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How to Make Your Entire Supply Chain Greener

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StrategyDriven Tactical Execution Article |Supply Chain|How to Make Your Entire Supply Chain GreenerAs more and more businesses start to pay attention to how they operate in greener and more efficient ways, one of the things that your business can’t afford to overlook is its supply chain. It’s all well and good making your business green, but if the tentier company depends on a supply chain that’s anything but environmentally friendly, it doesn’t mean much. So here’s how to make your entire supply chain greener.

Reduce Distances

Using more local resources is one of the things you can do to make the supply chain of your business a bit greener. When you reduce the amount of distances that products need to travel, it makes it easier for you to reduce your carbon emissions. If you’re supplying items from the other side of the world, that’s obviously going to cause a much greater impact on the planet.

Plan Smarter Routes

The routes you plan can also have an impact when it comes to how green your supply chain is. If you can make sure that you’re taking the smartest and most efficient routes, you should be able to make your supply chain greener than it was before. If you’ve been using the same routes for transporting and distributing goods for a long time, you might not even be aware of how outdated or inefficient they are.

Use Electric Vehicles for Transportation

Another thing to consider when it comes to transportation is using electric vehicles. It’s something that most businesses are now able to embrace. By committing to only transporting goods on the road with electric vehicles, you’ll massively reduce the environmental impact of your business and its entire supply chain. As EVs become more affordable, it’s something more and more businesses are doing. It’s definitely an option for you to explore.

Work with Suppliers That Take a Sustainable Approach

Working with suppliers who are as committed to green changes just as much as you are is obviously something that’s very important. Superior Farms is an example of a food company that’s committed to those goals, and there are similar options in just about every industry and niche. All you need to do is go out of your way to find them and see if you can then work together.

Shrink the Packaging

Shrinking the packaging and making sure that you’re not wasting resources with the packaging you choose is something that’ll be really important. Having green practices in place will be meaningless if you’re relying on tons of plastic to get your products into stores and to customers. So try to find alternative packaging methods and do what you can to shrink the packaging.

It might seem like a lot of work and effort, but taking gradual steps to make your supply chain as green and efficient as it can be will not only help the planet; it’ll help your business too. It becomes a selling point and by maximizing efficiency, you can save yourself a lot of money too.

Delivering Packages To Your Customers: What You Need To Know

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StrategyDriven Tactical Execution Article |Package delivery|Delivering Packages To Your Customers: What You Need To KnowAs a small or established business, getting your products to your customer is one of the most important things to get right. It won’t be as simple as letting the mailman take it, you will need professional solutions to be as effective as you can.

Consider How You Package Your Products

You will have a range of options when it comes to packaging your products. You will first have to think about if your product is perishable or not. It will also be worth considering the shelf life of your product in general, as this could mean you need unique packaging solutions, rather than a conventional box. Some packages will need to be packed delicately, meaning you may need to bubble wrap.

Consider How You Gather Customer Information

For you to get your packages to the right place, you will need to ensure you are getting the right delivery information. You will have a few options to consider, from giving customers the option to confirm their addresses as they input them, to you sending emails to them post-purchase for confirmation.

In some cases, your business may not have the time or systems in place to deal with all this on your own. That’s why businesses have started using innovative technology solutions that give not only address verification upon input but also with email services. For example, you could use Lob’s service to help automate address verification on a mass scale, giving you more flexibility and visibility when it comes to your business.

These sorts of systems help to save time with transforming outdated manual input, as well as verifying the locations to help ensure that the package will be sent to the right person. This will help save costs when it comes to not losing packages and improving brand reputation when a package arrived on time.

You may also need to think about if you keep customer information on record. Most businesses will do this with emails, allowing them to send order confirmations, as well as send digital newsletters to them later on to give them exclusive discounts to help keep their custom.

Consider If You Will Deliver In-House Or With A Partner

Whilst it is possible to have your in-house delivery service, it will most likely be more cost-effective to partner with an established delivery service. Even partnering up with a local delivery service could see you save costs. You should consider speaking to a few different delivery services to get the best quotes as well as times.

It’s not only important to look at delivery prices, but the times in which they will leave you and arrive with the customer. If a customer sees that it will take two weeks to arrive, whereas a similar product with a competitor will take a few days, then it is likely that they will choose someone else for convenience. This is why a delivery services reputation is also important, as if they mismanage your products and delivery times, it will be you that hears about it and suffers.

Ensure The Cost Of Packaging Is Worth The Sale

The cost of wrapping a product and get it to the customer is also worth thinking about. It could affect how much you will charge someone. In most cases, businesses will just ask that customers pay the delivery fee that they have to pay, but they may have extra fees that need applying to meet a threshold.

Some businesses will use packaging automation solutions that are essentially a set of machines that will mass package your products for you. This could give you a variety of different options, from using bags, boxes, or packets. It will also be important to consider if your package is being sent directly to a customer, or if it is being sent to another business to be sold again.

