What is the difference between 3PL - 4PL Service Providers

Logistics 4pl. Still have a question? Ask your own! ad by Wing Delivery Marketplace. Well 3PL is all about physical distribution and logistics. Warehousing, clearing and freight forwarding, packaging, material inward outward, safety, contacting transporter etc. Are some of the services 3PL provides to the consignor. In simple words it's core on the field job. On the other hand 4PL is all about supply chain management, planning, analysis, design and optimization. 4PL is outsourced service which can consist of tracking, customer support, supply chain planning, designing and optimization, analytic, reporting. It's generally corporate job with less field work. 3PL is like executing things presently at real time and 4PL is like planning for future using past information and analysis of past execution for improving supply chain. Both 3PL and 4PL are outsourced service provider to consignor. Depending upon the SLA the services may vary between them. promoted by The Vintage News. As the business grows, companies find it challenging to manage their inventory which should be stored and moved in an efficient manner, while keeping it traceable. To cater to the demands from multi-channels in the supply chain, companies tend to opt for the multiple supply chain partners for 2PL or 3PL activities. Even though each outsourced entity may be an expert in its own domain, complications start arising when it comes to manage the operations in a coordinated manner. Here-in comes the value addition from 4PL service providers. 4PL service providers are thorough seasoned professionals who invest their knowledge and efforts in designing best-suited solutions specific to the business. They accordingly evaluate and nominate the vendors, and closely manage the ongoing operations. Hence a 4PL treats the solution as the priority and not the available infrastructure with the associated vendors. 4PL works as the management layer which oversees activities of multiple 3PLs or 2PLs with whom an organization is, or will get associated with. In other words, a 4PL service provider integrates all types of resources or resource providers with respect to different attributes of the supply chain, and synchronizes their activities through IT systems.