For those of us who do not understand the world of big business, finding out what happens in the supply chain comes as a bit of a surprise occasionally. Many companies buy in bulk so that they can get the best rates for the product, but they often do not have anywhere to keep this amount of goods on their own premises. This is where a contract warehouse comes into the picture and stores whatever has been bought until such time that it is needed. Indeed, a 3PL (third party logistics) place will also handle the goods in a more refined way.

These third-party logistic places will actually strip down the vast amount of goods that come in and repackage or pack them into cartons and boxes that may be branded with the logo of the buyer or the customer himself. This load stripping is quite involved and the original buyer will furnish all the details of where and when the goods will be sent on to his customers. Of course, the good thing about this service is that the original buyer does not even have to take on extra staff when the goods come in because all this is taken care of at the logistics company.

It might be too that the goods will have to be put into individual sleeves etc. before the orders are made up to send on the road. These companies normally have sister or affiliated companies which produce printed sleeves and cartons to order so the original buyer will have everything done for him in one fell swoop. Although one may think that this could be expensive, it really does not matter so much since all this will be included in the consumer price at the end of the day. It is the bulk of the goods which actually dictates the end price anyway and any discounts gleaned along the way will go to pay for these extra services.

Many suppliers to supermarkets deal with fresh produce which by its very nature is perishable and so needs to be moved fast. By buying direct from farms etc., the buyer can then have these goods stored for a day or two and then made up into individual orders for supermarket chains across the country. The logistics involved in getting fresh produce into the market place are phenomenal so this is truly a well-oiled machine which never stops for a break! The same goes for meat products too but these may have to be frozen on site so that they can be stored for longer. Again, the logistics company may well be called upon to do all this kind of work and then distribute the cartons on to restaurant chains across the country as well.

Sometimes they have satellite facilities around the country too and this makes it very convenient and much easier for the distribution network. The large loads are sent to the facility and then broken down for onward delivery to individual premises nearby.

Ellie Lewis recently stored the overstock from her store in a Los Angeles contract warehouse. She used a Los Angeles 3PL warehouse to re-box and transport her products across the country.

For more information about contract warehouses go to
http://www.schulzecontainer.com/ .

Author Bio: Ellie Lewis recently stored the overstock from her store in a Los Angeles contract warehouse. She used a Los Angeles 3PL warehouse to re-box and transport her products across the country.

Category: Business
Keywords: Los Angeles Contract Warehouse,Los Angeles 3PL