How to Predict and Prevent Hidden Challenges in Logistics Management
13.05.2022
In recent years, connectivity and social media have been at the forefront of consumer expectations, impacting how companies’ logistics management meets consumer demands. Technology trends powered by artificial intelligence, including demand forecasting, predictive container management, and predictive linehaul planning, are reshaping traditional logistics processes, and supply chain leaders have been quick and willing to adapt. These innovative technologies gain more momentum as their demand only increases with each passing year.
Improved productivity, reduced costs, and a boost in brand value and recognition are significant benefits of tech innovation. Demand forecasting, for example, has helped companies estimate expected customer demands for certain products and optimize shipments despite facing harsh and unpredictable circumstances. Advancements like these level the playing field for smaller businesses and startups, allowing them to stand out in a larger and more competitive market.
Today, supply chains face challenges of risk, variability, volatility, and disruption that can significantly reduce the efficacy of their service levels. Companies need to adopt solutions that help them analyze and utilize data quickly and efficiently to pivot in the face of uncertainty. Logistics management helps companies predict and actively prevent failures in their processes, in addition to maintaining the reliability of their assets.
What strategies can supply chain companies implement to minimize and prevent unexpected disruptions to their logistics management?
Create a Crisis Management Strategy
The Covid-19 crisis collapsed market supply chains across the globe, forcing manufacturers everywhere to reevaluate their operations and create emergency contingency plans. If the pandemic has taught global commerce anything, it is that a strategic crisis management plan is crucial to maintaining a resilient supply chain without sacrificing competitiveness.
Now that the pandemic’s effects are slowly subsiding, the consequences of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine present yet another challenge. Companies are navigating difficult realities, such as trying to increase their domestic production to rethink their dependence on outside sources that could become unstable in the future. Crisis management plans allow companies to reassess their strategies and be fully equipped and prepared for whatever lies ahead.
In logistics, providers should create a clear-cut plan by reviewing historical data and previous crisis scenarios to learn and strategize better. By doing so, you can pinpoint risks specific to your company and create a sensible and detailed response plan that fits the level of urgency.
Information is power: It’s critical for your business to ensure data is recorded correctly through data standardization and appropriate tools across your organization. Establishing set formats will help you provide a clear picture of your company’s resources and what are the trends and issues that need addressing. Standardized data is also vital to encourage collaborative research and large-scale operations analytics.
A well-informed strategy that highlights your company’s specific strengths, weaknesses, and needs will ensure your triumph over potential failures.
Establish a Data-Driven Logistics Plan
Logistics planning helps companies outline long-term goals and select the right means to achieve those. Some of the key performance indicators (KPIs) you should keep an eye on include customer, financial, and process performance metrics critical to ensuring efficient logistics planning.
Customer-focused KPIs, for example, refer to per-customer efficiency, customer satisfaction, and customer retention. These are valuable to your logistics planning because they provide insights into how your business interacts with its greatest assets – its customers. Metrics provide concrete indicators that assist you in understanding whether your business is meeting or falling short of its goals. Thus, data-driven logistic planning is essential in keeping your company afloat during difficult times.
While your data management might need some optimization, data-driven logistics never lies. Take container standardization as an example: Shipping containers have standardized dimensions that provide reliability in the loading, transporting, and unloading of goods in ports across the globe. Having this data is key when calculating volumes by resources in times of need. Furthermore, standardization in container shipping is vital when collaborating with external shipping lines. A logistics plan that relies on real-time, standardized data minimizes the possibility of confirmation bias negatively influencing your business’ decision-making.
Data-driven logistics allow your company to make quick, productive decisions amid a crisis, allowing you to maintain a competitive edge. In shipping logistics, for instance, data on quantities, transit times, available capacity, and costs must be precise and readily available to meet consumer demands with minimal effort and avoid time delays. Real-time data can provide the accuracy and transparency needed to make critical decisions at short notice.
Delegate Your Logistics Data Management to an Expert
Logistics experts set up companies for far greater opportunities for success because they have the knowledge and expertise for efficient and cost-effective solutions.
Logistics specialists can optimize your services by leveraging innovative technology trends to help you execute and optimize shipping, guarantee shipment compliance, and ensure the correct documentation is readily available. By implementing technologies such as AI, companies save money and time, and are capable of managing the risks that come with real-time shipping optimization and management.
Part of what makes a business successful is striving for economic efficiency and ensuring your company is well-equipped to weather future storms. Developing a crisis management strategy, establishing a data-driven logistics plan, and partnering with a logistics expert can help solve some of the most pressing challenges to your logistics operations.
Are you interested in improving your agility in times of crisis? Learn more about optimizing your logistics processes in our blog.