3 Techniques To Optimize Your Supply Chain (And Reduce Your Costs!)

In these often disrupted times, it is more than necessary for certain sectors of activity to optimize the supply chain and limit costs. In this article, we invite you to (re)discover 3 transport and logistics techniques in order to know how to improve the management of goods.

1.     Consolidation of goods to optimize the supply chain

If you want to have products of all types delivered over long distances, grouping goods is an effective solution! Indeed, depending on the volumes of stocks to be transported, the space reserved for you and the budgetary cost are made by the pallet. It is therefore not necessarily necessary to mobilize an entire truck depending on the case.

As a result, this technique has several advantages to optimize the supply chain:

  • Deliver to remote sites.
  • Reduce your transport costs: payment for transport is only made by the pallet.
  • Limit pollutant emissions: fewer trucks on the road for fewer GHG emissions.

A definite advantage for small businesses!

It is sometimes difficult for Small To Medium Size Enterprises- SMEs to find a transport offer adapted to their budget. This is why the consolidation of goods is interesting to optimize the supply chain of small companies. This technique allows you to enjoy space in the trucks, according to your needs, paying only by the number of pallets used.

2.     Save time with the cross-docking technique

Sometimes you need to insure and adapt quickly to peaks in demand to satisfy your customers… Cross-docking is an effective technique when logistics flows need to accelerate.

Your stocks remain less than 24 hours for more fluidity and speed of the supply chain

This is the advantage of cross-docking: the goods that arrive on the logistics platform remain for less than 24 hours. Indeed, without the additional links of picking or storage, you necessarily save time and productivity!

The other major advantage of this logistics technique? The reduction of your logistics management costs! And yes, by minimizing storage time and product handling, you can limit costs and optimize the supply chain.

3.     Keep control over your stocks with a traceability system

Working with a goods traceability system is now essential for the good supply chain management.

You can enjoy the advantages of a tracing system, both on:

  • Transport: knowing where and when your goods transit.

In a sector where there are many standards to be respected (hygiene, origin, etc.), such a system makes it possible to control the proper routing of products.

It is more than useful to know the volumes of goods in a timely manner in order to avoid any form of overstocking or understocking. Consequences that could lead to additional costs…

A good 3pl company in California, USA, can help you optimize your supply chain to the maximum and improve your overall transport and logistics performance.