This interview is with Landon Pyle, VP of Marketing, Sales & Business Development at R&S Logistics.

Landon Pyle, VP of Marketing, Sales & Business Development, R&S Logistics

Can you introduce yourself and tell us about your background in 3PL fulfillment and logistics?

My name is Landon Pyle, and I've been in the 3PL industry for well over 10 years. Primarily in sales and business development, I've also been a part of marketing efforts, government partnerships, and commercial real estate to grow and scale our reach and customer base. We're a 3PL provider specializing in fulfillment, distribution, and transportation in the Southeast. We have grown from humble beginnings to now well over 2 million square feet across 12 + locations.

What was the pivotal moment or experience that led you to specialize in third-party logistics and fulfillment operations?

Initially, I came to R&S to do freight brokerage. I enjoyed talking to people, loved a challenge, and enjoyed the opportunities to negotiate and make a sale. However, when I came on with R&S, we were still very much growing. We needed more help and hands working on sales and business development, so I put my head down and got to work. It's been a fun adventure and journey to be a part of. I learn something new every day in this industry.

What's the biggest mistake you've seen companies make when first partnering with a 3PL provider, and how can businesses avoid it?

This is a great question. I see a lot of companies make big mistakes when partnering with a 3PL provider. Ultimately, though we want customers and to fill the space, it's got to be a decision that's good for your business. Ultimately, if you don't make a margin by outsourcing your fulfillment or distribution to a 3PL provider, it's such a waste. It's a huge commitment financially and physically to move all of your logistics to an outsourced provider. If you're not still able to make money, grow, and scale because of your provider, then it's not a good fit. I tell small businesses and entrepreneurs often to bootstrap it as long as they can til they can outsource logistics completely. Doing it too early isn't a good fit for you and isn't a good fit for the 3PL provider.

Can you walk us through a specific situation where you had to troubleshoot a major fulfillment issue? What did you learn from that experience?

Where to start? In the supply chain and fulfillment world, troubleshooting is something we specialize in. Things change everyday, and things come up everyday. We had one instance where a customer had faulty product come in. They couldn't sell it or send it out to customers like this. So, we jumped in, and said, "How do we help get these fixed so they can sell and be shipped out?" Ultimately, it was a way to be adaptable, be agile when things come up, and serve the customer as problems and issues come up. We had to unbox, inspect and test every single unit, and then put the unit back together and repack them. In that instance, we learned a lot of technical wiring capabilities for this innovative, tech product. We also got to learn more about this D2C brand, its packaging, and its product functionality.

When evaluating potential 3PL partners, what are the top three non-obvious factors you recommend businesses look for that most people overlook?

First, are you talking to the actual 3PL provider or are you talking to a broker? If you're not in this space often, it can be hard to discern who you're talking too. There are advantages and disadvantages in talking directly to a 3PL provider or in using a broker to find one for you. Second, technology is so important. It's something you might not think of at first. But is your technology set up in a way that our systems can talk to each other to easily keep track of your inventory, your orders, and your logistics processes? Lastly, it's really important to consider what kind of partner you want. Are you a big customer to a small provider, or are you a small customer to a really large provider? There's reasons for both, but it's something to consider as you look for a 3PL partner.

How have you successfully managed the transition from in-house fulfillment to working with a 3PL? What advice would you give to companies going through this change?

I've seen countless companies do this well. I've even written some about it here. Consider technology, people, and values to be the most important. Your ability to grow and scale your business from something in-house to outsourced is going to rely on your seamless technology, the labor the 3PL can provide to free you up to do other things, and their values to communicate and scale with you through those growing pains and milestones.

Can you share a time when data or analytics from your fulfillment operations revealed something unexpected that changed your strategy?

We see the day-to-day fulfillment stats for various companies everyday. Sometimes, we even know it better than our customers. We aim to do that, in fact, so that they don't have to worry about it. This has often meant too that they consider more marketing and sales efforts to this state or this customer base because we've noticed the data and analytics in one region or customer demographic being their most orders and most shipped packages.

What's one operational improvement or process you've implemented in 3PL fulfillment that significantly reduced costs or improved efficiency?

One example I think of was implementing more 5S systems in our warehouses. This keeps materials and tools organized, in their place, and clean. It also means that every time we have a new employee or temp labor for a project, their materials and tools are ready to use, where they're supposed to be, and they can get started right away.

Looking at the evolution of 3PL fulfillment you've witnessed firsthand, what emerging trend or change do you think will have the biggest impact on how businesses manage their supply chain in the next few years?

So many companies may say the use of AI and automation. Though I agree that those will improve 3PL fulfillment and supply chains around the world, I think it continues to put an emphasis on how important communication is going to be. Though AI and automation in warehousing and fulfillment is going to help streamline operations and information, communicating it from person to person is still going to be the crux on which all success based on. As a 3PL provider, we've got to have partners that work with us like as if we're across the office from them.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and expertise. Is there anything else you'd like to add?

We're passionate about this industry and helping businesses thrive, whether that's with us or not. We're honestly not in the warehousing business, we're in the business of stewardship and hospitality. We take care of other people's goods and supply chains as if they were our own. So we aim to give more than they expect. (It's a principle that can be applied to any business. It's inspired by Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara. Fantastic book.)