Once you’ve developed your business model and have a serviceable product, pretty much everything else your company does is just logistics – ferrying stuff from A to B.
You might hope that you could put this aspect of your company on auto-pilot, but that’s rarely the case. It requires constant consideration and attention, from people on the ground to the senior management team.
Getting it right, though, can be a challenge. If you allow logistical issues to linger on unresolved, you can often find yourself in seriously dire financial straits. So to avoid this, take a look at these innovative strategies. You’d be a fool not to implement them.
Arrange Full Truckload Where Possible
A lot of logistical companies now offer businesses shared truckload options, letting them transport a small number of goods beside those of other firms. This approach, however, can be inefficient, and even though you get a discount for only using part of a vehicle, it tends to work out more than regular FTL.
Where possible, try to arrange FTL. It might delay the delivery of some goods, and it could entail slightly higher inventory costs. Still, it often saves a lot of money, meaning that it is well worth implementing.
Stay On Top Of Your Costs
Speaking of affordability, smart companies watch their logistics costs like hawks. The price of shipping goods from one location to another can fluctuate wildly from month to month, even if you don’t change anything.
Smart business owners, however, understand that the majority of this flux is avoidable with proper planning. Usually, there’s no good reason why the price of transport should vary by fifty per cent. Frequently, it signals oversight issues that need addressing quickly.
Opt For Flexible Storage
Some companies try to shoehorn their current inventory needs into whatever space they have available to save costs. While this might sound like a good idea, it can lead to overcapacity and bottlenecks – not what you want when you’re trying to take advantage of market opportunities.
You can often get around this problem using an industrial storage shed. This way, you can expand your inventory when you need to, and then save on storage costs when business is less manic.
Work With A 3PL
If you operate a mid-sized business, you should be working with a 3PL. The idea here is to help you reduce your shipping and logistics costs while also enhancing efficiency and accuracy.
Logistics companies usually provide you with an integrated stack of services, depending on what you need. Most companies prefer to get their 3PL to deal with bills of lading and all the rest of the paperwork – and provide trucks. Some also need things like warehousing, but that is rarer. Some literally fold 3PLs into the firm, treating them as a kind of hired wing of the business, not really separate from the primary
enterprise.
However you decide to manage your setup, you’d be a fool to ignore the value of logistics to your business. Getting it right can help you create a compelling brand.