Extensiv (formerly 3PL Central) — delivering omnichannel software solutions for warehouse, inventory, and order management — today announced the release of the newest version of Extensiv Network Manager and the release of Extensiv Billing Manager. Both solutions are part of Extensiv’s Hub, a unified omnichannel fulfillment platform, and will be available with Extensiv 3PL Warehouse Manager subscriptions. In conjunction with Extensiv’s new Labor Analytics capabilities, these new offerings significantly enhance Extensiv’s support for larger and more complex multi-warehouse 3PLs.

Third-party logistics providers (3PLs) need efficient, modern technology that automates business processes and communications. The new releases from Extensiv give 3PLs critical tools to streamline billing, increase revenue through reducing the number of uncaptured charges and accelerate payments through credit card and ACH payment processing. Further, the release offers the critical components of visibility and control of inventory, intelligent order routing, and optimized fulfillment.

"As a leader in the apparel industry, we are constantly searching for ways to expand our company and help our customers grow their brand/business. As a way to provide additional benefits to our customers, we created our fulfillment division, 3PL by Scrappy,” said Grant Kevins, Owner of Scrappy Apparel. “When searching for a platform to manage our fulfillment program, we discovered Extensiv's Network Manager and were instantly impressed with its capabilities. Adding Network Manager to our program was a no-brainer. It has increased productivity and streamlined our retail/ecommerce fulfillment services by managing the storage and fulfillment of our customers' inventory. We are proud to provide start-to-finish apparel solutions to our customers, and Extensiv's Network Manager has helped us provide this service at the highest level."

“Our newest releases empower 3PLs to better meet today’s demand and set 3PLs up to support tomorrow’s growth,” said Andy Lloyd, CEO of Extensiv. “With skyrocketing customer expectations around seamless and optimized order fulfillment, distributed multi-warehouse fulfillment is a must. These new capabilities reduce manual work on both billing and order management and our payments capability helps our customers get paid sooner, which improves cashflow.”

“Billing, invoicing, and embedded payments is an upgrade over our current way of billing and will be a huge help to our business,” Kyle Takac, President and CEO of Specialty Fulfillment Center.

“We can see that the new Billing Manager is going to give us more accurate client billing which will give our customers more comfort that they can trust the accuracy,” said Pete Tromblee, Chief Information Officer at the Northeast Group. “Also, the ability to automate more easily certain services is going to be a huge time saver and also prevent missing billing. Misbilled items are probably going to be the best advantage we are going to see.”

Extensiv Network Manager Adds Intelligent Routing Whether running a multi-warehouse 3PL or looking to partner with other 3PLs to build a fourth-party logistics (4PL) business, Extensiv Network Manager provides intelligent order routing based upon sophisticated rules, along with complete visibility and control of inventory across all warehouse locations in real time.

Key benefits:

• Reduces shipping costs and speeds time to delivery: By intelligently routing orders to the warehouse closest to the consumer, Extensiv Network Manager enables 3PLs and their customers to significantly reduce shipping costs and accelerate delivery by selecting the warehouse with the closest shipping zone for each order.
• Significant reduction in manual processing: By automating order routing with Extensiv Network Manager, 3PLs can eliminate the need to assign orders manually and increase accuracy. 3PLs can also reduce time spent on administrative tasks like manual data entry, spreadsheet management, and phone and email communications to increase overall efficiency.
• Enabling expansion goals: Historically, expansion was a costly and time consuming decision for a 3PL, with capital expenditures often north of $1 million and the distraction of starting up a new facility in a different geography. Extensiv Network Manager allows 3PLs growing out of their warehouse to partner with another 3PL to increase their capacity well beyond what a single warehouse would handle. Then, once they have grown their customer base adequately to support the cost of a second warehouse, they can easily add the new warehouse to their software configuration in a matter of minutes, no migration required.
• Inventory decentralization: 3PLs can reduce freight expenses, mitigate delays, and avoid capacity issues by decentralizing inventory. With visibility into real-time inventory levels across network warehouses with Exensiv Network Manager, 3PLs can disperse inventory to optimal locations without sacrificing tracking visibility.
• Expert help and guidance: With 16+ years of experience in the logistics industry and more than a dozen 4PLs running on Extensiv Network Manager, Extensiv offers the most proven and scalable solution for 4PLs. Extensiv’s 3PL and 4PL experts offer an array of consulting services, including step-by-step guidance in finding partners, structuring agreements, managing 4PL billing and optimally setting up networks to reduce costs and expand business as efficiently as possible. Read the Guide to Building a 4PL Network for more information.

Extensiv Billing Manager Eliminates Uncaptured Charges and Gets 3PLs Paid Faster

Billing is one of the most complex and time-consuming functions inside a 3PL. Further, many 3PLs run on thin margins with limited cash flow. Extensiv Billing Manager helps 3PLs capture more monthly revenue, get paid faster, and save valuable administration time and resources.

Key benefits:

• Faster payment: Extensiv Billing Manager’s embedded payment system can accelerate payments by an average of 11 days without adding friction to clients’ experience. The platform can process credit card and ACH payments within the platform, and data is synced automatically to Quickbooks without manual intervention.
• Reducing time spent on manual processing: Eliminating manual data entry, enabling set-and-forget charge configurations, automating invoice creation, and integrating directly with accounting software results in an average 75% reduction in billing time. Because Extensiv Billing Manager integrates the invoicing and payments into a single platform, a 3PL’s customers can view their invoices and pay bills within a single screen providing a more seamless customer experience.
• Complete customer visibility: Extensiv Billing Manager allows a 3PL’s customers access to detailed information on the charges included in an invoice, with the ability to easily download those charges and allocate them into their accounting system. This reduces the number of customer service calls spent explaining charges and increases customer confidence in the accuracy of their bill.
• One source of truth: Instead of switching between multiple apps to manage invoices and payments, Extensiv Billing Manager provides a single system for all billing, invoicing, payments, and warehouse management system (WMS) needs, optimizing staff time, minimizing errors, and standardizing billing processes.
• Higher margins and revenue growth: By automating billing processes and incorporating mobile scanning, Extensiv Billing Manager helps customers capture a 3%+additional monthly revenue from historically uncaptured charges and can increase recurring revenue by up to $15,000.

To learn more about these new product offerings, visit www.extensiv.com or join us for a live discussion of the new technology on March 29th. Extensiv will also host live demonstrations at the International Warehousing and Logistics conference March 19 – 21st at booth #502.