Business success is contingent on maintaining a competitive edge.  Maximizing supply chain activities allows businesses to operate at highly proficient and effective levels.  Supply chain management integrates all facets of business operation and production, including product development, procurement, construction, and logistics.  Businesses are discovering that they are unable to maximize customer value using a single supply chain strategy.  The same supply chain stratagem will satisfy some customers but the desires of other consumers may go unfulfilled, and for others, the costs may be too great. As a business owner, should you consider supply chain segmentation?  The answer is yes. Supply chain segmentation means grouping services or faculties together to meet an explicit set of requirements.   Segmentation allows businesses to meet their customer needs at the lowest cost.  It provides an organizational framework that consistently delivers value and business control the complete life progression of a product.  Supply chain segmentation generally follows these steps: Step One - Group Products and Delivery Channels Step One - Group Products and Delivery Channels The first step for segmentation involves grouping products and delivery methods and creating a matrix, where all combinations are represented.  Each combination is considered an individual supply chain.  The distinct supply chains are rated using business revenue factors of gross profitability and sales.  Step Two - Simplify Step Two - Simplify Supply chain segmentation entails separating the supply chain into specific divisions.  Generally this process requires a thorough analysis of customers buying habits.  What are customers buying?  How are customers buying products and services?  What groupings are profitable?  What are customers preferred delivery methods?  The analysis leads to specific information that reduces the complexity of providing distinctive customer value, product quality, and delivery capabilities. Analysis provides a business with customer segments that leads to advantageous supply chain strategies and operational plans that are in sync with customer demand.  Some parts may be eliminated because they do not contribute to the bottom line.  Operational procedures will include a responsive strategy that combines customer satisfaction, customer service, speed, and order completion. Step Three – Prioritize Step Three – Prioritize The third step involves combining the findings from the first two steps.  Using the matrix prioritization and the results from the customer analysis, determine the various trade-offs between cost, speed, and service. Step Four – Alignment Step Four – Alignment Aligning the individual supply chains is the fourth, and most difficult, step.  This step involves merging suppliers, product manufacturers, inventory management, product warehousing, and business procedures.  Fortunately, supply chain segmentation incorporates the use of standard parts in most product design.  Segmentation involves increasing the level of configurability in the design for the purposes of increasing customer value.  Standard components are the common base for a wide variety of product configurations. The segmentation allows businesses to use the same manufacturing base for all supply chains eliminating the use of different production facilities for different customer segments.  This leveraging of production reduces costs. There is a solid relationship between badly managed supply chains and profit loss.  Global supply chains are particularly challenging to administer because of the fluctuating demands for products.  Supply chain segmentation offers a tremendous opportunity for increasing customer satisfaction and reducing costs.  Third party logistics companies can help businesses obtain the competitive edge with supply chain segmentation by lowering operational and administrative costs.  Some of the services provided include: Complete order fulfillment On-line inventory management Detailed management reports Complete consolidation and de-consolidation procedures Complete transportation services Dependable warehouse services Many companies don’t realize that they need to segment their customers and they currently treat everyone with the same supply chain strategy. Supply chain segmentation is the effective management of supply chain events to increase customer value and realize a viable competitive advantage. If you're looking for supply chain management & logistics solutions in the US, Canadian or Mexican markets, give 3PL Links a call today!

Cross-border shipping is an integral part of the global economy and an especially important component of the commercial relationship between the United States and Canada. The United States Census Bureau reported that in May of 2014 the U.S. imported over $30 billion in goods from Canada. If your business is looking to engage in any kind of cross-border shipping, it is important that you ship your goods in an efficient way that also complies with all the pertinent regulations for this type of commerce. Include the Proper Documents Include the Proper Documents The first step in making sure that you can properly engage in cross-border shipping is getting your documents in order. Important things that you need to have include: Your bill of lading that is filled out with all the necessary information Evidence of the purchase of the goods, such as an invoice or purchase order A license to import/export: this is usually only required for products that are regulated, like firearms, tobacco, etc. It is a good idea to keep all of these belongings together in an envelope or file that is easily accessible in case your driver needs to provide any of these documents to officials at the border. Arrange the Shipment with a Customs Broker Arrange the Shipment with a Customs Broker In order for your shipment to get across Canada and into the United States, you must have the help of a customs broker. It is important that you deal with a dependable customs broker that has a history of doing good work for clients. Ideally you will be able to find a customs broker that operates 24 hours a day so that you can get your goods cleared across the border even if it is the middle of the night. It is also important that you find a customs broker that uses the most efficient methods. For example, a broker that uses Remote Location Filing (RLF) will be able to save you time by electronically transmitting data about your cargo from a remote location. This will allow you to get your cargo across the border much more smoothly. Pay All Necessary Taxes and Fees Pay All Necessary Taxes and Fees The United States Customs and Border Protection determines duty rates on shipments that are entering the United States. In order to get the exact duty rates for the items that you are bringing into the United States, you must have detailed information about your goods and how and where they were manufactured. If you use the right customs brokerage for your cross-border shipping, these fees can usually be taken care of electronically. Cross-border shipping must go smoothly for companies that are sending goods into the United States so that these companies can keep sufficient revenues flowing in. If your business is looking to minimize the complexity of shipping LTL goods across the U.S. border, it is important to find a dependable provider for help interpreting the many regulations that govern this type of transaction.

