Logistics can make or break your company. If you spend most of your days putting out fires, dealing with bottlenecks or hunting for inventory, you’ll find it’s difficult to take your company to the next level.
Luckily, there are numerous actions you can take to improve your shipping process. Streamlining your shipping process gives you a competitive advantage and helps you attract more customers. Use these four tips to improve how your company gets its product in the hands of its customers!
1. Put Special Effort Into Preparation
Preparation has a considerable influence on your level of efficiency. Taking preemptive actions will help your team save time and energy by streamlining certain tasks. Preparation can range from staff training to how you stock your inventory.
A good place to start is training your employees to operate as efficiently as possible. Your team needs to be intimately familiar with your product and shipping process. Knowing which box to use for each type of product, being familiar with the packing process and knowing how to handle changes will help your company improve its output.
2. Make A System That’s Easy To Navigate For Your Employees
Simple processes are high efficiency. Many company’s use complicated methods to complete a single task which ends up using more time and energy. Intricate processes only confuse your employees and create more chances for mistakes.
Try using mobile forms or apps to create lists that will help guide your staff through your shipping procedure. It’s easy for employees to glance at their computer or smart device and check off list items that get updated for the rest of your team in real time.
Another benefit of using a simple system is it improves communication between all your departments. Complex systems create havoc and make it easy for things to fall through the cracks. Analyzing your how you train your team and keeping it simple is the best way to handle your shipping procedures.
3. Analyze Your Company For Things You Can Automate
High-level technology is becoming more and more accessible, and it’s essential for your company to take advantage. Automation is something that can save your company money and make work easier for your employees.
Even automating the simplest task can significantly improve your productivity. If you have an extensive inventory, your team will greatly benefit from a wireless barcode scanner or an electronic inventory. These types of tools will improve the accuracy of your procedure while reducing the risk of human error.
4. Choose The Right Courier Service
Working with the right courier is often the difference between efficiency and bottlenecks. Before choosing a courier, it’s important to do your research. Getting clear on your needs will help you choose the most fitting service for your requirements.
The first thing you should consider is the type of delivery service offered. The type of service you need will depend on how many packages you plan to send, their size and how far they’re going. Assessing this area of your needs will eliminate a lot of courier services from contention.
If you’re shipping expensive or delicate items, then security is another critical factor to consider. Some courier services do a better job than others of protecting fragile items. There exist services strictly dedicated to transporting high-risk items. Your product will determine the level of security you need.
Speed and reliability are another two crucial factors in the shipping process. Often times you’ll have to sacrifice in one area to gain in another. If all your shipping is done in an area near you, then speed is a priority. However, if you’re serving people all over the globe, then reliability needs to be a priority.
