials. Predominantly used in the pharma industry, blister packaging is also used by food and beverage and other consumer goods manufacturers

Business Strategy

A long-term business plan designed to achieve specific objectives or goals for the company. Strategies are different from tactics, in that the latter is a shorter-term series of steps designed to achieve the longer-term strategy.

C

Capacity constraints

You are deemed to have capacity constraints when you are unable, due to internal resource limitations, to provide a specific service level to your clients. The constraints could be machine, labour, expertise or space-related.

Co Packing

Co Packing, also popularly called Contract Packing services, may include a range of activities such as labelling and re-labelling, repackaging, pack-out products, break and repack bulk product shipments amongst others.

Competitive Advantage

You have a competitive advantage over your peers and competitors when you can generate better margins, provide enhanced service levels or enjoy greater customer retention. Such advantages may be the result of better pricing, more extensive product distribution, more efficient manufacturing processes, or other business practices.

Contract Assembly

This refers to the leveraging of specialist third-party contract firms to support the assembling of your products. Such services may be provided either on-premises (at your location) or off-site (at the contractors’ facilities). Ideally, such services are offered at a fixed-cost basis, allow manufacturers quick access to additional capacity, and serve to eliminate the need for costly over-time, or to quickly up-staff or down-staff to meet changing demand.

Contract Manufacturer

This involves the delegation of all (or part of) your manufacturing processes to specialist 3rd party manufacturing partners. Ideally, such services are offered at a fixed-cost basis and allow manufacturers greater flexibility to divert their costly in-house resources to focus on marketing, innovation and customer service.

Contract Packager

A Contract Packager, also called a Co-packager, is an entity that specializes in delivering an array of simple to complex packaging services to manufacturers and distributors. Such services may be offered off-site (away from your facility), or on-site (within your premises) using specialized teams trained to your standards.

Contract Packaging

Contract Packaging comprise of a number of value-added services that Co-packagers offer to manufacturers and distributors. Such services may include a myriad of offerings, including pack-out products, repackaging, break and repack bulk product shipments, labelling and re-labelling, amongst others.

Core Competency

Your company’s core competency comprises of the products, services or processes that define what you are good at. By focusing primarily on your core competencies, while sub-subtracting/outsourcing non-core functions and processes, you can gain a significant competitive advantage over your competitors and industry peers.

Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)

These are direct costs that are attributed to manufacturers and distributors when producing or delivering a core product or service. Examples include the cost of materials, power consumed on the factory or distribution floor and direct labor costs. The key to managing COGS is often found in a company’s ability to sub-contract and outsource some of its functions (such as overflow manufacturing, distribution, packaging etc.) at a fixed and predictable cost to specialized external service providers.

E

Efficiencies

Due to outside influences, such as gravity and friction, the laws of physics, chemistry and engineering recognize that no machine or process can ever run or perform at 100% efficiency. Efficiencies define the ability of manufacturers and distributors to use time, materials and capabilities in a way that produces minimal wastage while generating the highest returns on investment (ROI).

F

Fulfillment Center

A centralized location, either within the confines of your own premises or off-site and owned/operated by 3rd party specialists, where incoming deliveries or orders are received, processed (e.g. unpacked, assembled, labelled, re-packed) and prepared for subsequent delivery. Such delivery may be direct to consumers (B2C), Big Box Stores or even Big Box store distribution centers – i.e. B2B.

Fulfillment Services

Fulfillment services include a myriad of services and processes that are performed at a Fulfillment Center. These might include Shipping – both B2B or B2C, Picking, Packaging/Re-packaging, Storage, Distribution, Re-routing shipments or processing returns, amongst others.

H

Hand Assembly

Defines an assembly process that is predominantly dependant on manual (human) actions. While hand-tools or power-tools may be employed during the activity, it is specialized training and experience that mainly determines a successful outcome. Because of it’s dependence on highly skilled labor, hand assembly is often sub-contracted to specialist organizations who have a core competency in delivering such services.

I

Inventory

This represents raw-materials, components, sub-assemblies, packaging supplies and finished goods available to a company for use, distribution or sale.

K

Kitting

This is the process of bundling several related items or components together, so that they may be packaged and distributed, either to the final consumer or to down-stream production processes, as part of a single unit of a product. Manufacturers use Kitting as a way to free up scare shelve space, improve manufacturing and assembly lead-time and reduce inventory build-up.

