Every 3PL faces ever-changing challenges, from unexpected client demands to fluctuating seasonal volumes. A one-size-fits-all Warehouse Management System (WMS) often can’t handle these complexities.
A more tailored WMS solution meets unique fulfillment needs and client demands through pre-designed configurations and integration with your existing workflows.
This article discusses how tailored 3PL WMS solutions can improve a 3PL’s warehouse operations and increase real-time visibility and profit margin.
10 Key Tailored 3PL WMS Solutions to Support Needs
Here’s how 3PL WMS features can be tailored to match your warehouse needs:
Customer Level Configurations
Every customer has unique needs that 3PL providers must fulfill, such as custom labeling, storage rules, or billing formats. To handle these variations without needing IT support, you need a WMS with customer-level configurations.
Da Vinci’s WMS lets a 3PL set its own rules and logic for each customer account. By setting up client-specific rules for workflows, documents, and inventory handling, you can adapt to each customer’s needs. This helps you retain customers and reduce manual work.
Dedicated 3PL Billing
3PLs need to bill clients differently based on storage, service types, order volume, and contract terms. Doing this manually is slow and prone to errors. A dedicated 3PL billing system within a WMS automates invoicing, applies client-specific pricing models, and tracks charges across multiple accounts.
For example, if you manage clients with different billing cycles or rate structures, the system can apply the correct rules automatically. This helps you invoice accurately without errors.
Da Vinci’s 3PL WMS automates complex billing by applying charges based on storage days, service types, or activity volume. This reduces manual effort, improves accuracy, and helps every bill reflect the true value delivered.
Documents by Customer
Client-specific documents reduce confusion, prevent fulfillment errors, and reinforce professionalism. With a tailored WMS, you can automatically generate branded packing lists, invoices, and shipping labels.
For example, a client might require shipping labels with specific barcodes or packing lists with detailed item descriptions. A 3PL WMS like Da Vinci supports custom document generation to produce these documents, saving time and reducing errors automatically.
Multi-Client Inventory Management
3PLs manage inventory for multiple clients, each with unique needs. A tailored WMS lets you keep each client’s inventory separate and apply custom rules. For example, you can enable lot tracking or expiration date monitoring only for clients who need it. This level of control helps you avoid cross-client errors, comply with varying contract terms, and deliver accurate, client-specific reporting.
Da Vinci’s WMS solutions also support a permission-based customer portal, so your clients can track their inventory levels and fulfillment performance in real-time.
Intelligent Automation
According to research, WMS automation can reduce picking errors by 35–50% and improve labor utilization by up to 30%. A WMS has built-in algorithms that can optimize warehouse operations in real time. It can be tailored to dynamically assign tasks between human workers and automated systems based on order volume, priority, and available capacity.
The WMS can also reprioritize replenishment or packing tasks mid-shift to keep fulfillment running smoothly during a demand increase. This helps you make better use of your labor, reduce delays, and improve order turnaround times.
Da Vinci cloud-based WMS supports this level of automation with algorithmic optimization. It offers rule-based custom workflows, real-time tracking, and MHE (Material Handling Equipment) integrations to improve your storage and fulfillment rate.
Warehouse Slotting and Layout Optimization
A WMS allows you to tailor your warehouse layout by intelligently placing inventory based on velocity, size, and handling requirements. With configurable slotting rules, high-demand SKUs can be positioned closer to packing stations or shipping docks. This reduces travel time and speeds up order fulfillment. It can also optimize pick paths by grouping commonly ordered items or creating zones aligned with client or product categories.
Da Vinci WMS uses real-time data and rule-based logic to simplify warehouse slotting and layout optimization. It analyzes your order volume to assign storage, suggest picking methods (wave, batch, or zone), and picking paths to speed up to improve throughput. The software also supports cross-docking, where it matches incoming shipments with orders to load directly on outbound trucks for faster fulfillment.
Scalable Solutions
Scalability is a critical feature for 3PL providers, especially those experiencing growth or managing seasonal fluctuations.
A scalable WMS can expand its capabilities and capacity in response to increasing demands without requiring significant overhauls or investments. This adaptability is crucial to fulfill orders and maintain service levels during periods of growth.
Da Vinci’s cloud-based WMS adapts to your growing needs. It includes additional modules such as Yard Management (YMS), Transportation Management (TMS), and Labor Management (LMS), which can be integrated as needed to meet your evolving business requirements.
Integration Capabilities
3PLs rely on multiple systems like ERPs, MHE, shopping carts, and shipping platforms. A tailored WMS solution like Da Vinci offers an open REST API and EDI integrations for real-time data flow across connected systems. This improves visibility and coordination across all areas of the business.