Consider How You Will Deal With Potential Returns

Your packages will not always arrive in prime condition even if you’ve tried your best. A package may also be sent to a customer with the incorrect contents. Either the wrong amount of product or the wrong product in general.

This means that returns in general are probably inevitable at some point for your business. You should consider inserting a how-to return guide on your website, or as a piece of paper within the package itself. Some businesses will even include a return package envelope to allow customers to return goods without needing to pay for the shipping themselves.

Create A Packaging Strategy

No matter what you do, it will benefit you and your business to create a packaging strategy of some kind. That means weighing up the cost versus the revenue, as well as how it will get to point A to point B. You should speak to members of your organization to find if they have any ideas, to find cut-saving methods and time-saving techniques.

Get Control of Your Company’s Spending With Procurement Options

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Finances Article |Procurement |Get Control of Your Company's Spending With Procurement OptionsTaking control of the spending your company is doing may not be easy, but it’s extremely important. Companies that are spending too much often find that they’re not successful in keeping costs reasonable. That can lead to overruns that really cut into their bottom line. It may also lead them to charge more for their products, which could drive away customers. In more extreme cases, bad spending habits could even drive a company out of business. But you have the opportunity to avoid those kinds of issues. Here’s how.

Make Sure You’re Working With Quality Sources

The sources you’re getting your products from are important. Not every company has quality sources, and companies that aren’t getting the right sources may find that they’re not providing what they need to their employees or their customers. As your company focuses on its procurement needs, you can change that, and make your company more successful. Understanding what you really need to purchase, where to get it, when it’s needed, and other factors all go into procurement decisions.

These decisions shouldn’t be taken lightly, by any company. Making a bad decision can quickly end up costing your company more than you expect, even if the product or item doesn’t seem to be that central to your business. Small things like office supplies, for example, can really add up if the quality is bad, people keep taking them, or you’re paying too much for them because you’re buying for convenience and not value. Taking a look at all your company’s procurement decisions is the place to start.

Don’t Settle for Less Than the Best Terms

It’s not just about price when it comes to procurement. It’s also about the terms you’re getting. That can really affect the value, especially if you’re paying high rates of interest or the shipping costs are too expensive. There may be other ways to get what you need, so it’s vital to shop around for better terms. If you aren’t shopping around, you’re probably spending too much. Over time, even small amounts of extra expense can add up for a business and cause serious problems. Proper procurement helps to avoid those types of issues, but it may not be able to eliminate them completely.

Make Sure You Know What Customers Want

Understanding what your customers want is a big part of proper procurement. You could be getting the best deal on everything you’re buying, but if you’re not giving customers what they’re looking for, that really isn’t going to matter.

It’s unfortunate, but many companies ignore what customers really want, in favor of what the company thinks those customers want. Those two things are often not the same, and both the company and the customers lose out in these types of situations. Procurement solutions that help you work with customers and give them what they want are very important.

Look for Ways to Save Without Losing Value

Savings should be part of your procurement strategy and solution, but you also don’t want to get so focused on spending less money that you lose out on value. Getting good value matters, since your employees need it and so do your customers. Focusing on a strong level of value, and then finding solutions that are based on that value at the lowest total cost is one of the best ways to source items your company needs. It takes some time to research and do this, but it’s definitely worth the effort for your company.

Talk to Your Employees About the Products

Asking your employees about the products you have can really give you some insight into whether those products are good quality or not. Employees are the ones who work with these products all day, and they probably have a lot of insight. Especially for employees who’ve been there a long time, the knowledge of your products is probably pretty high. Rather than just hope those employees are happy, your procurement strategy may be improved by working with them and asking about issues and concerns. If there are significant problems, making procurement changes may help to solve them.

Choose a Solution to Keep You on Track

Because not every company understands how to handle procurement correctly, it may be important to find a solution that’s going to keep your company on track. There are options for help and support, including software that can guide you and help your company make the best decisions. While it may not be right for everyone, it’s a valuable way to help most companies continue to move forward. No matter what kind of solution you choose for procurement issues, making sure you’re giving customers what they want and need should be the main focus of anything your company has to offer.

Helpful Tips To Make Shipping Orders From Your at-Home Business Easier

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |At-Home Business|Helpful Tips To Make Shipping Orders From Your at-Home Business EasierRunning a home business is challenging enough as it is, but when you have to ship physical products around the world from your own home, it can further complicate things and create a surprising number of problems. So to give you a hand, we’ve put together some helpful tips that will assist you in shipping orders from your at-home business.

Stock up on wholesale mailing and packaging goods

First, make sure you stock up on different mailing and packaging goods at home. The last thing you want to do is buy single boxes or small quantities of packaging materials. It’s expensive and you’ll save a lot of money buying bulk bubble mailers and other mailing goods. This is a great way to cut costs, but it also means you’re less likely to run out at an inopportune time.

But try out different varieties before you buy in bulk

There are also lots of different mailing goods available, such as different kinds of boxes and packaging materials. If you want to protect the stuff you’re sending, make sure you try different kinds of packaging goods first before you commit to a bulk purchase.

