For 3PL and contract logistics
Stocktaking for 3PL warehouses, at client audit scale.
A global 3PL running warehousing for retail and manufacturing clients now scans 100,000 pallets a month and holds stock accuracy at 99.97%. Client mandated audits of 30,000 to 100,000 pallets get met without adding headcount, and the evidence behind them holds up at renewal.
The problem that is specific to 3PL
Your customer's audit is not your problem to absorb alone.
A 3PL does not carry one inventory, it carries several, each one owned by a client who wants their own number, their own evidence and their own timing. A hand scanner count does not scale to that without adding people every time a client asks for a check.
- Per client accuracy reporting. Every discrepancy is matched back to the WMS location it came from, so a site running four customers on one floor can still report a clean, separate accuracy figure to each of them.
- Audit evidence, not a number on a page. Every discrepancy line opens the recording that produced it, so a client's own auditor sees the pallet, the label and the location rather than taking a count on trust.
- Multi customer sites counted as one pass. The forklift drives the aisle once. It does not matter how many customers' stock sits in it, the recognition and the reconciliation happen in the same run.
- Frequent audits do not mean frequent shutdowns. A driver covers 500 to 1,000 pallets in 20 minutes, normally during a break, so a client mandated audit of 30,000 to 100,000 pallets is built up from routine passes rather than a special exercise.
What it looks like at renewal
Evidence a client can see, not just a promise.
What a 3PL hands a client at renewal is not a spreadsheet total. It is a discrepancy report where every line opens the recording that produced it, and three more sites in the table below show the same pattern.
| Location | Pallet locations | Accuracy after go live | Value realised | Break even |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Willebroek, Belgium | 29,000 | 99.99% | Contract renewed, 90% lower stocktaking cost, 9 point accuracy gain | 5 months |
| Venlo and Roermond, Netherlands | 85,000 combined | 99%+ | 95% lower stocktaking cost | 4 months |
| Horsens, Denmark | 40,000 | 99%+ | 85% lower stocktaking cost, 90% fewer loading errors | 6 months |
| Duisburg, Germany | 30,000 | 99.9% | 95% lower stocktaking cost, 90% fewer loading errors | 1 month |
A second pattern, same unit
Three warehouses, one hub, two annual scans that used to take weeks.
A multi customer three warehouse hub in Eindhoven ran two wall to wall scans a year of 90,000 pallets, costing over 3,600 manual hours with no real time visibility in between. Wall to walls now take 80 hours or more instead of 3,600, inventory accuracy holds at 99%+ all year, and the site releases around two full time roles a year, worth €90,000 to €150,000.
100,000 pallets scanned every month
Frequent client mandated audits of 30,000 to 100,000 pallets. Stock accuracy reached 99.97%, missing pallet labour fell 95%, and productivity rose 6 to 8% across the Northern European network.
3PL, multi customer hub3,600 hours of counting, cut to 80
Two annual wall to wall scans of 90,000 pallets across three sites in Eindhoven. Around two full time roles released each year and 99%+ accuracy held all year round.
The solution brings real change and efficiency from day one.
Head of Warehousing and DistributionGlobal 3PL, Northern Europe
Stock accuracy 99.97%, missing pallet labour down 95%
Questions we get asked
Before you put this in front of a client.
Can it report accuracy separately for each of our customers?
Yes. Reconciliation runs against your WMS location by location, so stock belonging to different customers on the same floor still reports as separate, auditable accuracy figures rather than one blended number.
Does a client audit mean stopping operations for the day?
No. A 20 minute run covers 500 to 1,000 pallets and is normally driven during a break, so a client mandated audit of 30,000 to 100,000 pallets is built from routine passes over the period the client sets, rather than a single shutdown.
What do we actually hand the client as evidence?
A discrepancy report, and behind every line, the recording that produced it. That is what carried the Willebroek renewal, and it holds up better in a client review than a spreadsheet total.
We run several WMS platforms across our sites. Does that matter?
No integration is required to start. It works out of the box on a stock file exchange from whichever WMS a site runs, site by site, so a mixed estate is not a blocker to rolling this out. See the pricing page for how sites of five or more are priced under the Network tier.
Next step
Show a client's auditor what your count proves.
A 30 minute demo using recordings from a multi customer site, including how per client accuracy reporting looks in the portal.