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3PL tender consultant, GCC
I run third-party logistics tenders end to end — baseline, specification, RFP, rate card, contract and transition — for businesses across Saudi Arabia and the Gulf. The aim is not the lowest headline rate. It is a contract you can hold a provider to, and a handover that does not cost you a quarter of service. I am Basel Hegazi, an independent supply chain consultant based in Riyadh.
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Which of these describes where you are with your logistics provider?
Choose one above and I will tell you where the problem usually sits.
When it is worth going to tender
A 3PL tender is expensive in management time and disruptive to run, so it should not be the first response to a bad month. It is usually the right move when one of these is true.
- The contract has drifted
Rates were set years ago, volumes and the product mix have changed, and the rate card no longer describes what you actually do.
- Service is poor and there is no remedy
Missed dispatches and stock accuracy problems with nothing in the contract that lets you do anything about them.
- You cannot compare your options
Storage charged per pallet by one provider and per square metre by another, with handling buried in different places, so no like-for-like comparison exists.
- The network is changing
A new market, a second site, or a shift between in-house and outsourced distribution changes what you should be buying.
- You are about to renew by default
Auto-renewal is the most expensive clause in most 3PL contracts. Testing the market ahead of the notice date is worth doing even if you intend to stay.
How the tender runs
Baseline
What you actually spend and what you actually do: volumes, order profiles, seasonality, storage and handling split by activity. Without this, bids cannot be compared and providers price the risk of not knowing.
Specification and RFI
A written service specification and a longlist screened for capability in the markets you need — customs handling, temperature control, bonded storage, last mile.
RFP and rate card
One pricing template every bidder completes, so the comparison is like for like. This single step usually changes the ranking of the bids.
Contract and SLA
Service levels with agreed definitions, measurement rules, a governance rhythm and consequences that mean something. A KPI with no remedy attached is a reporting exercise.
Transition
A dated cutover plan with stock reconciliation, system integration and an agreed way back. Most of the value lost in a 3PL change is lost in the eight weeks after signature.
What is different across the GCC
Providers vary sharply by market. A partner that is strong in Jebel Ali may be weak in Riyadh, and free zone versus onshore storage changes both the cost and what you are allowed to do with the stock. Customs and conformity — SABER in Saudi Arabia, the equivalents elsewhere — sit on the critical path and belong in the service specification rather than being treated as your problem after the fact. Cross-border road movement between GCC states carries delays that should be written into the service levels rather than discovered later. And peak season around Ramadan and Eid needs a capacity commitment agreed in the contract, because that is precisely when a shared-user warehouse is fullest.
Basel was launching significant technical improvements — reducing inventory, shortening lead time, reducing handling cost — and was also instrumental in improving the soft factors: client relationship, staff satisfaction, relationship towards service provider. A well rounded leader, with a partnership approach. Pleasant personality, but capable of taking hard decisions if required.
Service partner while Basel led supply chain for Estée Lauder Middle East and Levant, 2008–2011.
Basel HegaziIndependent supply chain consultant, Riyadh. Twenty years leading supply chain functions across the Middle East. Arabic and English.
Questions people ask
How long does a 3PL tender take?
Eight to twelve weeks from baseline to signature for a single market, longer where several countries or a temperature-controlled network are involved. Add eight to sixteen weeks for transition before you should expect the new arrangement to be stable.
Will this damage our relationship with the incumbent?
Run properly, no. The incumbent bids like everyone else and often wins on better terms because the specification finally states what you need. A structured tender is a more professional conversation than an annual argument about rates.
Should we split the business across providers?
Sometimes, for geographic coverage or to keep competitive tension. But splitting volume reduces your leverage with both and adds coordination cost, so it should be a deliberate decision rather than the outcome of an indecisive tender.
Can you run the tender without us hiring you for what follows?
Yes. The tender can be a standalone project with a defined scope and a fixed fee.
How do you charge for a tender?
A fixed fee for the tender, quoted against a defined scope before it starts: how many markets, how many bidders, and whether transition support is included. No hourly billing, and no fee tied to a share of the savings — on a tender that arrangement pushes the consultant toward the lowest headline rate rather than the contract you can actually hold a provider to.
How much of this needs you on site?
The baseline does. Walking the incumbent's warehouse tells you things the volume file will not — how orders are really picked, where the congestion sits, what the operation does that nobody has written down. Site visits to shortlisted bidders matter too, since a provider's capability is easier to judge on their floor than in their proposal. The RFP and evaluation stages run remotely.
Is our logistics spend big enough to tender?
The test is annual spend with the provider, not headcount. A tender takes real management time on your side as well as mine, so it needs enough spend that a few percent covers both several times over — broadly, warehousing and transport running into the millions a year, or a network across more than one market. Below that, renegotiating the existing contract against a proper baseline usually gets most of the benefit for a fraction of the effort, and I will say so on the first call.
Which markets do you cover?
The GCC — Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman — including multi-market tenders where provider strength varies by country. Based in Riyadh, so Saudi networks across the Central, Eastern and Western regions are the most familiar ground. Delivered in Arabic or English.
Will you sign an NDA?
Yes, before any data changes hands. Client names are never used without written permission.
Tell me what is going wrong
Send a few lines on the situation and how you are measuring it. The first call is thirty minutes and costs nothing.
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