Efficient Supply Chain Guide: Maximize Savings & Performance

Your supply chain may be the engine that drives your business, but you’ve got to run as lean as possible to get the best numbers for your organization. Logistics managers are all too familiar with the constant pressure to reduce costs while maintaining service quality, and you may be wondering if there are additional ways to trim costs to drive more profitability and efficiency. Opportunities exist to maximize savings and performance that you may not have considered.

Understanding Logistics and Supply Chain Management

In the simplest terms, logistics is about getting the right products to the right place at the right time. Effective supply chain management involves orchestrating a complex dance of procurement, transportation, warehousing, and distribution. When done well, it can drive cost savings and operational efficiencies that can give your company a competitive edge, making you a trusted and preferred provider.

But the logistics management process is fraught with the potential for complications, hidden costs, delays, and other unexpected bumps in the road. Being prepared for changes, responsive, and flexible so that you can adapt to changes the minute they happen is crucial to running lean, staying profitable, and driving customer satisfaction.

This guide is designed to help you define and break down all the elements of the supply chain process so you can find ways to make changes that will drive profitability, efficiency, and positive customer feedback.

Key Concepts and Definitions

For those unfamiliar, we’ll start with defining key terms in the supply chain world. These are the operational building blocks of supply chain processes:

• Logistics Optimization: This means continually working to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the entirety of the process of moving goods through a supply chain.

• Supply Chain Management: This is oversight of materials, information, and finances as they move—from supplier to manufacturer to wholesaler to retailer, and finally, to the consumer.

• Freight Management: This is the process of organizing, managing, and tracking the movement of tangible goods.

Strategies for Cost Savings in Logistics

Continually tweaking for increased efficiency in a supply chain is driven by cost savings. The less time and effort it takes to move items from point A to point B, the better. There are different strategies logistics managers can employ to drive cost savings without sacrificing quality, safety, or the integrity of your work.

Optimizing Transportation Costs

Transportation often eats up a significant chunk of logistics expenses. Here are a few tips that can help shave transportation costs:

• Consolidate Shipments: Whenever possible, don’t send out multiple partial loads. Combine them into fewer and fuller shipments, reducing per-unit shipping costs.

• Choose the Right Mode of Transport: Sometimes, the fastest option isn’t necessarily the most cost-effective. Price all methods of transport, whether air, ocean, rail, road, or various combinations of some of each, may be optimal to streamline each shipment.

• Use Route Planning Software: Modern logistics technology does the hard work for you—and fast. Freight management software can help optimize your delivery routes, reducing fuel consumption and driver hours.

• Back Office Assistant: Use software that allows shippers to access tailored, specific load details for optimized rates, and receive expert guidance that will ensure smooth and efficient LTL shipments.

Warehousing and Inventory Management

There are dollars to be saved in the warehouse and through smarter inventory management as well:

• Just-in-Time Inventory: Reduce storage costs by keeping only what you need on hand.

• Automate Warehouse Processes: Robotics, automated systems, and freight management software can increase accuracy and reduce labor costs.

• Optimize Space Usage: Use vertical space effectively and implement smart storage solutions to maximize your warehouse capacity.

Enhancing Efficiency in Supply Chain Operations

Efficiency isn’t just about cutting costs—it’s about making your entire operation run more smoothly.

Implementing Automation and Technology

Implementing modern technology can transform your back to a better, faster, more efficient system:

• Warehouse Management Systems (WMS): These systems can streamline inventory tracking, picking, and packing processes.

• Transport Management Systems (TMS): A TMS can help you select the best carriers, routes, and shipping modes for each order.

Process Refinement and Continuous Improvement

Making changes isn’t just a one-and-done. To maximize profitability and customer service, you should strive to continually revise and refine your processes that help you run faster, better, and leaner:

• Lean Manufacturing Principles: Apply lean principles to eliminate waste and improve efficiency.

• Six Sigma: Consider using Six Sigma’s data-driven methods to reduce variability and defects throughout your processes.

• Regular Performance Audits: Consistently review all the details of your operations and performance to identify areas for improvement.

The Role of Data and Analytics

We live in a digital age, and data management is crucial to success. When your software leverages real-time data and predictive analytics, you can make more informed decisions about inventory levels, shipping routes, and supplier selection. These choices can lead to significant cost savings and improved service levels across your operations.

Planimatik’s Supply Chain Advantages

Optimizing your supply chain can feel like a never-ending task, but the payoff is huge—think cost savings, smoother operations, and happier customers. Here are some of the features and advantages to Planimatik’s freight management software:

Automated Planning

Planimatik’s "Automated Planning" is particularly helpful with RFPs. Ideal for companies regularly handling large volumes of loads on a daily or weekly basis, this feature streamlines and simplifies planning for recurring lanes, cutting out the need for repeated manual input.

Eliminate the hassle of manually inputting the same information over and over. With Planimatik’s "Automated Planning" feature, if your lanes have recurring criteria, you can save all the details and the tool will automatically apply them whenever you want.

Scheduling

We know it's critical to maximize efficiency and minimize downtime when scheduling Less Than Truckload (LTL) shipments. Planimatik's advanced scheduling tool streamlines LTL shipments, helping you reduce downtime, get real-time visibility, and quickly adjust schedules as needed. Whether you’re a small business or a large company, this tool improves your ability to stay on top of logistics, making sure everything is on track and arrives when it should.

Back Office Assistance

Enjoy greater flexibility in LTL shipping with Planimatik’s Back Office Assistance. This feature lets you tailor load details, get the best rates, and receive expert support to address any concerns. It’s all about making your LTL logistics as efficient and customer-friendly as possible.

When you focus on ways to optimize transportation, improve warehouse efficiency, and leverage modern supply chain management software, you can streamline for success. If you’re ready to take your logistics operations to the next level, consider Planimatik’s suite of supply chain management tools to streamline your RFP process, leverage automated planning, optimize LTL shipments, leverage real-time data for scheduling, and the back-office assistance you need. Schedule a free demo today and discover how Planimatik can transform your supply chain operations.