For example, integrating WMS with ERP systems allows for better resource management and financial planning.
Reporting and Analytics
Customized reporting and advanced analytics are powerful tools for 3PL providers. A WMS provides tailored reporting and analytics for clear visibility into inventory, order accuracy, labor performance, and space usage. Automated reports and alerts help identify trends, flag issues, and support operational planning. Da Vinci provides configurable dashboards to help track warehouse KPIs, forecast demand, assign labor tasks, and make informed decisions faster.
Regulatory & Industry Compliance
Many 3PLs need to meet industry-specific compliance, especially for pharmaceuticals, food, or electronics industries. A flexible WMS helps meet these requirements with audit trails, lot control, and serial number tracking where needed.
Da Vinci’s advanced WMS features help you enforce compliance standards, like UCC-128 label compliance for retail, apparel, and e-commerce fulfillment. This allows you to maintain visibility, accuracy, and regulatory compliance.
Benefits of Tailored 3PL WMS Solutions
Here are the benefits of tailored 3PL WMS solutions:
Customer Satisfaction
When you manage inventory for multiple clients, a one-size-fits-all system creates friction. Tailored 3PL WMS solutions let you adapt to each client’s needs, whether that’s custom workflows, specific data fields, or third-party integrations.
You eliminate unnecessary steps, reduce errors, and deliver a smoother experience. Clients get exactly what they need, how they need it, leading to higher satisfaction and long-term trust.
Operational Accuracy
Customer-level configurations, API integrations, and automated billing streamline your warehouse workflows, reduce manual tasks, and minimize processing errors.
For example, a 3PL struggling with inventory discrepancies can use a WMS for real-time inventory updates and automated reconciliation. This improves stock accuracy and reduces time spent on manual checks, leading to faster fulfillment and fewer client disputes.
Increase Profit Margin
A personalized WMS helps increase profit margins by optimizing labor, storage, and resource use. Custom configurations also help you reduce waste and lower operational costs.
For example, tailored reporting and analytics can identify excessive spending or underused space. This helps you make data-driven optimizations to improve profitability while maintaining high-quality service.
Scalability
Tailored WMS solutions adapt to your growing operations. It can accommodate increased order volumes, new client requirements, and seasonal demands without disrupting your process.
This allows you to add new workflows, users, and integrations as operations expand. Features like demand forecasting, warehouse slotting, and configurable workflows help you plan ahead, adjust capacity, and maintain performance as volume increases.
6 Best Practices for 3PLs to Tailor Solutions for Clients
Here are the best practices 3PLs use to take advantage of tailored WMS solutions:
- Leverage vendor expertise: WMS providers like Da Vinci offer onboarding support, training, and configuration consulting. Use these resources to avoid delays and reduce internal workload when needs shift. “Very few of our 3PL customers need more than 60% of our configurability at first,” says Da Vinci’s Senior Director of Engineering Solutions, Don White. “So we let them know about the other 40% of the features so that when a future customer needs it, they know it’s there.”
- Start with high-impact clients: Begin by tailoring workflows for your most complex or high-volume clients. This helps you test the WMS in the most demanding, real-world scenarios.
- Map operational workflows before setup: Document your current processes for receiving, picking, packing, billing, and returns. This helps configure WMS features that match your actual needs.
- Involve key departments: Collaborate with key departments like operations, IT, marketing, sales, and customer service to learn how to configure WMS setups to improve labor performance, profit margin, and fulfillment rate.
- Use real data to guide slotting and labor rules: Use the WMS to analyze pick frequency, travel time, and order profiles for smarter slotting and task allocation strategies.
- Review SLA performance regularly: Use built-in dashboards to track service-level agreements (SLA) and client-specific KPIs like on-time shipping and order accuracy. This helps you enforce, evaluate, and update SLA rules and alerts for new or retaining clients.
Future-Proof Your 3PL Operations with a Tailored WMS
As customer demands grow specific, tailoring WMS solutions can help you meet these unique needs. Tailoring your WMS can help you track inventory levels, optimize internal workflows, and provide real-time visibility.
Da Vinci Unified WMS is a cloud-based solution tailored to industries like 3PLs, e-commerce, retail, and food & beverage. It offers logic-based optimization, scalability, and custom integrations to help you meet customer demands. And with advanced reporting, you get full control and visibility across your warehouse, from receiving to shipping.
Are you ready to automate your warehouse operations with a tailored WMS solution? Discover how Da Vinci Unified can meet your unique needs.
Request a demo and see how our customizable WMS can drive your 3PL business forward.