Use the smallest packaging possible to save on costs

A little tip to help you save on packaging costs is to get the smallest boxes possible that can contain your items yet also offer enough protection to ensure they don’t get damaged in transit. The goal here is to go for a size that is small enough so that you don’t pay extra shipping costs on a large box. This can be difficult if you send a variety of products, so it’s not a tip that every business can use.

Ensure your items are packed safely with plenty of protection

We’ve briefly mentioned protective materials already but we believe that it deserves a more detailed description. Packaging materials come in many different shapes, sizes and materials. The key here is to ensure that it’s economical, not troublesome for the buyer (such as loose foam or packaging that makes a mess), and can potentially be reused if the buyer was to send their own items in the future.

Find the cheapest and most reliable postage services

A great way to trim shipping costs is to look for cheap and reliable postage services. Yes, they do exist, and it’s important that you get a quote from a variety of different shipping companies to see who you can work with. This isn’t an easy or short process, but the idea is to find a reliable shipping company that you can create a working relationship with so you can start doing bulk deliveries which cut down the cost of shipping.

Decide what extras you’re going to include

Lastly, decide beforehand what kind of extras you’ll include with each order. Just sending your customer’s items is fine, but adding a flyer, business card, or even little goodies such as stickers can be a great personalized addition that sets you apart from the competition.

What is Multimodal Shipping?

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StrategyDriven Tactical Execution Article |Multimodal Shipping|What is Multimodal Shipping?When you ship items from your warehouse, you likely place them on a truck and send them on their way. Not all shipments stay on the ground the whole time, though. An increasing number of transportation providers are implementing multimodal transport to improve the efficiency of their operations and get shipments to their destinations at a lower cost.

In the simplest terms, multimodal transport or multimodal shipping means that a single carrier uses a combination of round, air, sea, or rail transportation to move goods from one location to another. Opting for this type of shipping offers a variety of benefits to both the shipper and their clients alike, and preserves the supply chain in the face of challenges brought on by major businesses like Walmart and Amazon, as well as disruptions like those created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Multimodal vs. Intermodal Transport

Before getting into the benefits of multimodal transport, it’s worth discussing the difference between multimodal and intermodal transport.

Although both types of shipping use at least two forms of transport (for example, land and air), the primary difference is that intermodal shipping uses multiple carriers. In other words, one carrier manages the ground portion of the shipment, and then hands off the shipment to another carrier for the air transport, or vice versa. The shipper pays each carrier separately, and your reports, receipts, and tracking details will come from each carrier individually, and only deal with their portion of the journey.

Intermodal can help speed up shipments, but it can be complex to manage. That’s why many shippers are turning to multimodal shipments instead.

How Multimodal Shipping Benefits Businesses

Opting for multimodal shipping can benefit your business in a number of ways.

Reduced Costs

Although you may receive competitive rates from an intermodal shipping company, opting for multimodal can be a more cost-effective option. Transport providers often provide more competitive rates when you allow them to handle the entire shipment, and offer priority status. Multimodal shipping can also result in tax incentives for shippers. Because these arrangements typically involve making infrastructure investments, companies that opt for multimodal transport enjoy certain incentives that would not otherwise be available. Multimodal transport also reduces carbon offset costs, further reducing expenditures.

Improved Communication

In contrast to intermodal shipping, multimodal shipping only requires communicating with a single operator. The central provider manages all of the communication with the actual transportation providers, ensuring you have a single point of contact in the event there is an issue. For instance, if you receive data from an impact recorder indicating rough handling or excessive vibration, you can work with the multimodal provider to solve the problem.

Faster Delivery Times

There are times when intermodal transport may be the faster option, but multimodal transport is often the faster option. Federal regulations govern how long a single carrier can move freight in one trip under the Electronic Logging Devices (ELD) Mandate. Essentially, this only allows freight to be in motion for a certain amount of time before the operator must rest. It’s mostly applicable to trucking, but it does add time to truck transport.

When a driver can transfer a load to another form of transport, like a train, though, the shipment is able to keep moving despite those limitations. Instead of sitting idle for 24 hours or more while the truck driver rests, the shipment reaches its destination more quickly. Using multiple modes of transportation can also cut shipping time for shipments traveling long distance. For example, shipping partially by air cuts a significant amount of time, even when the last leg is handled by truck or train.

Getting the Most from Multimodal Shipping

Using multimodal shipping can be beneficial to your company, but it does require proper management. That begins with evaluating all of the modes before selecting one for your shipments. Not all shipments are well suited for all modes, and what works for other companies may not be ideal for yours.

It’s also important to connect your transportation management system with the carrier, so you can effectively monitor your shipments at every stage. All of your freight processes should be data-driven and based on real-time, contextual data collected at every step of the shipment process. Armed with this information, you can implement efficient, cost-effective shipping policies and procedures that align with your company’s strategic goals and budget.