Small business owners have to wear many hats to be successful. From marketing to employee management, your hands are in every aspect of your company. This includes logistics, which accounts for how products flow from creation to delivery.
With supply chain disruptions meddling in all sectors, optimizing your processes is essential. Learn how to avoid the most common logistics and shipping problems to better your business.
High Transportation Costs
When it comes to business costs, predicting transportation prices is challenging. Fuel prices can fluctuate wildly and rely on many external factors. Companies often find themselves shelling out a lot of money to ship their products to their customers.
Combating high transportation costs means optimizing your shipping process. Finding shorter routes and working with warehouses closer to your target clients will help reduce fuel spending. You can also work on lightening loads and consolidating shipments to make transportation more efficient.
Low Pallet Availability
Businesses need pallets to store and ship their products. However, much like gas prices, materials for wooden pallets are unstable. Shipping delays and shifting lumber prices make it difficult for companies to keep a regular pallet stock.
You can combat this common logistics and shipping problem by choosing alternative pallets. Corrugated and plastic pallets work just as well as wooden ones and have more reliable availability. Material options and buyback programs are some of the things to look for in a pallet supplierto avoid a depleted pallet supply.
Issues With Inventory Management
It’s hard to perfect your logistics process if you struggle with managing your products. Many businesses have trouble with inventory management; from losing items to over- or under-ordering, you can’t meet your customers’ needs without a proper system in place.
Solving your inventory management issues is as simple as embracing new technology. Invest in a tracking system that collects ordering data. This way, you can see how much of a certain product is in demand, allowing you to prepare accordingly.
The larger your business is, the more resources you’ll have to allocate to logistics and shipping needs in different departments. However, small businesses can still apply these tips to their own workflow. Focusing on improving your logistics and shipping processes will better your brand image and allow you to expand your enterprise.