Efficient supply chain management on a global scale is a handful for even the most logistics-savvy companies. When you are entangled in the global market there are a lot of blind corners and gray areas. There is going to be a lot of days that you wish that the straight line you drew between two points on the whiteboard was a reality. With that being said, global supply chain management is a difficult yet not impossible task. Here is a checklist of tasks that every business needs to follow to maintain the efficiency of their global supply chain. Global Supply Chain Management Checklist  Global Supply Chain Management Checklist  [  ] Always Start With Risk Management: Operational Risk Management is more than just a buzzword. It has to be the starting point of every logistics operation. While it may not be possible to disaster-proof every movement, you cannot know what contingencies you will need to prepare for if you do not take the time to consider the events that will have the most disruptive effects upon your operations. You need to consider how you will do business if your critical systems are rendered inoperable, what steps to take to respond to these catastrophes, and how to resume operations as quickly as possible. [  ] Assess Your Vulnerabilities: Now that you have taken the time to ask what could go wrong, take a close look at where the weakest links in your supply chain are. You will need to respond accordingly, investing time and money into improving linkage that is most likely to become a critical break in your supply chain. In some cases, you may find that eliminating and replacing the vulnerable aspects of your business may be the only course of action that can be justified. [  ] Upgrade Your Infrastructure: Outdated infrastructure will cause more problems for you than every other supply chain challenge combined. Falling behind in terms of information technology, manufacturing, storage, electronics, or distribution can happen faster than you think. Companies like Amazon are investing in cutting edge infrastructure and raising customer expectation to the point that the risk of falling behind has never been greater. [  ] Create A Comprehensive Logistics Plan: Now you should be prepared to plan out your supply chain with confidence. You will not be able to do this alone. You will have to engage your suppliers as well as your end-users in the planning phase if you want a fully integrated solution. A lot has been said about sustainability of supply chain in the last few years, but it is easier said than done. Make it easier by involving all stakeholders in creating a shared outcome desirable to all parties. [  ] Set Realistic Goals: Your plan should be achievable and timely but not so timid as to hold your business back from its full potential. Take the risks that you know you can mitigate and make the moves that you know you can pull off. Nothing is ever accomplished without some risk, and being as audacious as you possibly manage may separate you from your competition. [  ] Always Keep An Eye On Costs: As you execute your plan, always keep one eye on the costs involved and see if there are any areas where you can reduce them. Budgeting on the high side may be necessary when you are upgrading infrastructure or initiating new links in your chain, but when things are up and running that is when you need to institute financial efficacy with as much determination as you would logistical efficiency. If you need any further assistance in the area of your Global Supply Chain Management & Logistics Solutions , Visit 3PL Links for comprehensive logistics solutions.

