10 Reasons why you Must Choose 3PLs With Temperature – Controlled FCs

As an eCommerce merchant selling temperature-sensitive products, you need to hire a Third-Party Logistics [3PL] provider who can provide you with the right storage space in a temperature-controlled warehouse or fulfillment center. With outbound shipping growing at a rapid pace, it is important that you acknowledge the importance of hiring a temperature-controlled fulfillment center, depending on your product type.
 
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Supply chain experts seem to agree that temperature-controlled warehouses help make your operations more effective and successful no matter which climate the warehouses are located in. However, the decision lies with you based on your type of merchandise.
 
Types of Products Requiring Temperature-Controlled Fulfillment Center
 
Temperature-controlled fulfillment centers cater to specific industries by providing temperature-sensitive solutions to comply with the necessary shipping aspects. The following types of products require this type of fulfillment center:

• Perishable Food & Drinks. Food products can spoil if not refrigerated properly or might melt, such as chocolates. So these products require a temperature-controlled warehouse. You need to understand the temperature requirements of food items.
• Makeup. Cosmetic products need to be stored at a controlled temperature as otherwise, it is prone to get spoiled. So, most premium cosmetic brands ensure that they hire temperature-controlled fulfillment centers.
• Supplements. Supplements, vitamins, or other medicines need to be constantly refrigerated to keep their medicinal value and maintain shelf-life. Some medicines also require special attention during their storage.

Benefits of Temperature-Controlled FCs

 
Firstly, hiring a temperature-controlled fulfillment center has multiple benefits, even if your products are not temperature-sensitive. In most cases, this type of fulfillment center provides temperature-controlled transporting solutions also to ensure your products are shipped and delivered in perfect condition.
 
Secondly, the advantage of hiring a temperature-controlled FC is that they use climate-controlled warehouses that ensure your products don’t get spoiled, even in the colder months of winter or the hot and humid months of summer. Apart from temperature-sensitive products, other products also stay in perfect condition. After all, poor air quality or a humid atmosphere can affect any product in the long run.
 
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Thirdly, using temperature-controlled warehouses to store your products ensure that it gets protected from issues like mold, excessive dust, or airborne pollutants. These damaging factors can contaminate your products if stored over a prolonged period.
 
So, temperature-controlled fulfillment centers offer you better peace of mind with the assurance that your products will get shipped and delivered in their optimum condition.

Ten Reasons for Hiring a 3PL With Temperature-Controlled FCs

 
Now that we have seen how leveraging a temperature-controlled warehouse or hiring such a fulfillment center is beneficial for your brand, here are the top 10 reasons why you should hire this type of FC:

1. Customer Satisfaction. Using a temperature-controlled FC ensures that your products are in perfect condition when they reach the customers. The customers will be happy if they get the product in perfect condition and will likely shop from your brand again.
2. Keep Products Safe and Increase Shelf Life. Your products remain in good condition where the air quality is good, thus ensuring perfect condition and increased shelf-life.
3. Multiple Temperature Ranges. In this kind of warehouse, products that require varying degrees of temperature can be stored in perfect condition by controlling the temperatures of different units depending on the product type.
4. Keep Air Fresh. The quality of air in the warehouse impacts the product condition and its overall quality. In that case, not only the temperature-sensitive products but the other products also get maintained in their perfect condition. Besides, improved air quality also ensures your employee health and well-being.
5. Monitor and Control Humidity. Many sensitive products get spoiled in humidity. So, it is important to hire a temperature-controlled warehouse that monitors humidity regularly and controls it as and when required.
6. Prevent Product Cross-Contamination. Temperature-controlled warehouses keep product safe by maintaining air quality and simultaneously prevent cross-contamination of products by segmenting them properly. Some products might be sensitive to exposure to other types of products. These are the factors that are specially taken care of.
7. Cost-Effective. This is most applicable if you have temperature-sensitive products. Hiring a fulfillment center becomes cost-effective for you, as they undertake all the operations per your requirement and charge you for specific services. It also saves you from paying the energy bills, which increases to maintain a temperature-controlled warehouse.
8. Temperature-Controlled Transportation. You may have sensitive products that require consistent frozen temperature, and you can’t keep them out of it for even a short duration. It then loses its efficacy. Hence, the fulfillment centers have transportation solutions that are temperature controlled as well to ensure these products reach the customer safely.
9. Professional and Trained Operation. Skilled and qualified professionals operate these temperature-controlled warehouses. They have the experience and the required knowledge to understand the significance of sensitive storage requirements and their complexities.
10. Compliance Mandates. Temperature-controlled warehouses need to follow the compliance guidelines of the regulatory authorities to ensure that product quality is maintained. After all, HACCP lays down certain specific standards for the proper storage of fresh or packaged food to which the warehouse need to adhere.

The smart decision is to partner with a third-party logistics provider with expertise and experience to deliver temperature-sensitive products.

How XPDEL can Help

 
XPDEL provides fulfillment and logistics services for food and other temperature-sensitive products. Equipped to manage the food supply chain for D2C delivery and B2B distribution we provide the following facilities:

• Ambient, Cool, Frozen Temperatures
• Packaging Innovation for Temp Control
• Zone Skip Using Air and Road Freight
• Liquor Delivery in Select Markets
• Vision Technology for Automated Replenishment

Conclusion:

 
So, to sum it up, hiring a temperature-controlled fulfillment center is a good decision depending on your product type. As we have seen, it is a sure-shot way to keep any product in good condition for a prolonged duration. However, if your product is not temperature-sensitive, then it is always better to analyze your business requirements, especially your product requirements, before you make the decision.
 
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Partner with XPDEL to focus on your core competency and keep your customers happy.
 

About XPDEL:

XPDEL helps eCommerce brands accelerate their growth, empowering them with multi-channel fulfillment, whether shipping directly to consumers, delivering to businesses, or selling through retail stores. We are founded and operated by veterans with experience from Amazon, FedEx, UPS, JDA, Walmart, Target, and other leading companies in eCommerce and Retail. Guided by these experts, we provide customer experiences that help you grow your business.