Take a deep breath and flow through these easy tips!
1.) Be a Visionary
Never underestimate the value of forecasting and how it impacts your supply chain and ultimately your profitability. By anticipating seasonal or one-time events, you can better control costs and reduce risk.
2.) Be Flexible, and Bend Over Backward
Align your service solutions with your customers’ priorities. Satisfy your customers with exactly what they’ve been asking for. That’s what service is all about.
3.) Study
Do your homework before making any big investments. Instead of building a distribution center or committing to a long-term lease, explore using a third- party logistics solution. Consider return on investment, growth, and agility when weighing all options.
4.) Stretch
Build flexibility into your supply chain network. What would drastic changes to your business do to distribution? How would packing and fulfillment be handled? A distribution partner should be like a yogi: able to comfortably hold any position.
5.) Share your deepest thoughts
Your team and logistics partners aren’t mind readers. Help them out by clearly outlining service expectations and business goals. They can’t pitch in with recommendations for improvements and cost savings unless they clearly know what your priorities are.
Not everyone can perfectly balance cost and service on their own. An experienced 3PL partner can provide many services that can’t be handled in-house.
Trust the experts at Ice. We’ve got this. (Namaste.)
