ASCTrac™  3PL (Third Party Logistics) Option Module

ASCTrac WMS 3PL Option Module

The ASCTrac ^tm 3PL module (third party logistics) can complement your ASCTrac WMS system with a very powerful and very extensive storage and handling solution able to automate your 3PL fee calculations. ASC has developed this module for seamless operations within your 3PL operation.

With this ASCTrac module, all warehouse activity data is available for billing and never needs to be re-keyed. In addition, it is "real time" data available to the entire enterprise with accuracy that can only be achieved with auto ID technology.

You can also add our newest Labor Management option which will perform activity based costing. With this, you can determine your actual labor costs for your 3PL facility.

"We saved as much as 25% on our labor costs by using ASCTrac WMS."

David P. - 3PL Customer

Download ASC 3PL white paper

Leveraging Technology 

In today’s business climate, traditional measures of a company’s size, capabilities, and performance have been radically changed by technology. The internet and other forms of electronic media have sparked a revolution in the way we research, purchase, and obtain support for products. The "Supply Chain" has evolved as well. Recent dot com events have shown that companies also need to fulfill the increasingly demanding requirements of a global supply chain economy in order to survive. The best managed companies know how and when to leverage their technology to accomplish that mission.

Companies that have learned how to leverage their existing technology and develop strategic alliances with outside entities are setting the benchmarks for order fulfillment, customer satisfaction, and corporate success. The outsourcing of warehouse and fulfillment operations, kitting, and even some manufacturing processes, have proven to be wise financial decisions for many corporations who have contracted these types of operations to Third Party Logistics (3PL) providers. Third Party Logistics providers often can perform the supply chain tasks much more efficiently, more accurately, and less costly than the larger corporations - which is why the business relationship exists in the first place.

As a 3PL, your customers expect you to perform as well as, or better than, their own operations. That is why you must leverage your own technology and skills. In addition, each one of your customers is unique and they demand that you conform to their way of doing business. This becomes an increasingly difficult challenge to meet as your customer base grows. Proper picking and put-away of customer items, compliance labeling, tracking inventory levels, expired date control, QC procedures, controlling item locations, managing vendors and customers, and calculating accurate billing information are all crucial to the survival and success of Third Party Logistics providers. In addition, how do you communicate all of this data to and from the vendor?

The ASCTrac™ WMS is the right solution for warehouse fulfillment operations and managing your distribution centers (or multi-warehouses.) It’s what the large corporations use to manage their operations (classified a Tier One Solution). Automated EDI, XML, and ASCII file options are available for communications to the outside world, as well as built-in automated email functions. There is a fully integrated Parcel Shipping option that allows for parcel shipping (UPS, FedEx, Airborne, USPS, LTL, etc.) and packout verification. The internet eBusiness module compliments the package as the best Supplier Managed Inventory (SMI) interface you can get and is voted the number one value option by our 3PL clients.

But what about automating the billing administration and collecting all of the warehouse activities accurately? The ASCTrac™ 3PL Storage & Handling Module automates these types of tedious and labor intensive processes, dramatically reducing administrative costs and operational inefficiencies. Accurate and timely billing for your 3PL services is critical for the 3PL business relationship to continue. This module compliments an already powerful suite of technology products that will "leverage your technology," and that’s why so many 3PL’s are using our products. The technology becomes a mission critical element in the whole process.

Accurate, Automated Customer Billing

At the end of each billing period, storage and/or handling fees can be automatically calculated and presented to either your existing invoicing system, or our optional Invoicing Module. Either way, your customers are provided with detailed information about everything that has transpired with their inventory during the billing period. Weights handled, pallets received, storage space held, products shipped, items moved, and much more are all billable entities and can be calculated based on the rates you establish for each customer. Tariff "groups" allow you to bill "like customers" at the same rate without re-keying redundant information.

Supply Chain Visibility

ASC’s exclusive intelligent RF client provides a real-time connection from the warehouse floor to the ASCTrac host. From there, this information can be made available to your customers, suppliers, or anyone else in the supply chain through a variety of ways including a mini-ASCTrac, XML, EDI, e-mail and/or fax communications. Furthermore, when used with the ASCTrac eBusiness Module, a standard internet connection can be used for a password protected viewing of inventory availability, order entry, order editing, and order status inquiries. In addition, you can administer various levels of client users in the eBusiness module to even allow certain client users to administer themselves - all via the web interface.

Features & Benefits

• Fast Return On Investment (ROI) - Most companies find that the ASCTrac system pays for itself in less than one year. In some cases, the payback is in just a few short months.
• Increased Efficiency and Accuracy - Inventory accuracy of 99.9% and a labor productivity increase of 15-20% are typical.
• Instant Information Availability - No more digging through mounds of paperwork to track inventory movement or to calculate customer billing.
• Flexible Configuration - We've developed our 3PL Module to be flexible enough to handle the spectrum of unique demands placed upon you. An extensive feature set allows configurable rules to be applied to each of your individual customers.
• Tariff Groups allow easy set-up and maintenance for billing "like customers."
• Flexible location schemes allow for billing at different rates for locations such as refrigeration or other climate controlled zones.
• Supports fee structures for pallet handling, weight handling, hazardous material handling, miscellaneous handling, multiple storage types (A, B, daily), as well as additional user-defined fees. Furthermore, billable periods can be daily, weekly, biweekly, monthly, quarterly, etc.
• Tracks the ownership of inventory, the financially responsible party, the vendor, and the inventory consignee.
• Includes standard reports for Fee by Customer, Fee Summary, and Fee by Weight, (all viewable by date range)
• Includes ASCTrac’s built-in custom report generator for reporting against any field in the database.
• Fully integrate with our Manufacturing modules for even more versatility.

Note one: the ASCTrac 3PL Storage and Handling Module requires the ASCTrac WMS base system. All other modules mentioned above are optional.

Note two: the list of features above continues to grow depending upon 3PL client needs.

See our other module pages for additional functionality and details.  Information on other available modules (and the tremendous features list) can also be obtained by contacting ASC or one of our Solution Partners.  

(Note: Specifications are subject to change without notice. All product and company names are trademarks, service marks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.)