Use cases / Fulfillment & 3PL
Find a 3PL warehouse. Checked against your brief.
Describe your orders and what the warehouse has to do. Ordren finds 3PLs, reads their own websites, and labels each requirement Verified, Claimed, Unknown or Not met.
Start from this brief
3PL near Dallas with cold storage and kitting. No long-term contract.
Draft my brief3PL near Dallas with cold storage, kitting and a Shopify integration. About 800 orders a month. No long-term contract.
Ordren heard
- 3PL warehouse primary
- Dallas, TX
- Cold storage
- Kitting
- Shopify integration
- No long-term contract rule out
- Storage rate to ask
01 — How to vet a 3PL
What a 3PL’s own site can prove. What their site can prove. And what you will have to ask. What you still ask.
RequirementWhere 3PLs usually state it
- Warehouse locations
- A locations page that names the city of each warehouse.
- Storage type, such as cold storage
- A facilities page. Look for the temperature range they hold.
- Services beyond pick and pack
- The services page: kitting, returns, labeling, subscription boxes.
- Store and marketplace integrations
- An integrations or technology page that lists the carts and marketplaces they connect to.
- Contract terms
- A pricing page or FAQ, when they publish one. If it states a minimum term and you ruled out long-term contracts, the 3PL is excluded.
Ordren checks, on their own pages
- Warehouse locations
- Cold or ambient storage
- Kitting and other services
- Store integrations
- Contract terms
You ask, in the RFQ draft
- Storage and pick rates
- Minimums and setup fees
- Same-day cut-off
- Liability for lost stock
02 — A sample 3PL shortlist
Eleven 3PLs assessed. Five must-haves each. Eleven 3PLs, five must-haves each.
Sample data · Fictional suppliers
Shortlist · Sample data
3PL warehouse, Dallas, Texas
11 assessed · 5 must-haves each
- 21 found
- 11 assessed
- 33 pages read
Lakeline Fulfillment
5 of 5 checkable must-haves verified · 1 to ask
Verified · Cold storage
The supporting sentence, found on Lakeline Fulfillment’s own site in a stored copy of the page.
“Refrigerated storage is held between 34 and 38 degrees Fahrenheit.”
lakelinefulfillment.example/cold-storage Open stored copy
Windrow Cold Chain
3 of 5 checkable must-haves verified · 1 to ask
Verified · 3PL warehouse
The supporting sentence, found on Windrow Cold Chain’s own site in a stored copy of the page.
“Temperature-controlled fulfillment for food and beverage brands.”
windrowcoldchain.example/ Open stored copy
Twelve Oaks Logistics
3 of 5 checkable must-haves verified · 1 to ask · 1 not met
Verified · 3PL warehouse
The supporting sentence, found on Twelve Oaks Logistics’ own site in a stored copy of the page.
“Pick, pack and ship for online stores.”
twelveoakslogistics.example/services Open stored copy
Redbud 3PL
“All storage agreements have a twelve-month minimum.” Twelve-month minimum. Ruled out.
Rule-out found on its own page Twelve-month minimum · Left off the shortlist
03 — RFQ questions for a 3PL
The gaps become your first email.
Every Unknown for a shortlisted 3PL becomes a numbered question, and the rates you marked to ask follow it. You open the draft in your own email and send it yourself. Ordren contacts nobody.
Sample draft · To Windrow Cold Chain
We ship about 800 orders a month and need refrigerated storage near Dallas. Before we ask for a quote, could you confirm three things?
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Do you do kitting and bundle assembly in your own warehouse? Kitting in your own warehouse?
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What are your storage and pick-and-pack rates at 800 orders a month? Rates at 800 orders a month?
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Is there a minimum contract term? Any minimum contract term?
Open in your email Sample draft · You send every message
You send it from your own email. Ordren contacts nobody.