Interview with Sarah Barnes-Humphrey on 3PL Industry
What is going on with the 3PL industry nowadays? What is the industry needs to do better? Let us hear the insights of an expert, Sarah Barnes-Humphrey. She comes from a 3PL family and she is now based in Canada. Related articles on this topic have appeared throughout our websites, why not check them out? Robobyrne: Definitions for Supply Chain & Logistics – LLP, 3PL, 4PL and More Benchmarking Success: How to Prevent Your 3PL Contract from Harming Logistics Performance Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on October 28, 2020, under the title “3PL Industry Perspectives” on Logistics Bureau’s website. Best Regards, Rob O’Byrne Email: robyrne@logisticsbureau.com Phone: +61 417 417...
Read MoreSupply Chain KPIs and Its Importance
Supply Chain KPIs is the most popular topic on our Supply Chain Blog, LinkedIn, YouTube channel and on any social media accounts, we have! So, we will share a recorded 1-hour webinar, all about Supply Chain key performance indicators. You can check it out right here: https://www.logisticsbureau.com/kpi-replay/ Watch this video as well: Related articles on this topic have appeared throughout our websites, why not check them out? Robobyrne: Supply Chain Strategy & KPI Supply Chain Secrets: Supply Chain and Logistics KPIs – Keep it Simple Benchmarking Success: Supply Chain Performance Dashboards: 6 KPIs to Keep Them Simple Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on October 21, 2020, under the title “The Why, What and How of Supply Chain KPIs” on Logistics Bureau’s website. Best Regards, Rob O’Byrne Email: robyrne@logisticsbureau.com Phone: +61 417 417...
Read More12 Smart Ways to Reduce Your Freight Costs
ARTICLE SUMMARY A common conundrum for companies is how to reduce their freight costs, which due to a recovery in demand following the Covid-19 pandemic have skyrocketed. Putting a lid on escalating freight costs has now become more important than ever. There are a number of smart ways to achieve this goal. Here, in brief, are 12 of them: Define your freight profileRecalibrate your speed of deliveriesMaximise your carrier capacityConsolidate non-urgent shipmentsJoin forces with other shippersSite your distribution centres cleverlyLook beyond local carriersChoose the right serviceNegotiate for off-peak timesReduce your dunnageMinimise LTL shipmentsMake an in-depth cost analysis This article takes an in-depth look at each of these points and offers advice on how to meet the significant challenge of reducing freight costs. One of the most common questions I get asked is, How can I reduce my freight costs? In answering this question I start by highlighting the wrong way to go about it. The first thing people try to do is attack the rate itself—the dollars per ton, the dollars per pallet, whatever it is that you are paying. Let’s say you are paying $30 per pallet for delivery and you try to get $29 or $28. That’s really not the way to go about it because you need to realise that freight transport is a very low margin activity and if you’re trying to reduce the price, you’re not going to get very far. Instead, it’s often better to try and reduce the cost to the freight company of shipping your products, so that they can lower their price to you. A Dozen Possibilities to Cut Freight Costs Now let us look at some of the right ways to reduce your freight costs. I also go over some of this ground in a Supply Chain Secrets YouTube video, which I invite you to watch. 1) Define Your Freight Profile Are you paying a ton rate or a pallet rate appropriate to your freight profile? For example, if you are paying an hourly rate for deliveries, is that necessarily going to create the right behaviour in the transport company to get your deliveries done efficiently? So think about the rate structure, whether it is per ton, per pallet, per carton, and try to ascertain if it it’s the one most suitable for your freight profile. If not, it could be worth renegotiating the structure. 2) Recalibrate your Speed...
Read MoreThe Basic Introduction on Supply Chain and Logistics Benchmarking
What is Supply Chain Benchmarking? Why and how do we do it? Check out this video to find out the answers. Also, we have a recorded webinar on this topic. You can access it here: https://www.logisticsbureau.com/benchmarking-replay/ Related articles on this topic have appeared throughout our websites, why not check them out? Robobyrne: Warehouse & Distribution Centre Benchmarking Case Study Supply Chain Secrets: One Of The Best KPI Ever Benchmarking Success: Why Performance Benchmarking is a Powerful Management Tool Dawson Consulting: Why Supply Chain Benchmarking Matters for Small Businesses Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on October 14, 2020, under the title “Basic Introduction on Supply Chain and Logistics Benchmarking” on Logistics Bureau’s website. Best Regards, Rob O’Byrne Email: robyrne@logisticsbureau.com Phone: +61 417 417...
Read More3 Common Inventory Management ‘Sins’—And How to Avoid Them
ARTICLE SUMMARY Three rules are really important in inventory management. If you don’t get them right, you won’t be able to do a lot of other things. They are: 1) Observe ABC Classification It has long been shown that 20 percent of lines account for 80 percent of revenue and margin. These are the A-lines and should be prioritised in the warehouse. The B-lines and C-lines contribute less to revenue so they should not be treated in the same way as the A-lines. 2) Forecast Demand If you fail to forecast demand, you face the following potential risks: Running out of stockExcess inventoryObsolescence expenseHidden costs. 3) Draft an Inventory Policy If you don’t have an inventory policy: 1) You won’t get consensus 2) Cause and effect will be hard to pin down 3) Systems can’t be set up 4) Comparisons will be impossible. Three rules are really important in inventory management. If you don’t get them right, you won’t be able to do a lot of other things. They are foundations in a way. Let’s examine each one in turn, likening it to commandment that shall free you from inventory-management sin. Commandment #1: Thou Shalt Observe ABC Classification It has long been shown that 20 percent of lines account for 80 percent of revenue and margin. In a Supply Chain Secrets YouTube video, Kieran Hogan says he has been in the industry pretty much his entire working life and hasn’t seen any place yet where this rule—or something close to it— doesn’t apply. An example from a company that turned to Kieran for help in cutting its costs and streamlining its warehousing operations will aid in illustrating this maxim. Let’s call it Company Z. Company Z has a total of 7,029 lines with a turnover of about $51 million (see diagram above). We can break these down as follows: 1) A-lines—Turnover $41m (80 percent of total turnover). Number of lines 1,125. Percentage of lines 16% 2) B-lines—Turnover $7.69m (15 percent of total). Number of lines 1,825. Percentage of lines 26% 3) C-lines—Turnover $2.5m (5 percent of total). Number of lines 4,052. Percentage of lines 58%. As we work down the lines we see an ever-decreasing contribution to revenue. So if you want to know where to go, where the effort belongs, it’s obviously the A lines. Let’s look at an example. Imagine you are a racehorse owner and have...
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