L

Labeling

The act of affixing distinctive markings or appendages to products, their packages or containers to help identify/distinguish them throughout the production or distribution process. Some processes require multiple labeling steps – at the component, sub-assembly, finished item and distribution level – which can be costly and time consuming. Manufacturers and distributors will often sub-contract the labeling process to specialized 3rd party contractors.

Labor Cost

It represents the cost of salaries, wages and benefits paid to employees of any organization. This is one component (often a significant one) that goes into determining the COGS. Manufacturing or distribution operations often control their labor costs by sub-contracting or outsourcing some of their functions to specialized 3rd party contractors at fixed prices.

Lean manufacturing

With our Lean Manufacturing approach, we can create more value for our customers by minimizing the number and amount of customer resources required throughout their production process. Our lean value proposition: Less waste. Minimal lead/lag time. Faster turn-around times.

O

Off-site

A location or facility that is physically detached from your primary manufacturing or distribution centers. Usually, such locations are owned/operated by 3rd party contractors to deliver vital services to you, such as contract manufacturing, packaging, storage and fulfillment services.

On-premises

Usually refers to premises that are co-located within your primary manufacturing or distribution facilities. Often, specialized contractors offer functions or services that are performed on-premises, as opposed to performing them off-site.

P

Packaging Solutions

Packaging solutions refer to a whole suite of integrated, one-stop, single-window capabilities offered by specialist contract packaging and distribution service providers. Often provided as fixed-cost offerings, such solutions may include a wide range of activities such as pack-outs, labelling, re-packaging, inspection, quality assurance and assembling.

Private Labeling

Private Labeling, also sometimes referred to as Phantom Branding, is a process where licensed manufacturers produce products for a client company, which are then re-branded and sold under the clients’ private label. Private Labeling helps to keep original manufacturers (OEMs) anonymous. The use of co-packaging services to re-brand and re-label goods enables manufacturers and distributors to maintain higher margins than if they performed such re-labeling activities in-house.

Product Inspection

This is a process where products are visually, mechanically, electronically or technologically evaluated for conformance with specifications and defined standards of quality. Units that fail such inspection are then flagged for appropriate action, including re-work, re-labeling, or disassembling/re-assembling.

R

Re packaging

The act of receiving and unpacking products from one unit-of-measure (UOM), and producing a different set of UOMs. A large skid, for instance, may be broken down into multiple components, and its contents assembled, labelled and re-packaged to form individual products, which are then re-packaged into boxes or cartoons.

Returns Processing

This involves receiving fully-assembled products or component items, either from consumers (B2C) or business clients (B2B), and then processing them (unpacking, sorting, inspecting, re-packing, re-labelling) so they may be returned either the manufacturer or to any other designated location.

S

Secondary Packaging

When products are shipped in bulk, or when individual products contained in smaller or particularly delicate retail packaging are shipped; they are often packed into additional packages before shipment. This activity is called re-packaging. For instance, if you order 300 boxed toasters, the order will be shipped in larger boxes or cartoons to make shipping/handling easier. A DVD ordered may come in it’s original packaging, but will be shipped in a secondary package made either of cardboard or a blister-packed envelope to protect the original packaging.

Supply Chain

This defines all of the people, processes, equipment, materials and information involved in creating a product or service and moving it from point of origination to final consumption.

T

Thermal Packaging

Special packaging designed to transport products requiring a pre-defined range of temperatures, despite external thermal conditions. Thermal packaging is usually manufactured using frozen gel packs contained in structures made from moulded polyurethane foam with an outside layer of corrugated board.

Throughput

Our manufacturing, distribution, packaging and fulfillment services help clients achieve greater productivity output over a given project time horizon. The increased throughput results in measurable improvement in efficiencies throughout the supply chain.

Turnkey solution

Refers to an integrated suite of services provided through a single vendor. As a one-window manufacturing and distribution partner, Productiv offers turnkey arrangements to its clients. Everything you need for your product – from people, processes, procedures and project management – we offer as a seamless solution.

W

Warehouse

A large facility used to temporarily store raw-materials, components and finished goods ready for down-stream manufacturing or distribution. While space is important in a warehouse, other supporting systems, such as loading/unloading docks, temperature and humidity control, storage belts, cranes and mechanical lifts, lighting, sprinkler systems and security monitoring are also what defines a warehouse.