This course provides a practical framework for managing outsourced warehouse operations and governing third-party logistics (3PL) providers. It covers company and provider responsibilities, service-level agreements, warehouse controls, inventory accuracy, performance monitoring, and issue resolution.

Participants will learn to establish measurable service commitments, interpret warehouse scorecards and dashboards, manage inventory discrepancies and claims, and conduct effective vendor reviews. An integrated capstone brings these elements together in a warehouse governance and improvement plan.

Duration 3 Days – 21 hrs. 

 

Objectives

• Define company and 3PL roles, responsibilities, decision rights, and accountability.
• Establish warehouse SLAs with clear targets, measurement rules, and escalation requirements.
• Apply controls across receiving, storage, picking, packing, and dispatch.
• Manage inventory accuracy through reconciliation, cycle counting, and physical inventory.
• Handle discrepancies, damages, losses, and claims using documented procedures and evidence.
• Develop and interpret warehouse KPIs, 3PL scorecards, and operational dashboards.
• Apply structured escalation and corrective-action management.
• Conduct vendor review meetings and prioritize continuous improvement initiatives.

 

Target Audience 

• Warehouse managers, supervisors, and operations team leaders.
• Logistics, distribution, and supply chain personnel.
• Inventory controllers and reconciliation personnel.
• Procurement, contract, and vendor management personnel.
• Operations excellence, quality, and risk management personnel.
• Finance personnel involved in inventory and claims.
• 3PL account managers and warehouse service delivery managers.

 

Prerequisites 

• Basic understanding of warehouse, logistics, or supply chain operations.
• Familiarity with inventory transactions and warehouse documentation.
• Basic spreadsheet skills for reviewing operational data.
• General awareness of outsourced services or vendor relationships.
• No advanced analytics or specific warehouse management system experience is required.

 

 

Course Outline 

Day 1: Governance, Service Agreements, and Operational Controls

Module 1: Company and 3PL Roles and Responsibilities

• Outsourced warehouse operating models and service scope.
• Company accountability and 3PL execution responsibilities.
• Responsibilities for inventory, staffing, facilities, equipment, and systems.
• RACI matrix, decision rights, approval limits, and segregation of duties.
• Communication and coordination with internal teams and transport providers.
• Documentation, transaction traceability, and change control.

 Module 2: Warehouse Service-Level Agreements

• Translating business requirements into measurable service commitments.
• Defining scope, capacity assumptions, operating hours, and cut-off requirements.
• SLAs for receiving, put-away, inventory accuracy, order processing, and dispatch.
• Targets, tolerances, measurement periods, data sources, and reporting ownership.
• Exception rules and handling disputed performance results.
• Escalation provisions, agreed remedies, and SLA review procedures.

 Module 3: Receiving, Storage, Picking, Packing, and Dispatch Controls

• Inbound scheduling and verification of quantities, product identity, and condition.
• Receipt posting, put-away confirmation, and location accuracy.
• Stock segregation, quarantine, authorized movements, and storage requirements.
• FIFO, FEFO, and lot or serial-number controls where applicable.
• Order release, picking verification, packing specifications, and labeling.
• Dispatch staging, loading checks, shipment reconciliation, and carrier handover.
• Controls for returns, urgent orders, cancellations, and partial shipments.

 Module 4: Inventory Accuracy, Reconciliation, and Counting

• Reconciling company records, 3PL records, and warehouse system transactions.
• Investigating missing, duplicate, delayed, and incorrect postings.
• Variance analysis by item, location, quantity, and inventory status.
• Inventory adjustment authorization and supporting evidence.
• Risk-based cycle counting and ABC classification.
• Physical inventory preparation, blind counts, recounts, and movement controls.
• Transaction cut-off, variance resolution, and joint count sign-off.

  

Day 2: Performance Management, Issue Resolution, and Improvement

Module 5: Warehouse KPIs, 3PL Scorecards, and Operational Dashboards

• Selecting KPIs aligned with service, inventory integrity, productivity, and cost.
• Receiving accuracy, dock-to-stock time, and inventory accuracy.
• Picking accuracy, order accuracy, and on-time dispatch.
• Damage and loss rates, backlog, and capacity utilization.
• KPI formulas, denominators, exclusions, and data ownership.
• Scorecard weighting, performance thresholds, and trend analysis.
• Dashboard exception alerts and validation of reported results.

 Module 6: Discrepancies, Damages, Losses, Claims, and Corrective Actions

• Incident classification, reporting, and immediate containment.
• Evidence preservation, custody records, and responsibility determination.
• Claims documentation, valuation support, deadlines, and recovery tracking.
• Applying agreed liability provisions and managing disputed claims.
• Escalation triggers, severity levels, response requirements, and escalation paths.
• Root-cause analysis and corrective-action planning.
• Action owners, deadlines, closure evidence, and effectiveness verification.
• Managing recurring incidents and repeated SLA failures.

 Module 7: Vendor Review Meetings and Continuous Improvement

• Operational coordination and periodic vendor performance reviews.
• Reviewing scorecards, inventory variances, incidents, claims, and open actions.
• Managing performance disagreements using verified evidence.
• Recording decisions, responsibilities, and completion commitments.
• Planning for demand changes, peak volumes, and service risks.
• Prioritizing improvements by impact, risk, cost, and feasibility.
• Establishing improvement baselines, success measures, and follow-up reviews.
• Updating procedures and SLAs to sustain improvements.

 Module 8: Capstone — Warehouse Governance and Improvement Plan

• Review a scenario involving SLA failures, inventory variances, damages, and dispatch delays.
• Clarify company and 3PL responsibilities.
• Identify operational control gaps and inventory reconciliation priorities.
• Define key SLA commitments and a concise performance scorecard.
• Prepare an escalation, claims, and corrective-action plan.
• Develop a vendor review agenda and prioritized improvement action log.