Streamline your logistics process by assessing your current system, leveraging technology, optimizing supply chain management, enhancing transportation management, implementing warehouse best practices, utilizing data analysis, and building a skilled logistics team.
To grow your business, you need a fast and reliable supply chain. How you handle logistics affects everything: getting orders out the door, managing what’s on your shelves, and keeping your customers coming back.
Here are seven straightforward ways to tighten up operations and help cut costs, gain efficiency, and give you real-time information you can actually use. But the biggest benefit? A streamlined supply chain that can roll with the punches when things go wrong. Whether you’re in retail, manufacturing, or the auto industry, your business needs to stay on its toes. But before getting into specifics, let’s clarify what a logistics process actually entails.
A logistics process is a process that involves planning, managing, and controlling the movement and storage of goods within your supply chain. It includes many activities, such as:
Now, let’s look at seven actionable steps that will help you modernize your logistics processes.
Before you move forward, take a hard look at where you are now. Note what works and what doesn’t. Lay out your logistics process, step by step, and be honest about your strengths and weaknesses.
Many businesses find it helpful to use clear maps and charts to show the flow of goods in and out. This isn’t just for you—it’s for everyone involved. Get input from all levels, from the warehouse floor to the executive suite. Each person sees things differently, and diverse insights are valuable.
Consider the example of a multinational cosmetics and healthcare company that recently conducted a supply chain audit with Hafezi Capital. The company found itself facing significant delays in product launches, escalating transportation costs, and rising inventory expenses. Through a comprehensive audit that involved 44 in-depth interviews with key employees and stakeholders, the company identified a critical misalignment between its strategic goals and its global supply chain structure.
By restructuring their supply chain and improving their inventory management, they reduced transportation costs by $16.8 million per year and increased their product launch success rate from 68% to 93% within 18 months.
Tools like audits and value stream mapping can help you find similar bottlenecks. Look closely at what’s holding you back. Identify the pain points and address them head-on. Only then can you start to reach your goals.
Technology is at the backbone of efficient logistics. The right software can cut down the time it takes to process orders and manage inventory, giving you a clear view of what’s happening in real-time and helping you make smarter decisions fast.
Here, artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming a game-changer. According to a McKinsey study, successful implementation of AI can help businesses improve logistics costs by 15% and inventory levels by 35%.
Using AI for demand forecasting can slash error rates, reduce stockouts, and improve customer satisfaction.
Look at Amazon, which invested heavily in warehouse robots after acquiring Kiva Systems in 2012. Today, the warehouse giant has 200,000 robots working in warehouses and fulfillment centers, helping human workers more efficiently pick, sort, transport, and stow packages.
AI isn’t just about moving goods through faster; it’s about keeping your equipment running smoothly too. Predictive maintenance, powered by AI, can save companies like GE, Honeywell, and IBM over $50 billion each year.
Now, mix AI with the Internet of Things (IoT). Your connected devices tell you where everything is, how it’s doing, and when it might fail. AI takes this data, finds patterns, and shows you where to tighten up operations, making your logistics not just efficient, but nearly bulletproof. Consider Tesla’s use of AI and IoT in its Gigafactories to significantly improve production and worker safety.
Logistics hinge on effective supply chain management. Build solid ties with your suppliers. Speak plainly and often with your partners. Set expectations that are clear, and work together to make sure deliveries are on time.
Using just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing keeps your supply chain lean and can reduce costs by ordering only what you need, when you need it. But for this to work, you must see your supply chain in real-time and keep communication sharp. Any delay or mistake in stock data can cause shortages and missed orders.
There are numerous examples of companies realizing major wins through implementing a JIT approach. Motorcycle manufacturer, Harley-Davidson, was able to reduce its inventory holdings by 75% and reduce the extra warehousing costs. High-end watchmaker, Grayson, increased its cash flow by 70% within a year. And when Nike implemented JIT in 2012, the shoemaker cut lead times by 40%, increased productivity by 20%, and brought new models to market 30% faster.
Good transport keeps your logistics running smoothly, so you can cut waste and shorten routes to save fuel and hit your delivery times. Choose your transportation wisely—considering cost, speed, and reliability.
A transport management system (TMS) gives you full visibility into what’s happening on the road. It shows you where things get stuck and helps keep everything moving. Tie it all together with your other tech, like your warehouse and ERP systems, for a full view of your operations.
Working with a logistics company may enable your business to focus on its core competencies while insider experts hone in on fleet management, managing vast transportation networks, and negotiating insider rates with multiple freight carriers. Some manufacturers report significant, immediate wins, such as reductions in freight costs of up to 20% and substantial reductions in fuel surcharges.
Your warehouse is a linchpin for efficiency and using a warehouse management system (WMS) like Indago brings order to inventory and enforces standardized practices that align with business goals. Leading solutions offer real-time tracking, ensuring your products reach customers quickly. The right WMS also sharpens inventory control and lowers storage costs. You’ll gain the agility to implement strategies like just-in-time reordering, keeping your operations lean and responsive.
Businesses like NAPA Auto Parts and Auto Care Association use Epicor Indago to minimize the need for physical inventory counts, reduce stocking requirements, and help eliminate ‘not found’ parts.
Data represents one of your greatest allies for greater efficiency.
Use metrics like order accuracy and delivery times to determine whether your logistics processes are aligned with customer needs and expectations. If not, you can use data analytics to pinpoint the source of the problem and fix it.
Methodologies like Kaizen, Six Sigma, or Theory of Constraints (TOC) can enhance your overall manufacturing strategy.
Modern tech tools lay the groundwork for logistics improvement, but your team’s skill is what drives success. A capable logistics team is a cross-functional blend of professionals able to continuously adapt and innovate, while continually adding to and sharing their own individual expertise.
If outside hires are not possible, look inward. Within your existing workforce, identify employees with relevant skills, problem-solving ability, and collaborative work ethic, and provide targeted training to fill in knowledge gaps.
Epicor has helped numerous clients streamline their logistics processes and sprint toward long-term business goals.
Carvana leveraged Epicor Catalog, the largest automotive aftermarket parts database, to improve operations and boost efficiency by gaining access to over 17 million SKUs from more than 9,500 manufacturer product lines.
Tim Moore, Senior Director of Vehicle Reconditioning Technology at Carvana, said that Epicor Catalog is clutch as it provides “the right data at the right time.”
Another client, Motion & Flow Control Products (MFCP), wanted to move more of its clients to electronic data interchange (EDI), a computer-to-computer exchange of business forms to standardize transactions. The organization adopted Epicor HQX to automate the process of uploading orders. This HQX platform complemented other Epicor solutions that the business was already using while adding visibility into orders, invoices, and shipments.
As a result, MFCP was able to successfully transition Parker Hannifin, its largest vendor, to EDI. The move was a complete success, and MFCP has since moved eight other vendors and several customers to EDI, resulting in improved productivity for the organization’s purchasing and accounts payable teams.
Both of these clients took a tech-centric approach to logistics optimization. They eliminated blind spots by using Epicor solutions and increased visibility to inform decision-making.
Check out Transforming Industries With an AI-Enabled Supply Chain for more insights into how you can use technologies like artificial intelligence to modernize your logistics processes.
Are you ready to explore the future of AI-enabled logistics processes? As a leader in the manufacturing supply chain, Epicor helps your organization break through growth barriers and strengthen its competitive edge.
Contact Epicor and let’s discuss how to modernize your logistics process with technology solutions tailored to your team, organization, and industry.
