3 Areas for Managing Successful Global Supply Chains

If you are growing your business internationally there is likely to be some key obvious requirements and changes your organisation will need to go through including a larger facility, more staff, increased marketing plus more overseas business trips.

Global Supply Chains

As well as these obvious changes there are some more hidden internal changes that need to take place and one key area in your supply chains. Your success as an international business will rely heavily on keeping pace with your supply chains.

The following are a few tips for developing successful global supply chains:

Gain local insights through local knowledge

Finding local partners that have a deep and full understanding of the local markets will be key to developing your brand internationally.

The right local support can help you in many key business areas from finding the right suppliers, transport links, business consultant and negotiating legal and tax requirements.

Investing in the right IT solutions

You simply can’t be everywhere at once so having access to accurate data is going to be key in controlling your global supply. From budget numbers to operational goals, having the right data at your figure tips will make all the difference.

The right supply chain software platform is ensure you stay on track and can also cut costs, support growth, and increase your return on investment.

Value and diversify suppliers to reduce risk

Having a great relationship with your global supply chain partners really makes for a much smoother ride for everyone including better negotiations, production and delivery.

As well as developing positive supplier relationships it is also a good idea to follow the proverb of not putting all your eggs in one basket by having a number of suppliers to reduce your supply chain risk.

Developing your business internationally can bring great benefits as well as challenges, but with the right partners and supporting systems you will find developing globally much easier.

Total Logistics are independent supply chain consultants operating logistics and supply chain projects all over the world. They are perfectly positioned to help business expand their operations into global markets for more information visit http://www.total-logistics.com/

Warehouse Economics

In the business of logistics time and placement is everything. Every additional second caused by delays because it takes longer than it needs to find, remove and place cargo onto transportation is a second costing you money, as well as customer satisfaction.

In today’s economic climate, you can’t afford that waste. Every second counts. So in order to make sure you’re making the most on your supply chain and that your warehouse design and layout are not impeding company productivity, you need to enhance both.

But how can we do this? Below is a short list of tips and techniques that can help you make the most of your warehouse layout.

• Communication. Make sure that your warehouse staff know exactly what they’re supposed to be doing and when they’re supposed to be doing it.
  Establish clear communication lines and get everyone familiar with them. If you fail to do so, then orders and information can quickly get cluttered up and create delays.
• Standardisation. Your warehouse design should ensure that everyone is using uniform measures, weights and management. Also make sure that everyone knows exactly where things are supposed to be and what’s supposed to be done with them.
• Educate the people in charge. If your leadership team know what questions to ask of their staff, how to address common issues plus when, how to effectively get everyone moving. Then your team leaders will be able to deal with most problems as they arise without needing to bother higher management, then this can save a lot of time and money.
• Well trained working teams. Effective training programmes for your staff can help ensure that they better understand what you expect from them and that they maintain best practice.
  In addition make sure that new staff members are fully supported in their training and have the job broken down for them. This will reduce mistakes early on and can be much more cost-effective than the sink-or-swim method.
• Empower your staff. You’ve hired your people for a reason; because you believe that they know what they are doing and because they are experts at their respective fields. So creating a company culture that encourages enquiry, co-operation, responsibility and customer satisfaction can be invaluable to your warehouse’s productivity.
• Look at variation, not averages. It is where the anomalies occur that you can run into trouble. Your warehouse design and layout should ensure that such variables are kept to a minimum and that your staff know how to deal with them. If ever a variable occurs, find it and find out how to reduce it.

For further information and advice and warehouse design and supply chains, talk to Total Logistics the complete supply chain consultancy.

www.total-logistics.com

Reducing Logistic Transport Costs

One of the most fundamental basics of business management is always to ensure that your outcome never exceeds your income. This is so fundamental that for many of you it doesn’t even need saying, nevertheless it is something that must always be kept in mind.

As such, all successful business owners learn new ways and strategies to keep themselves firmly in the black and new methods by which they can cut costs without cutting services. One thing to look at, therefore, should be your supply chain and how much money is spent into it. This is especially true in today’s global economic climate and the often fluctuating prices of oil and gas. After all, if it costs more to transport something than you can get through sales, is it really worth the expense?

First, try to divide all the factors that can influence the cost of your logistics into three main categories:

• Things you can control, for example, the quantity of cargo you want to transport.
• Things you can’t control but can manage, such as the surcharge increase from carriers.
• Things you can’t directly control, but can influence. The cost of oil, for example, is pretty much fixed, however some companies may be willing to adjust the price to a given price lock.

Keeping these things in mind can help you develop strategies on how improve the cost efficiency of your supply chains and logistics teams, largely by giving you an idea what you can change and how to cope with the things you can’t. After all, there are going to be events that are outside of your control. All you can do is to ensure that they do not upset your overall running more than it needs to.

To help you start off, here are a number of ways you can reduce supply chain costs. For example, try to centralise your decision making so that you are in direct control of how your logistics chains run. Relying on the judgement of individual shipping sites may result in decisions that cost you more in the long run.

Then consider your cargo itself, just how much does your packaging consist of air? Make sure that your containers have as little excess space as possible, so it may be worth re-examining your packaging. Likewise, ensure your carton and crate sizes making the most of their available space. Do not use three small crates when two slightly larger crates will do.

It may also be an idea to look to your neighbours for help.Sharing transport costs will not only save you money, but also earn you good relationships with companies around you and those connections can seriously pay off in the long run.

For further advise and long-term planning, it may also be an idea to look at supply chain consultants. Having a friendly professional who can give you insightful advice into your supply chains can be invaluable and pays for itself quickly. 

Retailers Must Have Robust Supply Chains!

Last week figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that UK retail sales volumes fell by 0.8% in February when compared against January’s results. These figures have revealed that although there is a general trend of improvement over the last quarter with sales volumes being 1.7% higher than the same period a year earlier retail is still facing a very difficult period.

Is your supply chain ready for the summer?

For many the internet is now being seen as a possible solution and area for relaters to grow with 10.7% of all UK sales now being made online. With this in mind companies have been prompted to look towards innovation and new technologies in an effort to develop more online sales.

While the benefits of online retail are not in question how best to invest a retailer’s money to ensure sustainable growth is. Tempting as it is to buy into mobile sites, apps and the like this should never be made at the expense of grass root investment in logistics and supply chain operations. Weak supply chains can be disastrous to a retailers operation especially with the expected transport issues expected this summer.

If your supply chain infrastructure and logistics processes are robust and ready for the summer then ultimately customers will be disappointed impacting on sales and company reputation.

Effective Supply Chain Management is an on-going process and often needs an independent eye to see the complete picture. Experienced and independent Supply Chain Consultancy Total Logistics can undertake a complete supply chain review including s & op, logistics operations, plus warehouse design and layout. This supply chain review will assist you in reducing risk while also saving you money.

Established in 1989 Total Logistics has developed a hugely experienced team, (330+ years in total!), all with hands-on experience of managing supply chain operations. Clients have typically experienced savings range between 10% – 20%.

For more information call Total Logistics on +44 (0)118 977 3027 or visit www.total-logistics.com.