Studies show that the supply chain accounts for over half of the total cost of production. Successful management of the supply chain therefore requires the ability of a company to recover quickly from disruptions. The supply chain is even more complex than it was two decades ago so it is critical that you remain vigilant, steer clear of common mistakes and appreciate the benefits of proactive management. That said, here are 5 common mistakes in modern-day supply chain management; 1. Prioritizing functions by spend 1. Prioritizing functions by spend Quantifying by spend is probably the most common mistake in supply chain management. Simply put, you look at your suppliers and prioritize functions based on who supplies most of your goods and services. So, even if you have 20 suppliers, you’ll want to prioritize say five suppliers whom you’ve always spent 80 percent of your budget on. This strategy worked well until fifteen years ago when outsourcing was proliferated. Today, supply chains come in layers where you source from several suppliers. You can no longer rely on a single source for your parts otherwise these parts would become a single point of failure in the supply chain. 2. Accountability framework mistakes 2. Accountability framework mistakes If your CEO is to hold the Chief Procurement Officer (CPO) responsible for disruptions realized in the supply chain, you must also give the CPO people to hold responsible for these disruptions. And please, make this clear by including in the organizations constitution or similar documents. It is apparent that very few organizations bother to assign supply chain disruption duties to anyone at the operational level. This often causes confusion when there is a disruption and no specific employee can be held responsible. Managers are advised to assign supply chain disruption responsibilities to specific persons and ensure that these people are properly trained and provided with proper tools and infrastructure to effectively discharge their duties. 3. Lack of or limited visibility across dependencies in the supply chain 3. Lack of or limited visibility across dependencies in the supply chain Many managers still struggle to uncover where their supplies are coming from, according to recent studies. What this means then is that these managers don’t yet know their true supply chains. For instance, a part that the manager thinks is dual sourced might in fact be single sourced somewhere on the higher levels of the supply chain. Even worse is the fact that most managers admit to lack of visibility in their supply chains but are very reluctant to find ways of reversing this situation. 4. Short-sighted management 4. Short-sighted management A fully optimized supply chain will experience several risks including but not limited to delivery delays, supplier issues, quality problems, increase in demand, and supply shortages. While these are expected challenges which all managers should be aware of and prepared to tackle, it is nearly impossible to address all of them at a go. You’ll be required to solve the challenges dynamically – one after another. This can deny the management the chance to proactively assess problems in the supply chain as a whole. And when this happens, managers often make a big mistake – de-prioritizing risk management. 5. Proactive rather than reactive management 5. Proactive rather than reactive management You often find managers effecting a change just after a crisis that didn’t make a large impact or because they managed to recover quickly. While it’s actually encouraging to get up after a fall, this is never the best management approach. Supply chain organizations are encouraged to develop the right infrastructure for proactive management where you create clear paths of communication in case of a crisis and use rewards rather than punishments to encourage employees to play their roles. Looking for a Solution? 3PL Links can take care of your supply chain management & logistics needs. We offer solutions for any industry vertical. Give us a call today!

Many businesses share common management concerns including potential supply chain disruptions. These common supply chain threats include extreme weather like hurricanes or tornadoes, or natural disasters like earthquakes and floods. Other kinds of disruptions like supplier breaks, labor issues and pricing risks, are perhaps less dramatic, but hold the same potential for damage. For every business, the type and ultimate impact of supply chain disruptions will vary. There are several threats to a business"s supply chain, especially if they rely on transportation. Supplier Breaks Supplier Breaks Any manager waiting for a truckload of raw materials originating in a hurricane zone along the Gulf knows that unforeseen disruptions are costly and can potentially put their business at risk. Supplier breaks can arise for a variety of reasons. Climate change and environmental damage continue to cause supplier breaks because they can lead to swings in the cost of commodities and other materials prices, which can affect your bottom line. For example, changes in climate led to a reduction in grain crops in Eastern Europe, leaving many food manufacturers forced to increase prices to cover the drop in supply and subsequent increase in price. Unanticipated events like explosions in warehouses, business failures, or new regulations can end in supplier breaks too. Labour Issues Labour Issues Within the United States, many businesses report that labour problems continue to be a considerable supply chain disruption. Labor disputes in particular, like prolonged strikes, or wage hikes that can translate into increased costs of supplies and both can affect the supply chain and ultimately your business’s bottom line. Within emerging markets countries, their labor problems can also affect the supply chain when suppliers must address, for example, human rights violations, labor law violations with child labor and unsafe working conditions. Those costs are passed on with the price of the products and ultimately to your business. Pricing Risks Pricing Risks A third major risk area concerns prices. Price volatility would head the list of supply chain disruption concerns for many companies. Price risks include economic highs and lows that could threaten your business. Of course, all businesses with global supply chains are especially vulnerable to a rise in transportation prices stemming from volatile oil and gas prices. Emerging markets countries, like China, pose potential supply chain disruptions because first, if they are your business competition, they can produce the same goods and services for significantly lower input costs for wages as well as materials. Emerging market countries can oftentimes take advantage of lower costs because of weaker regulatory compliance, like with with costly compliance procedures such as pollution controls. Further, the risk posed from emerging market countries is unstable because it includes political risks. As companies move their operations around Southeast Asian countries, for example, additional problems like inflation can cause political instability that will further threaten supply chains. A second pricing risk arises because more companies rely on at least part of their materials from international locations, especially emerging markets. Emerging markets prices also fluctuate countries can affect your business because as suppliers in your supply chain, they often fluctuations in their product and transportation costs. Supply chain disruptions can arise for diverse reasons, from natural disasters to labor disputes. Every business must be aware of potential disruptions so that they are managed to minimize their impact.

