Hiring a dedicated logistics service provider is one of the smart and strategic managerial decisions taken by companies seeking to achieve higher levels of efficiency in their internal logistics operations. For professional logistics companies, the efficiency of logistics services is assessed by a complex formula that takes into account short-term and long-term increases in the costs and logistics operations of their customers.
One of the key aspects is placed under supervision by logistics service suppliers are how companies spend their budgets on packaging materials and how they organize warehouses and shipping goods.
These are the three main ways in which companies lose time and money: through unreliable packaging materials and inefficient transportation and logistics.
Logistics Service Optimization in Three Actionable Steps
Once a professional logistics company has been hired to analyze a client’s internal processes, they will spend time on their premises, observing how things are done. Following this assessment, the logistics service provider will use their prior knowledge and experience working for other clients to propose the most efficient solution for supply chain optimization and reduced logistics and transportation costs.
These are the three main steps that are generally recommended in most cases:
Replacing Stock Reusable Packaging
Many companies still use wooden pallets instead of plastic pallets and many cardboard boxes and additional load-safety packaging materials. These materials are expensive and unreliable at the same time. They are usually used only once, so for each shipment the company must replenish its parcel stock.
Professional logistics services companies recommend plastic packaging materials such as: collapsible pallet boxes, stack nest containers or EURO containers, as they are reusable for a long time, reliable, easy to clean, and designed to minimize storage space usage by stacking or nesting.
Using Special Handling Equipment
One of the ways companies do not achieve high levels of efficiency in their operations is by letting employees handle loading and unloading operations manually.
Logistics service providers recommend purchasing machines that are simple but efficient, such as pallet inverters or pallet box emptying systems that speed up and automate the replacement of damaged pallets, respectively, the disassembly of pallet boxes, without risking work accidents to you. place in case of manual handling of heavy containers by your employees.
Applying Lean Manufacturing Principles
Lean manufacturing is a Japanese concept that has developed into a globally accepted best practice. The essence of this principle is to promote the efficiency of logistics services through increasing the productivity of each operation performed by employees, reducing waste and creating smooth and integrated internal processes, by eliminating unnecessary intermediary operations.
Another way to apply logistics specialist service through a company that is skilled in examining your logistics techniques and suggesting changes to assist you in your procedure. During this process, outside talks with these companies will go into your business, obtain an organizational chart detailing how your business is run from a logistics perspective, observe your processes in place, and recommend changes in your business that can lead to increased logistical efficiency.
As this consulting firm has significant experience in these logistics operations, they can streamline your operations and increase the overall efficiency of your logistics system and introduce new software that has a proven track record and can be successfully implemented in your organization.
