At Spectra, we hear stories all the time about e-commerce companies, large national corporations, and other organizations that realize they are in a 3PL partnership that is unsustainable. This is a very difficult position, as the prospect of switching from ShipBob or any other fulfillment provider is full of potential problems that could disrupt business to a significant degree. However, the prospect of staying with a provider that isn’t getting the job done is just as dangerous. 

If this accurately describes your predicament, you should know that it’s easier than you think to switch to Spectra. Our team has plenty of expertise in helping clients move their activities from their current 3PL provider to Spectra, and it’s a process that maintains “business as usual” between you and your end users, whether that’s on a B2B or B2C basis.

More importantly, the advantages that you get when you contract with Spectra are absolutely worth the effort of switching 3PL providers. Here are some of the top benefits you’ll discover when you start working with our team.

Reliable Systems Integration

You may assume that the connections your current CMS and order tracking systems have with your fulfillment provider won’t be able to be replicated if you switch. Don’t worry–none of our new clients have to “start from scratch” with a new system or adopt one of a select few softwares that we can work with. Our powerful inventory management and online portal systems are flexible enough to link with whatever you currently use, so your employees can continue doing things the way they always have.

Workflow and Systems Improvements

Once we are up and running with your account, it may become evident that a modernized, upgraded system for managing your customer base would serve you much better. Our team at Spectra can introduce you to the best options available today for your industry, explain how they would drive growth, and help you make the transition.

Value Added Services

One very common complaint that we hear from organizations about their 3PL provider is a lack of willingness to work with special requests. Not all products can simply be moved into a warehouse on a pallet, stored on a shelf, and moved out again when an order is placed. Fulfillment providers vary widely on what additional services they are willing to undertake for individual clients, and those that are willing to do so may charge prohibitive added fees for them.

At Spectra, these value added services are par for the course. We have clients that require specialized activities related to their products while they are in our warehouse, such as spot inspections, specific pest control protocols, climate control, and specific packaging materials and processes when their products are shipped to the end user. Unlike a 3PL provider that is focused on moving volume through the warehouse as quickly and simply as possible, we are happy to implement specialized services like these according to the client’s needs.

Integration of Print Services

Do your shipments to end users include print collateral? Spectra’s in-house print facility is available to produce high quality catalogs, flyers, cards, inserts, and other materials to accompany your products. By having Spectra handle both your print needs and your fulfillment activities, you cut out the expense, time, and extra communication required in order to coordinate different service providers for a single project.

Shipping Experience and Relationships

Shipping fees are a huge component of the final cost to produce and deliver a box to the end user. At Spectra, we work hard to make sure that our clients get the best possible rates. Our longstanding relationships with national shipping companies and our insight into the process helps us minimize shipping fees. Commingling is one of the key strategies for lowering costs, as multiple clients’ shipments are combined in a single container for part of their journey.

Our expertise and knowledge of shipping topics also helps our clients avoid “accessorial fees,” which shippers charge when a delivery location is unusual, a truck driver is forced to wait to unload, or a shipment is overweight. There are many other factors that can trigger accessorial fees, and our team ensures that your shipment doesn’t incur them unnecessarily.

Quality Control

Every fulfillment provider, from ShipBob down to the smaller 3PL organizations, has quality control measures in place. There are two factors, though, that truly set Spectra apart from the competition in this regard. The first is longevity: With more than 23 years of experience in print and fulfillment, Spectra’s leadership team has spent enough time in the industry to know what works, what doesn’t work, and what strategies are most effective in getting an accurate shipment out the door, on time, to the right address, every time. 

The other factor is our healthy mistrust of the ability of each individual team member to get everything right every time. We know that human beings will inevitably have a margin of error when scanning lists, picking and packing items during kitting, and moving items from place to place in our facility. That’s why we incorporate our “power of two” protocol, by which a second team member checks the work of any other team member. These quality control measures, combined with advanced inventory management software, help us give each client the most accurate, dependable service possible.

Learn More About Spectra

Switching from ShipBob to Spectra is a much less painful and disruptive process than it may seem at first glance. Don’t make the mistake of keeping an unpredictable fulfillment provider in charge of your customer relationships, and don’t waste time “treading water” when a more experienced and hands-on fulfillment provider could be helping you accelerate growth instead. 

As you talk with Spectra about your company and your fulfillment process, you’ll discover many more ways in which our team can help you specifically to streamline your fulfillment and keep your end users satisfied. One phone call could be the starting point to finally making a long-overdue change and taking your company to the next level!