Choosing supply chain technology is the most important decision a logistics manager makes in his or her career. Why? Simply because the right software solution can propel a company forward, regardless of how bad the economy is, while the wrong one may bury the business for good. Unfortunately, selecting the best supply chain management (SCM) system can be difficult. Selecting a SCM System Selecting a SCM System Never has so much technology been developed to help organizations improve supply chain performance. Yet, the performance of most supply chains has never been worse. Due to poor coordination and planning, dysfunctional industry practices, and high costs resulting from adversarial relations among partners, most supply chain organizations generate low profit margins, surviving, not thriving. To help you choose the right SCM system for your company, the rest of this post delineates the steps you should follow in the selection process. Assess Your Needs Assess Your Needs When choosing supply chain technology, it’s imperative to understand your organization"s needs. Although most SCM systems deliver a complex set of modules, allowing companies to manage different business areas, ranging from financials, manufacturing, inventory, transportation, marketing, and sales to human resources and customer management, not all solutions are the same. What can you do to choose a solution that best suits your organization? Instead of developing a time-consuming list of features your organization may need, you should create SCM narratives by verifying how your employees perform their daily tasks. This approach will provide a lot more context for the features you need in order to achieve specific short- and long-term objectives regarding productivity, revenue, cost, and customer service. Understand the Impact of Technology Understand the Impact of Technology Implementing a SCM system into your organization will have a significant impact on different areas, affecting business growth. Will the solution deliver powerful yet user-friendly functionality? Is it scalable and flexible enough to support horizontal and vertical growth? Can it help you streamline processes, improve productivity, increase efficiency, and reduce costs to boost revenue and profit? Although your organization will be affected by competition, trends in the industry, and volatility of the global market, asking yourself all these questions is imperative to find a solution that delivers exceptional agility so that you can offer your customers unparalleled service. Read Unbiased Reviews Read Unbiased Reviews Most vendors will provide you with comprehensive information about the supply chain technology they sell only if you know what questions to ask. If you know very little about SCM systems, the best thing you can do is to read reviews and case studies published by unbiased sources. Some topics to research include the capabilities, benefits, and drawbacks of the SCM system you plan to get; vendor costs for data migration, customization, training, and support; software licensing options and hardware requirements; and the reasons why SCM implementation fails. When searching for the right supply chain technology, a few additional factors you should consider include: Visibility – Getting in-depth insight into the business operations not only allows you to control different processes, but also gives you the confidence that the best decisions are made at the most opportune moment. Collaboration – Opting for a SCM solution that encourages collaboration enable employees to work in a pleasant yet productive environment. Flexibility – A SCM system should support feature selection, module development, and policy and formulas modifications. Scalability – To facilitate growth, a SCM solution should provide a reliable scalable infrastructure, functioning both on premise and in the cloud. It’s true that finding a suitable supply chain technology for your company takes a lot of time and hard work. However, it’s also true that getting the right SCM solution can bring extraordinary benefits.

