What Smart Logistics Can do for Your Supply Chain

Digitalisation and the Internet of Things are already making waves and shaping the future of societies and businesses worldwide. Logistics and supply chain management are fields that have entertained a lot of ideas and have been rapidly modernising over the past half-century. How can smart logistics affect your supply chain and what does it all mean?

The “Good” Old Days

It used to be the norm for businesses to procure most of their supplies from one or two key suppliers and to purchase well in advance and in large order quantities. Warehouses and inventory space would commonly be full and costly to maintain. Before the internet existed, supply chain management was comparatively wasteful and inefficient.

Fast forward to the era of Toyota and the 1980s revolution in auto manufacturing. Lean manufacturing and just-in-time delivery were revolutionary ideas precisely because they not only improved assembly line efficiency and encouraged quality, but they were able to minimise the amount of inventory space required and to have exactly what they needed exactly when they needed it.

Digitalisation

Any business in today’s day in age needs to have a reliable and quality supply chain. Mass customisation means that customers just won’t tolerate waiting weeks or months for a product to ship when it can be acquired from a competitor with guaranteed delivery or order processing times.

Incoming and outgoing logistics, therefore, need to be well-maintained in order to keep a good balance of supply whilst meeting customer demand. Procurement software such as SAP and other similar products help businesses achieve greater control over their purchasing and sales figures so that problems can be quantified and isolated in order to come up with clever and innovative solutions.

Digitalisation has led to an increasingly higher demand for tight delivery schedules and short order processing times. If your customer sees your product online, they’ll likely assume that from the point of sale to receiving their product there won’t be any major problems, otherwise, they’ll simply switch to a competitor like Amazon.

Freight Delivery Schedules

Accordingly with an increase in next-day delivery and greater expectations on behalf of both customers and businesses to tighten their supply chains, freight delivery has become more reliant on smart logistics solutions to ensure that deliveries are on time and that customers’ satisfaction is maximised. This has led to an ever-greater reliance on trustworthy relationships with freight forwarders and logistics companies.

What used to be delivery windows of days or weeks have now become as low as 30-minute intervals for large just-in-time production facilities. If you’re looking for a logistics solution that can get the job done well, you’ll want to look for companies that have adopted digital and smart logistics technologies in order to arrive at their destination on time.

From automated replenishment software and RFID technology to GPS and on-board traffic management solutions for freight forwarders, it only makes sense to go with a company that can maintain your business needs and get your supplies or products to where they need to be on time every time. Freight People serves the Australian market to achieve just this; they’re reliable and up-to-date with the latest trends and labour-saving solutions in the industry.

Cost Savings

An old rule of thumb was that around 30% of your product’s cost can be attributed to logistics alone. Conversion from raw materials to end product as well as possible obsolescence and waste factors mean that your end product can end up costing far more than what customers are willing to pay.

Any amount of leverage that you can gain from negotiating for better procurement rates and more reliable logistics means that not only can you expect to increase delivery times but you can also significantly lower your overall product costs and therefore increase your profit margins.

If you’re looking for an affordable yet modern and smart logistics company, look no further than Freight People. Whatever your business needs, we’ll find the optimal and most efficient routes and modes or transporting your freight within Australia.