If you’re trusting a 3PL to store and ship your product, you’re probably focused on things like pricing, location, and whether they can handle your volume. But there’s one question shippers forget to ask until something goes wrong: how does this company actually track my inventory and process my orders?
The answer to that question depends almost entirely on whether your 3PL has a solid warehouse management system — and whether it’s set up to meet your specific needs.
After years of running a 3PL operation in Northeast Mississippi, I’ve heard about all sorts of scenarios from new clients.
“They were sending me a spreadsheet once a month.”
“I had to call just to find out if my order shipped.”
“I had no idea I was out of stock until a customer complained.”
These aren’t edge cases — they’re what happens when a warehouse is running without the right systems in place. So I want to walk you through what a WMS actually is, what it should make possible for you as a shipper, and the questions worth asking before you sign with anyone.
What Is a Warehouse Management System (WMS)?
A warehouse management system is the software that controls what happens on the floor of a fulfillment warehouse — receiving, putaway, picking, packing, shipping, and everything in between. Think of it as the operating system for the warehouse. When it’s working well, you barely notice it. When it’s missing or broken, you feel it in stockouts, shipping errors, and a whole lot of unanswered questions.
A good WMS tracks every piece of your inventory in real time, from the moment it hits the dock to the moment it leaves on a truck. That means no guessing, no manual spreadsheets, and no waiting until the first of the month to find out where your product stands.
What a Good WMS Makes Possible for You as a Shipper
Real-time visibility into your inventory. You should be able to log into a client portal at ten o’clock on a Tuesday night and see exactly what’s on the floor — how many units you have on hand, what’s been received that day, and what’s gone out. You shouldn’t have to call anyone to find out. If your 3PL is still sending you a monthly Excel spreadsheet, that’s not a system — that’s a workaround.
Handheld scanning technology that eliminates human error. When a container arrives from overseas with 20 SKUs and 1,500 cartons, accuracy matters. Without handheld scanning, someone is hand-counting everything, manually decrementing inventory when orders ship, and hoping nothing gets missed. That’s a lot of room for error. Scanning ties every movement to a digital record, which is how we maintain our 99% accuracy rate at StewardSHIP across shipments and inventory counts.
Automated, customizable reporting. A good WMS doesn’t just track what’s happening — it helps you act on it. We can set up automated reports for our clients based on whatever they need. One of our largest clients runs a monthly aged-inventory report so they can see exactly what’s been sitting the longest and make decisions about what to move. That report runs automatically in the background. They don’t have to ask for it; it’s just there.
Those are the three biggest benefits of a good WMS system, no matter what you’re storing and distributing. But there’s one more WMS function to consider if you have an e-commerce store.
If You’re in E-Commerce, There’s One Question You Have to Ask
If you run an online store — whether that’s Shopify, WooCommerce, or something else — you need to ask any 3PL you’re considering one simple question: Does your WMS integrate with my shopping cart?
The ability to connect your storefront directly to your fulfillment partner’s system means orders flow automatically, inventory updates in real time, and you’re not managing data entry between two platforms. Most modern WMS platforms can handle this, but not all 3PLs have set it up. Find out before you’re in the middle of a busy season, wishing you had.
What Happens When a 3PL Doesn’t Have a WMS — Or Has a Weak One
It seems like a no-brainer for every warehouse operation to use a WMS that can do everything I just listed. However, you might be surprised by how many 3PL operations are still running on manual processes. A lot of warehouses got their start storing pallets of industrial goods back in the day, and they never upgraded their systems. I’ve seen it more than you’d expect.
When there’s no WMS — or a weak one — here’s what your day looks like as a shipper: you place an order, you wait for someone to physically check the floor, you wait for them to call or email you back, and by then you’re already behind. Meanwhile, your customer is waiting for their shipment. There’s no portal to check, no automated confirmation, no visibility into whether the pick was accurate.
That’s not a 3PL partnership. That’s just outsourcing your headache.
I share all this to give you a better understanding of the wide range of practices in this industry for warehouse and inventory management, so you can ask the right questions to find the best 3PL partner for your unique needs.
Questions to Ask Any 3PL About Their WMS Before You Sign
Here are the questions worth asking in any discovery conversation with a potential 3PL partner:
- Do you have a client portal where I can log in and see my inventory in real time?
- Do you use handheld scanning technology for receiving and order fulfillment?
- Can you set up automated reporting, and can those reports be customized to what I need?
- Does your WMS integrate with my e-commerce platform?
- If I want to know my current inventory count right now, how do I find that out — do I call someone, or can I look it up myself?
That last question is a good gut check. If the answer is “call us,” keep asking questions.
What We Use at StewardSHIP — and Why It Matters to You
The system we use is Excalibur WMS by Camelot Software. It’s a complete Warehouse Management Solution developed exclusively for third-party logistics providers, public warehouses and packaging fulfillment operations. We’ve found it to be robust and flexible for our clients’ needs.
Every client gets their own login credentials to our inventory portal. You can see receipts posted in real time, shipments posted in real time, and current inventory counts — all without picking up the phone. We use handheld scanning throughout our facility, which helps us maintain 99% accuracy across our 200,000+ square feet of storage space.
We also set up automated reports based on what each client actually needs. Every client is different, and your reporting should reflect your business — not a one-size-fits-all template.
If you’re evaluating 3PL partners and want to see how we handle inventory management firsthand, we’re happy to walk you through it. Submit your requirements, get a custom proposal, and see what it feels like to have a logistics partner who makes the operational side of your business something you don’t have to think about.