For businesses that transport their products within North America and carriers, protecting their bottom line from volatile fuel prices is an ongoing concern. One way to garner some protection from a fluctuating fuel price is the fuel surcharge. What is Fuel Surcharge? What is Fuel Surcharge? The fuel surcharge is the total cost for fuel usage. It is a contract between the shipper and another party that sets a standard rate for the fuel and how much will be paid above the base rate, and what fuel price triggers the surcharge, or no surcharge at all. How is it Calculated? How is it Calculated? There is no regulatory body governing the calculations for a fuel surcharge. The surcharge started in the 1970s in response to the OPEC fuel price spikes. The US government wanted to protect the transportation industry from fuel price volatility, and remain profitable, so the fuel charge system was developed. In Canada many shippers rely on the Freight Carriers Association of Canada (FCA), which provides the industry surcharges for less than truckload (LTL) and truckload (TL) estimates. The surcharge is set as a percentage: 8.8% for LTL, and 20.7% for TL. Many Canadian shippers use the FCA percentages to index their own surcharge, which matches an increase in the price to the surcharge to each increase in fuel prices over the baseline price. They use three variables for the fuel surcharge calculation: the baseline fuel price, the current price for fuel, and fuel costs as a share of operating costs. Fuel surcharge contracts all use a base fuel price. The base fuel price for diesel fuel will be set at price per gallon in the United States, while in Canada, the price will be per litre. The base fuel price is the fuel price used when determining cost of operation.The second part of fuel surcharges is the base for the fuel mileage. Like the base fuel price, the base fuel mileage is an agreed upon amount that estimates the mile miles per gallon that the carrier will achieve. Agreement on how to determine the current fuel price that leads to the surcharge is the third part of fuel surcharges. Both parties must agree ahead of time what prices will be used, and at what interval those prices are taken. The best source for average diesel fuel prices are government’s weekly fuel price calculations based on national averages. In Canada and the United States, government agencies provide the average cost for diesel across the country. Every Monday, Canada’s National Traffic Services revises and updates the Fuel Surcharge (FSC). In the United States, every week the US National Average On-Highway Diesel Fuel Prices is released by the Department of Energy. Fuel surcharges are not the only cost in a freight rate, but they are significant especially since they are based on fuel prices that will likely fluctuate. As long as fuel prices do remain volatile, fuel surcharges are likely to continue.

The supply chain is threatened with insecurity from all directions. Theft, terrorism, and cyber crime are just a few examples of threats faced by goods on transit. Fortunately, there are several simple yet effective ways through which the security of the supply chain can be improved. Here are six practices that you should consider if you’re resolute about enhancing your supply chain security. 1. Applying a structured approach 1. Applying a structured approach The first step in averting any risk is usually to stay safe: do not expose yourself to the problem. Start by forming a diverse team tasked primarily with managing supply chain risks at the organization. Then you can have all departments within the organization assessing and outlining their specific concerns which are then planned for by this management team. Every department has its own special needs and giving them the opportunity to express their concerns is the best way of identifying and tackling all risks within the entire organization. 2. Knowing other participants in your supply chain 2. Knowing other participants in your supply chain This starts with identifying the right partners. Conduct a thorough research before accepting to work with anyone. Can you trust them? Sometimes the pressure to fill a vacancy can put the organization at risk because you may end up with a body and not a fitting person. Whether you’re finding a 3PL partner or hiring a new employee, you must be very thorough with your screening. For suppliers and vendors, you need to know where they are sourcing from, who supplies them, and how close they monitor your shipment. 3. Single source the supply chain management needs 3. Single source the supply chain management needs Working with several partners in the supply chain is almost inevitable. But you still need to find a single body that helps you monitor all these partners. This eliminates chances of confusion. Even for smaller organizations, the supply chain will always be complex making it very difficult to keep a close eye on every process. You can either have an in-house logistics department or a third party logistics provider doing this monitoring for you. 4. Be precise with every process 4. Be precise with every process Start by being accurate with measurements, weights, and counting. Then share this information throughout the supply chain. If everyone knows about it, they will support you in case you lose an item in the shipping process and are seeking compensation from your insurer. 5. Networking 5. Networking Networking means working with a large group of professionals. A major advantage of this is that any meaningful news will never escape you. Yes, you also need social media, TV, newspapers, and magazines but professional networks will usually deliver the news very much earlier. Professional networking will also help you find the right partners whenever you need to hire. You can always ask fellow networkers to recommend candidates from whom you can then select the best. 6. Join bodies and organizations that are concerned with supply chain security 6. Join bodies and organizations that are concerned with supply chain security There are several such bodies both within and outside Canada. The best example and probably the most popular is Partners in Protection (PIP) which is a Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). PIP enlists the cooperation of local private industries to enhance trade chain and border security, and to tackle organized crime and terrorism. If you trade across the U.S./Canada border, you can also register with C-TPAT. Summary Summary Security ultimately comes down to vigilance. Your eyes and ears must always be out there and you must be willing to adjust accordingly.

