Well executed management is the key to success, particularly in supply chain management. There are different elements involved in effective logistics management such as automation and adequate planning. However, there is always room for improvement. When your company expands, you will need to search for new ways to streamline logistics and warehouse processes in order to increase output. In this post, we present five important tips for effective logistics management.
Find a logistics manager with developed interpersonal skills
When any logistics plan goes sour, it’s vital that the individual tasked with resolving the following mess has strong interpersonal skills. The reasons behind this are that they’ll not only need to re-arrange things with the workers within your company, potentially degrading the relationship with them, but they’ll also likely have to find a last-minute logistics supplier to step in.
When your logistics manager has a solid commune of industry contacts and is good with people, they’ll be well prepared to get your company out of any logistics issue. Whether you need to find them outside of your business or someone within your company fits this profile, having the right individual for this key position is an element of effective logistics management.
Implement automation
In the age of automation, innovative techs have a major influence in increasing the efficiency of a logistic company. Automation has a prominent place in business process optimization. Various relevant software can be employed in the logistics process.
For instance, solutions like CartonCloud offer user-friendly integrated warehouse management and transport management software. The advantage of such programs lies in their ability to encompass all the needs of a business and put everything, from accounting and admin processes to invoice creation and route optimization all in one place. Every step of the warehouse management and transport operations becomes transparent, precisely controlled, and efficiently executed.
Effective transportation
In the heart of it, the delivery is what makes logistics management efficient. This is the process where the customer receives what they have been waiting for while you get paid in addition to warehousing the goods before the transport. Optimizing the delivery branch consists of identifying the best delivery route ahead of scheduled transport time.
Selecting the shortest and safest route ensures that the goods will arrive timely, safely and in a cost-efficient manner. You should also think about cost-effective packaging that needs low investment and the safety of the merchandise. Moreover, you can optimize the packaging by arranging the items in a way that saves space.
Adequate planning
Proper planning encompasses different factors, from procuring the merchandize and storage facilities to delivery of products to the final location. Apart from these, the other factors you should include are:
- Costs,
- Time,
- Transportation
Your supply chain operative should be able to design a flow chart for the whole operation. The main goal of planning is to produce maximum output in the least possible time. Simultaneously, the planning needs to aim at maximizing the company’s profits.
In addition, any well-made plan must-have contingencies for unforeseen circumstances as well. Such circumstances can be related to the products, internal issues in the enterprise, unavailability of transport, etc. Any logistics planning process is incomplete without an emergency plan.
Improvise and track
Data collection, measurement integration, and analysis are all crucial steps for evolving a logistics management operation into something successful. Whenever you implement a new strategy, ensure that you acquire output data in order to weigh the success or failure rate of your new idea. This is the only way to see if that new concept is a good fit.
Use tools and software that makes tasks easier and collects feedback on how operations are run. With the data collected by these tools, you will be able to plan for the future. Some of those tools include:
- cycle time metrics,
- service metrics
- cost metrics
You can then record and analyze the data from these metrics to form future decisions.
Ultimately, learn from your mistakes. Poor logistics management can cost your business up to hundreds of thousands of dollars each year. Perhaps the most vital takeaway in optimizing your supply chain is to learn from your errors. Frequently sit down with your employees as a team and openly discuss the mistakes you’ve made in the past. Then, discuss how not to repeat them.
