3PL (Third Party Logistics)

3PL companies face unique challenges in their operations such as keeping up with high order volumes, ensuring reliable financial reporting, optimizing inventory and inventory location, managing delivery options, and siloing of data. A comprehensive cloud solution, such as Dynamics 365, can prepare your business to handle your core challenges. The implementation of Microsoft technology facilitates efficiency across your supply chain and ease of communication across every department. Microsoft’s reliable, user-friendly applications can equip your 3PL business with the software tools you need to thrive in today’s fast-paced environment.

Utilize Microsoft Solutions to Optimize Your 3PL Business

6 Ways Microsoft and Avantiico Cloud Solutions Drive Efficiency

Unified Data and Operations

Nuanced Customer Billing

Simple Order Fulfillment

Consolidated WMS and TMS

Customer Service Effort Reduction

Collaboration and CRM Tools

Unify Operations with Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain

The unification of all financial management and supply chain operations allows for a complete view of your business. Importantly, Dynamics 365 Supply Chain allows for warehouse and transportation management on one platform meaning Dynamics 365 covers your entire supply chain from sourcing to delivery. Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain is the most complete cloud ERP solution currently available.

Microsoft’s cloud ERP software tracks order information and trends across all warehouses on one consolidated platform. Storing historical data on purchasing patterns and purchase location makes your business more prepared to meet customer needs. Geographic and seasonal order data is essential for product allocation across warehouses to be close to the clients that need your products most. Improving convenience in a cost-effective way is a core value proposition for Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain for 3PL.

Unification of software provider also means unification of support for the solutions, saving hassle for everyone involved.

Dynamics 365 is a multi-language, multi-currency ERP solution to meet the needs of modern international businesses. Operating through Microsoft’s Azure cloud with Databases in 16 countries and 58 regions globally. This connects your business operations no matter where in the world they are located.

Avantiico 3PL Warehouse and Billing Solution for Dynamics 365

While Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations provides a comprehensive ERP solution and several impressive Microsoft add-ons, there are still important gaps that 3PL companies will need filled. The Avantiico 3PL solution addresses the need for setting up unique customer contract charges based on a variety of storage, shipping, and transaction factors. The solution builds on the framework of Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain, offering features unique to businesses that do not own the inventory inside of their warehouse.

With the ability to handle billions of dollars worth of inventory and millions of sales order lines weekly, this 3PL billing engine automates many billing functions saving countless hours of work. The Avantiico tools, along with other Microsoft add-ons, build the ideal cloud solution for 3PL businesses. To request a demo, visit our product page.

Intelligent Order Management for Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain

Intelligent Order Management integrates with ordering platforms including e-commerce, mobile apps, marketplace, and electronic data interchange (EDI), facilitating simple order fulfillment for the 3PL provider.

Order fulfillment is made easier through automation using AI and rules, increasing reliability. The tool uses distributed order management (DOM) for efficient, cost-effective order fulfillment using real-time recommendations. Post-order fulfillment, users can take advantage of drag-and-drop tools to swiftly modify order journeys.

Real-time inventory visibility assists in achieving optimal stock levels through comprehensive data, built on Dataverse making it highly scalable. This extends to real-time order visibility along the entire fulfillment pipeline. This data is tracked in customizable, visual dashboards to communicate efficiency of operations in an accessible way. All of these features make IOM an essential Microsoft 3PL software tool.

Unification of Warehouse Management and Transportation Management Systems

WMS and TMS unification is a significant value proposition for Dynamics 365 Supply Chain. Dynamics 365’s Transportation Management System helps businesses optimize inbound and outbound transportation by determining fastest routes, and least expensive route in terms of shipping rate. Analysis of data is essential for minimizing delivery timelines and reliability. The Microsoft TMS solution uses data to determine factors that directly and indirectly effect delivery time and shipment accuracy.

The warehouse management system makes picking, packing, and kitting processes far more efficient through data-optimized, intelligent wave picking. The WMS solution also has a mobile app for management on-the-go. Additionally, the Landed Cost module has vastly improved visibility and financial reconciliation during the importing process. Freight costs are captured by the module and proper customer billing is ensured, making it a valuable Microsoft 3PL software feature.

The Dynamics 365 Supply Chain solution provides advanced inventory management capabilities to address the complex inventory challenges that 3PL companies face when scaling. Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply chain facilitates accurate inventory accounting through multiple cycle-counting strategies. Additional support for item tracing by serial, batch, or lot numbers allows for further visibility once an item leaves your warehouse.

Power Apps Portals & Dual Write

The combination of Power Apps Portals and dual write facilitates the ability for customers to interact with real-time data through a Power Apps Portal. As a direct result, customers can onboard new users, pay invoices, view invoices and balances with zero help from a customer service representative. Internally, a implementing a bidirectional flow of data between ERP and CRM applications through dual write ensures all departments are working with the same data.

The reduction in customer service effort saves your business significant overhead in terms of personnel and allows current customer service representatives to spend less time on reactive tasks. Self-service through the portal removes barriers to information, keeping customers up to date in real time.

Through a dual write integration, the prospect-to-cash process is streamlined with communication between CRM and ERP applications. This eliminates data soloing while allowing for one version of the truth.

Collaboration and Customer Engagement Applications

Microsoft leads the way for collaboration with their Microsoft 365 suite of applications. Teams allows teammates to chat, video conference, and edit documents, which is essential for any modern business. Productivity tools are included as part of Microsoft 365 with the full Office application suite. Sharing documents via SharePoint and Teams eliminates unnecessary back-and-forth and confusion over the most recent versions of files. Exceptional uptime of 99.9% or above is provided by Microsoft’s Azure cloud.

Demand generation and customer relationship management software are available as part of the Dynamics 365 cloud application suite with Dynamics 365 Sales, Marketing, and Customer Service. These tools allow users to track their customer acquisition pipeline from lead to paying customer. Microsoft’s CRM tracks customer contact information, including key data points for the creation of personas to be used in marketing campaigns. Nurturing customer relationships to the best of your ability can differentiate your business and foster long-lasting relationships, improving customer retention.

Having software resources your customer engagement team can rely on to drive future and current customer satisfaction is of significant importance for any 3PL business.

Explore Avantiico's 3PL Solution

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Book a free consultation with one of Avantiico’s Microsoft 3PL software experts and find out how your business can save money and improve operations. To learn more, read our Ultimate Guide to Microsoft Software for 3PL blog article.

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