Shipping and order fulfillment isn’t just about printing a label, sticking it to a box and passing it off to a Carrier. It takes the skills of a logistician to properly analyze and coordinate the complexities of a company’s supply chain. They are the champions behind the scenes that constantly deal with challenges such as space limitations, securing a high throughput rate with no downtime, transportation, cost control, regulations, and more, and this past year they are dealing with an upsurge in returns due to the enormous growth of online shopping. Warehouse facilities and fulfillment centers are still tackling high parcel volumes without an ideal infrastructure in place to meet expectations from demanding customers. If your company is struggling to manage the enormous growth of online shopping, free shipping, reduction in staff, and the uptick in delivering to residential addresses, then a well-rounded, experienced shipping logistics team is what you might need.

The basic responsibilities of logistician teams are to oversee supply chain management, managing and directing the movement of products, supplies and even people. As part of these processes, they analyze procedures to consistently ensure productivity and efficiency are optimized at every step. Depending on the size and scope of a business, the range of complexity of the supply chain varies.

*U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

The processes that logisticians manage have a significant effect on profits and a business’s bottom line. Implementing strategic logistics management and supply chain best practices, these masters of planning help businesses and manufacturers increase efficiency, go greener, and drive profits. Here are some techniques logisticians follow to streamline operations to control the flow and storage of goods to meet customer requirements and avoid surplus stock and losses efficiently. While these methods take time, the right qualifications and immediate response, advisory services can be outsourced to an expert like LJM Group who has more than 20 years of experience positively impacting financial performance by providing cost analysis across all industries.

• Determining the optimum logistics management model:

Deciding which portion of logistics and supply chain management would be controlled in-house and what amount would be outsourced will help determine which model is most profitable for the business. In most cases, outsourcing would be beneficial for multi-divisional or large companies as they can focus on their core functions by assigning secondary tasks to third parties.

• Optimize intelligent routing and consolidation:

Identify and evaluate the most optimum quantity and shortest supply chain cycles to eliminate unnecessary processes in the supply chain and identify methods to maximize the utilization of containers to ensure optimum use of resources at a reduced cost.

• Continuous evaluation of logistics network design:

With new logistics management and supply chain strategies constantly evolving, evaluation of factors such as physical distribution networks, capacity requirements, and overall production must be monitored daily. Customized dashboards and integration with your proprietary shipping software allow for proper tracking and valuable insight.

• Build strategic relationships:

Building good strong connections with the logistics service providers will help streamline customs clearance processes, simplify the negotiation and bidding process, and avoid delays for proper document compliance.

Maintaining and developing positive business relationships with third parties will not only simplify a supply chain and logistics management process but will exponentially benefit companies in the long run. By partnering with experienced business consultants, an advocate like LJM Group offers Logistics Advisory Services which your company can gain insight from, providing enhanced parcel control that’s invaluable in reducing Carrier shipping costs.