Innovation in your supply chains. You cannot cut your business to glory. There comes a time when being smarter is the better option. After some seven years of hearing and reading about re-organisation and retrenchment as a solution to business challenges, is it the right time to invest in smarter supply chains? This thought was triggered by a recent report … Read More
Logistics Service Providers can improve their business
What do shippers require of their 3PL suppliers? A third party logistics (3PL) service provider is unlikely to be equally good at every part of their service offering. So what aspects of the service should 3PL businesses and their shipper clients aim for? The events firm Eye for Transport has recently asked shippers and retailers in North America to rank … Read More
Making your supply chains really effective takes time
Productivity as a part of your business. Achieving substantial improvements to the supply chains and logistics of your business is not a five minute exercise. Productivity improvement always involves managers actually managing; that is, allocating resources to achieve the desired outcomes. And that can mean people changing their role in the business or being retrenched – always a difficult exercise. … Read More
The total cost of your low cost items may be high
Know the Total Cost of Ownership for items. Are you thinking about outsourcing the manufacture and delivery of a product, or renewing a current outsourcing contract? For manufacturing items, you may think of China or other countries in north or south east Asia. Why? because production costs are considered to be lower. Labour costs are still a dominant feature when … Read More
Government policy can affect your supply chains
When governments want to make money. Your business has shipped through a port for many years. Suppose the port is owned by the government and they have decided to substantially increase the rent paid by stevedores. The reason is to make the port attractive for sale to private operators. Of course, to cover the rent increase, stevedores will increase their rates … Read More