Most wineries don’t bother with RFPs when looking for a logistics partner. That’s OK: A good referral to a company experienced in your vertical, or well established in your geographic area, is often a preferable way to find a 3PL partner– and it takes less time and effort.

Still, there are times when an RFP is needed. And the worst thing that can happen is when you go through the RFP process in all its grueling detail, only to have the service not be what you expected, or to have hidden fees eat away at your bottom line.

When costs far exceed what a winery originally contracted with their 3PL, we’ve found that the #1 culprit was an inadequate or misleading RFPs. So, if you are thinking about sending out an RFP to 3PLs, you’ll want to know best practices for getting the service you need–with no “surprises.”

If this is your situation, you might want to download this white paper published by The Global Supply Chain Institute over at the University of Tennessee Haslam College of Business. (There’s also a very nice overview of this paper over at our sister company blog at Materialogic.) It’s a great overview of best practices for selecting and managing a 3PL; general enough that someone new to RFPs can understand it, but detailed enough that even an RFP veteran fill find useful information.

We understand that, of all the activities that go into a running a successful wine or food business, mastering the art of the RFP is probably low on your list of priorities. But not being up on best practices can cause headaches down the road. If you’d like a fair assessment of whether an RFP process is right for you, or if you want a partner to walk through the logistics process and skip the RFP altogether, give us a call.

Copper Peak Logistics provides craftsmanship fulfillment for speciality products, specifically wine, food, and nutraceuticals. Our white glove service is deeply rooted in customer relationships– starting from the very beginning.