Moxxly Hands-free Logistics Support
At DCL Logistics we work with companies of many different sizes. One thing our customers all have in common is a dedicated DCL team to help manage their supply chain and logistics—we have always maintained a 4-1 ratio of DCL account managers to customers. This allows us to give full attention to each of our customers’ needs and support their product demand as it grows and changes.
Last year DCL partnered with Moxxly, a women-run startup who’ve built a discrete, hands-free breast pump kit. We are thrilled to manage Moxxly’s logistics because it means their team has more time to do what they do best: innovate new ways to support modern working moms.
We recently interviewed Moxxly CEO, Cara Delzer to ask her experience working with DCL. Often for startups, outsourcing order fulfillment, inventory storage, and logistics support to a large established third-party logistics company (3PL) like DCL, can be a difficult decision. Cara was quick to let us know her team’s process for choosing DCL, the benefits she’s seen from the partnership, and an awesome list of tips for startups looking for a 3PL. Here’s what Cara said:
Give me a quick rundown, what is Moxxly?
Moxxly is a female-founded startup making boss products for modern women, beginning with the breast pump experience. Our first product, Moxxly Flow is a discreet, hands-free breast pump kit that gives women more ease, comfort and dignity while pumping. By enabling women to pump with their clothes on, The Flow allows new moms to be more efficient with their time, whether pumping at her desk, in the pump room, on-the-go, or at home.
Not only are we making this product for women as our direct consumers, but also for company leaders and employers to provide the Moxxly products for their new mom employees. The Flow is a great tool for the working woman: it gives her more time to actually get work done while she is pumping; it encourages an easier, less stressful transition back to work; and it promotes happiness and productivity for new moms. We love partnering with companies to support their new moms in the workplace.
How did you decide to outsource your logistics? And then ultimately partner with DCL.
As we got closer to our market launch, our creative director and cofounder Gabrielle Guthrie, who is a phenomenally talented designer, was elbow deep into supply chain and logistics research because it was what we needed to figure out next. She put down photoshop to figure out how to get our product shipped around the world. As a startup, we had to climb so many learning curves: fundraising, branding, getting through the FDA, building a product, et cetera. Logistics and warehousing were not a learning curve we wanted to climb—we simply wanted to partner with experts.
We found a great fit with DCL, not only in their responsiveness to what small companies need, but in their impressive organization of how to onboard a company. They gave us the confidence that they were equipped to grow with Moxxly so that we wouldn’t outgrow the DCL partnership and have to start over from scratch anytime soon.
Most startups are very lean, what has it been like bringing on an established logistics company as a partner?
The short answer is, it was a fantastically boring process. I don’t have the daily—or even monthly—headache of dealing with any warehouse or shipping issues. That’s the beauty of our decision to outsource logistics support to DCL.
As a hardware founder, I’m always prepared for setbacks and surprise challenges at any turn. We’ve had very few issues with warehousing and logistics, and I credit that to DCL’s expertise in the field. DCL has done the hard work to figure out how to make logistics seamless for companies.
What are the benefits of working with DCL?
DCL helps our team focus on core competencies. By handling what they’re experts at, we can focus on building the next generation of products for women.
DCL has a streamlined and easy onboarding system. They helped us navigate what we needed to figure out on our end—things that were unique to Moxxly’s product needs.
As the CEO, I had to make sure that our ultimate decision made sense for us financially. As any company founder starts to branch out from the small-company DIY-mentality, figuring out what to outsource and what to keep in-house are tough questions. But for us, looking at how much it would cost to do this in-house—and do it well—factoring in Bay Area real estate, as well as all of the headaches and edge cases and how to get through them—the business case for outsourcing our logistics becomes very strong.
Plus we found that DCL had more modern order fulfillment tools and more of a growth-based, forward-looking business model than some other 3PLs we visited. It was clear that they are a company that is constantly improving, and looking for the next way they can grow their business, and that’s what we want in a partner.
What advice would you give to a business owner shopping for a 3PL?
Know what core competencies you’re looking for:
- What’s important to your company?—specifically what services you need and why
- What level of premium you’re willing to pay?
Do your homework and get to know the industry:
- Research your potential 3PL partner.
- Visit the warehouse, get to know the team.
- Triangulate and talk to references.
- Make sure they are aligned with your growth vision.
- Make sure they have worked with either a similar type of company or product (size, weight, volume, etc.), especially if there is anything idiosyncratic about your product.
Startups have so many fires, everything is on fire at a startup on a daily basis. If you can get partners who can put out just one of those fires at a time—a good 3PL partner or a good accounting firm, for example—it just pays for itself time and time again.
If you are seeking logistics support we’d love to hear from you. You can read DCL’s list of services to learn more, or check out the many companies we work with to ensure great logistics support. Send us a note to connect about how we can help your company grow.
