Request metrics that reflect daily operations and reliability:

• Order accuracy (%) and perfect order rate
• Average pick-to-ship cycle time
• Dock-to-stock and inventory accuracy
• On-time carrier handoffs and transit-time benchmarks

Proximity to highways, intermodal terminals, and carrier hubs shortens last-mile routes and reduces fuel and linehaul costs. Faster handoffs to dense carrier networks lower transit variability, improving delivery windows and reducing buffer stock needs—directly lowering landed cost and working-capital requirements.

Prioritize based on your SKU velocity and order profile: storage density and racking efficiency for slow-moving SKUs, labor productivity (pick rates) for high-SKU-count orders, and carrier access for frequent dispatches. Also model peak-season labor and volumetric pricing to understand true cost-to-serve.

Onboarding generally follows phased steps:

• Contract and SLA finalization (1–3 weeks)
• Systems integration—WMS/ERP/API testing (2–6 weeks)
• Pilot shipments and process validation (1–3 weeks)
• Gradual volume ramp to steady-state (2–8 weeks)