Have you ever lain awake at night trying to make a decision, your mind shuffling through all of the different options you can choose from? You could be pondering a decision as simple as what to wear to work tomorrow or it could involve a long-term decision such as where to invest your retirement funds. We all have experienced a similar situation at one point or another.
In the supply chain and logistics industry, supplier relationship management and supplier selection are key decisions faced on a daily basis. Even in this industry, the decisions and options number in the thousands! Let’s try to narrow our topic of discussion down a little: What should a Supply Chain Manager consider when selecting a cold storage provider in the city of Miami, Florida?
To answer that question, Palisades Logistics recommends focusing on three key selection criteria.
- Other Customers: This criteria is two-fold.
- What other customers are currently using the cold storage provider in Miami that you are considering selecting as your temperature-controlled, 3PL warehouse provider? Ask for the names of the companies; demand the names of these companies. Once you know who the other customers or users are, ask yourself if their business is similar to yours. Are their products compatible with your products? If you are an ice cream company, do you really want to store your ice cream with raw seafood and vice versa?
- Once you know the other customers, ask them for a referral. If the cold storage provider refuses to connect you with a customer for a first-person referral, run the other way!
- Ownership & Management: Who owns the cold storage company? Who owns the operating company? Do they reside in Miami, FL or somewhere other than Miami? Who owns the real estate, the physical temperature-controlled warehouse? The answers to these questions make a big difference! Once you know the ownership and understand the business owner’s commitment and involvement, find out who the managers are. Who are the individuals who will be managing the day-to-day handling, storage and order processing of your frozen food products? These are the persons you want to become friends with! Yes, they are a cold storage provider – a service provider – but they are also an extension of your supply chain. And your supply chain success relies on their ability to be experts at temperature-controlled warehousing.
- Food Safety & Food Quality Certifications: What is the quality management system the cold storage provider deploys in the day-to-day management of their operation? They should have a nationally recognized certification and/or system in place. ASI, AIB and/or HAACP are just a few programs and certificates a temperature-controlled warehouse should have. Check if the cold storage provider you are considering meets this criteria before you select a cold storage provider in Miami, FL!
When selecting a cold storage provider in Miami (or any other geographic location for that matter), there are countless options and criteria for Supply Chain Managers to consider, but Palisades Logistics believes the above three criteria are key to the decision-making process. If you focus on these criteria when selecting a cold storage provider, well then hopefully you will have fewer sleepless nights trying to make your decision.
Palisades Logistics
Certainly the decision-making process on how to select 3PL warehouse providers is a concern in the logistics industry; however, it does not have to be your concern. Palisades Logistics has established and nurtured business relationships with top-notch companies such as Seaboard Warehouse and Miami Frozen Storage – both with 3PL public warehouse operations in Miami, FL.
The Palisades Logistics’ growing, regional network of partners affords the customers of Palisades Logistics a single-source provider who has the resources ready to meet all your third-party logistics requirements whether they are local or regional in nature.
For more information about Palisades Logistics, or to request a cold storage rate quote for services based in Miami or elsewhere in the U.S. and Canada, please contact us at 973-331-8220 or via the Palisades Logistics’ Contact Form.
