There are several ways to improve the bottom line of your business. One of the most effective ways is to reduce your supply chain costs. Fortunately, there are simple things one can do to achieve a lower supply chain cost.
Let’s look at a few ways supply chain costs can be reduced to increase the profit-margin of a company.
1. Better Utilize the Space
Make the most of your space to save your dollars. As you are aware, storing supplies and inventory in a warehouse costs you a lot of money. Assess whether you are utilizing the space properly. You might just find out that you could save your dollars by finding more adequate space that meets your actual requirements.
2. Automate
We don’t suggest that you should automate operation in your company warehouse following the automation trend. However, if automation can reduce the overall costs, then you should definitely consider automating your warehouse processes. Hire a professional to assess your warehouse and recommend changes to make processes more efficient.
3. Monitor Demand of Customers
You should constantly look at the demand patterns of your clients to determine whether something should be changed. You may be able to find that your clients’ patterns change overtime depending on the season and this information can help you make more accurate ordering decisions to reduce your overall costs.
4. Outsourcing
Another option you should consider is outsourcing your logistic activities. You’ll have to determine whether the third party logistic provider can meet your needs and provide you the efficiency required to reduce the overall cost. Outsourcing your logistic activities can certainly increase your savings and make it easier for you to manage your operations.
5. Measure Performance
If you don’t measure performance, even the most perfect strategy won’t help you reduce your supply chain expenses. You won’t be able to determine how much money you are saving when you don’t have any idea about the money you are spending in you supply chain operations. Select key performance indicators to gauge how you are doing against your savings goals.
6. Streamline Order Mechanism
Make your company’s ordering mechanism more efficient to reduce your costs. This means several things. The software used to complete requisition should be same throughout your chain. Otherwise, you’ll likely experience problems where employees working on different systems end up giving orders of excessive products or supplies. You should also implement a pre-approval process to ensure that no one orders anything without the designated official’s consent.
7. Assess Internal Operations
All in-house tasks and operations should work properly so that there aren’t any internal problems that can have an adverse impact on your overall supply chain. So make sure to access the internal operations of your chain to determine the changes required for optimizing the efficiency and performance.
If you need more advice or want to outsource your logistic activities and other operations contact Osborne Logistics.
