3PLSmart is a cloud-based warehouse management system built for third-party logistics providers and fulfillment companies — manage multiple customers, inventory, receiving, orders, picking, packing, shipping, billing, and integrations from one platform.
A 3PL warehouse may have dozens or hundreds of customers, each with their own products, inventory, orders, fulfillment rules, billing rates, users, and integrations. A specialized 3PL WMS manages all of these customers from a single system while keeping their operations and data separated.
3PLSmart brings these capabilities together in a cloud-based platform designed around the way third-party logistics operations actually work.
When inventory arrives, the WMS records the receipt and assigns it to the right customer and location. When an order comes in, the system checks inventory, creates warehouse tasks, and guides picking, packing, and shipping — then uses that activity to generate billing.
A standard warehouse management system may work well for a company managing its own inventory, but 3PL operations have additional multi-tenant requirements.
A specialized 3PL WMS handles customer ownership, rules, and billing as part of the core system instead of treating them as custom additions.
Even when two customers store the exact same SKU, their inventory stays associated with the correct customer — with full visibility and separation across every bay and shelf.
| Customer | SKU | Inventory | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Customer A | SKU-1001 | 500 | A-01-01 |
| Customer A | SKU-1002 | 250 | A-01-02 |
| Customer B | SKU-1001 | 300 | B-02-01 |
| Customer C | SKU-2001 | 750 | C-03-04 |
Inventory visibility by customer, product, warehouse, and location — including reserved, allocated, lot/batch, serial, and expiration data.
3PL Inventory Management/3pl-inventory-management →3PLSmart connects receiving with inventory and warehouse locations so newly received products become available for downstream fulfillment operations right away.
Putaway moves received inventory from receiving areas into designated storage, making it fast and accurate for warehouse staff to locate products during picking.
Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce
Amazon, Walmart, TikTok Shop
Direct system-to-system sync
940, 850, and custom integrations
Determine what needs to be picked, how many units, where they're located, which customer owns the inventory, and which orders to process — with barcode scanning to reduce errors.
Verify the shipment and prepare it for carrier handoff — 3PLSmart supports the full flow from order processing through picking, packing, and shipping.
Manage carrier selection, shipping services, labels, tracking numbers, shipment status, and delivery information — then push it to customers or connected sales channels.
3PL Shipping Software/3pl-shipping →EDI connects a customer's systems with the 3PL's WMS so orders, inventory, and shipment documents move automatically between systems.
| EDI Transaction | Common Purpose |
|---|---|
| 940 | Warehouse Shipping Order |
| 945 | Warehouse Shipping Advice |
| 943 | Warehouse Stock Transfer Shipment Advice |
| 944 | Warehouse Stock Transfer Receipt Advice |
| 846 | Inventory Inquiry/Advice |
| 850 | Purchase Order |
| 855 | Purchase Order Acknowledgment |
| 856 | Advance Ship Notice |
| 810 | Invoice |
Give clients direct visibility into inventory, orders, shipments, tracking, products, warehouse activity, reports, and billing — without your team manually relaying every update.
3PL Customer Portal/3pl-customer-portal →Different customers have different commercial agreements — 3PLSmart lets you configure customer-specific billing rules based on real warehouse activity.
| Service | Example Charge |
|---|---|
| Storage | Per pallet / month |
| Receiving | Per unit / pallet |
| Pick | Per order / item |
| Pack | Per order |
| Returns | Per return |
| Special handling | Customer-specific |
| Shipping | Carrier cost + configured markup |
3PLSmart is delivered as a cloud platform, so operators and their customers access the system through the web — no on-premise infrastructure to run.
Legacy WMS Migration Guide/legacy-wms-migration →A traditional system manages inventory for one company. A 3PL WMS manages it on behalf of multiple companies.
| Capability | Traditional WMS | 3PL WMS |
|---|---|---|
| Warehouse management | ✓ | ✓ |
| Inventory management | ✓ | ✓ |
| Multiple customers | Limited / varies | Core capability |
| Customer-specific inventory | Varies | ✓ |
| Customer portal | Varies | Important |
| Customer-specific billing | Varies | Important |
| Multi-client operations | Varies | Core capability |
| EDI | Varies | Important for B2B |
| Customer integrations | Varies | Core requirement |
Manage receiving, putaway, locations, picking, packing, and warehouse operations.
Keep customer inventory organized and visible within a shared warehouse environment.
Manage orders from connected sales channels and customer systems.
Connect fulfillment operations with carriers, labels, tracking, and shipment workflows.
Connect customers and external systems with the warehouse.
Give customers direct visibility into inventory, orders, and shipments.
Turn storage, fulfillment, shipping, and other warehouse activity into customer charges.
Use AI capabilities to help users understand operational information and interact with the system more efficiently.
Manage multiple customers, inventory, fulfillment, shipping, and billing from a centralized WMS.
Connect online stores and marketplaces with warehouse operations.
Support customer orders, EDI workflows, inventory, shipping, and fulfillment operations.
Replace spreadsheets and disconnected systems with a centralized warehouse management platform.
Move from older warehouse systems toward a modern cloud-based WMS while maintaining required operational processes.
A 3PL WMS is a warehouse management system designed specifically for third-party logistics providers. It manages warehouse operations while supporting multiple customers, customer-owned inventory, fulfillment, shipping, billing, integrations, and customer visibility.
A standard WMS typically manages warehouse operations for a business's own inventory. A 3PL WMS is designed to manage warehouse operations for multiple customers and therefore needs additional capabilities such as multi-client inventory, customer-specific workflows, client portals, and 3PL billing.
Yes. Multi-client management is one of the core requirements of a 3PL WMS. A system should keep each customer's products, inventory, orders, users, billing, and operational information associated with the correct customer.
A modern 3PL WMS can connect to e-commerce platforms and marketplaces to receive orders, synchronize inventory, and return fulfillment and tracking information. 3PLSmart is designed to integrate with platforms such as Shopify, Amazon, Walmart, and TikTok Shop.
A 3PL WMS can be connected to EDI systems to exchange warehouse and supply-chain documents with customers and trading partners. Common transactions include EDI 940, 945, 846, 943, 944, 850, 855, 856, and 810.
Yes. 3PL billing can include storage, receiving, picking, packing, shipping, returns, special handling, and other customer-specific services. A WMS can use operational activity to help calculate and generate customer charges.
Yes. Multi-client inventory management is a fundamental requirement for 3PL warehouses. Inventory should remain associated with the correct customer, SKU, warehouse, and storage location.
A modern cloud WMS can replace a legacy WMS, but migration should be planned carefully. The process typically involves reviewing existing workflows, migrating customer and product data, mapping integrations and EDI, testing warehouse processes, and performing a controlled go-live.
Yes. 3PLSmart is a cloud-based warehouse management platform designed to provide web-based access to warehouse operators and their customers.
When evaluating a 3PL WMS, consider multi-client inventory, receiving, warehouse locations, picking, packing, shipping, integrations, EDI, customer portals, billing, reporting, APIs, scalability, implementation requirements, and total cost of ownership.
Your WMS should do more than track inventory — it should connect your warehouse, customers, orders, fulfillment, shipping, integrations, and billing in one system.