Although there are many industries that can benefit from transportation management, one industry where it is critical is the food and dairy industry. Whether a farm, packager, or seller the process of bringing food and milk to market is a complex endeavor with numerous factors to take into consideration on a daily basis. With so many moving parts, attempting movement and transportation without sound logistics planning in place can be a disaster waiting to happen. There are few industries that are as time-sensitive as food and dairy production and distribution. You can have thousands of tons of perishable material moving nationwide at any given moment. Some runs can be hundreds or even thousands of miles between producer and consumer. Professional transportation management is the only way to keep the entire enterprise cost effective and therefore profitable. One solution to the transportation management dilemma is engaging the services of a third party logistics company to provide comprehensive transportation management services. There are four big ways that transportation management services can help your food or dairy business be more efficient: Load Consolidation Load Consolidation Fuel has never been more expensive, and wasting a run on a half-full load represents lost dollars from your bottom line. Load consolidation services ensure that every transport is optimized with a load plan that utilizes available floor space to its fullest extent. Load consolidation can be a complicated endeavor with concerns ranging from temperature to load breakdown order, but it is a service that is indispensable to your supply chain. Cold Chain Management Cold Chain Management One of the largest expenses that you will absorb in the food or dairy industry is your cold chain. Simply speaking, you can't do without it. Extending the shelf life of your products with cold transport not only increases your profits but is essential to customer satisfaction with your products. Transportation management of your cold chain is crucial if you are going to maintain an unbroken chain of refrigeration between the farm to the dinner table. Quality Control Quality Control You have enough to worry about without having to take time away from your numerous duties to provide QC for every transport. A third party transportation management service can take this burden off your shoulders. Quality control ranges from the integrity of the product to adherence to proper procedures and transportation regulations. Seasonal Issues Seasonal Issues Transport of products in Autumn is entirely different from managing transportation in the spring, and winter weather issues can bring even the most efficient supply chain to its knees without proper planning. A third party transportation management company will have nothing on its plate other than making sure that seasonal issue will not be a headache that you need to worry about. By handling everything from seasonal demand fluctuation to route management for winter runs they can take this off your desk and let you handle other aspects of your business. A lot can go wrong in the transportation of food and dairy products. Spoilage or damage of your products can be a huge concern and be more costly than you can afford. While it is true that you cannot plan for every contingency, having a professional transportation company can dramatically decrease the chances of encountering a supply chain issue that you are not prepared for. Having a dedicated service to account for all of these problems and putting contingencies in place to deal with them can be more valuable to your business than you can imagine. Take a closer look at the merits of third party transportation management services versus the modest costs involved and make the decision for yourself.

Running any business with a supply chain requires analyzing each component to make sure the company is running as efficiently as possible. Whether your business is in home improvement, hi-tech, retail or any other industry that involves costs, you need to reduce waste and maximize productivity. Supply chain analysis is the study of vendors, manufacturing materials, value, functions, costs, processes and forecasts to make sure your company is as profitable as possible.  Eliminating Weak Links Eliminating Weak Links A diagram that connects the components of your operation from product creation to the consumer is an excellent way to understand supply chain analysis. If you run a trucking company, for example, the most obvious component is the cost of transporation. This cost includes truck drivers, fuel, lodging, insurance and maintenance. By analyzing this supply chain you can make determinations about cost efficiency. Supply chain analysis may lead to the conclusion of investing in trucks with better gas mileage. If the lodging costs are too expensive it may inspire you to craft a partnership with a hotel to get cheaper rates since you will bring them steady business. When you see the big picture as a series of links it gives you more insight on managing costs than if you view it as just one big operation that either produces a profit or loss. As the old saying goes, you are only as strong as your weakest link. By strengthening all your links using supply chain analysis you ultimately improve your entire company. Value Analysis  Value Analysis  Supply chain analysis isn"t just looking at costs when it comes to determining value. It can also involve looking at functions. Comparing two different software programs, for example, can be an effective way to select the most appropriate program for your business. An expensive program may be favorable over a cheaper program if it provides useful functionality that improves the quality and flow of your operation. This can mean better savings and productivity over the long term, which means better value. Sequential or Concurrent Processes  Sequential or Concurrent Processes  Some supply chains depend on a specific sequence of events whereas others can involve multiple events happening at once. In the hotel business, for example, a reservation must be made first except in the cases of walk in guests. Once the reservation is made other components in the supply chain analysis can be sold to the customer such as movies, food delivery and business services. These services might involve other vendors who in effect become part of the supply chain. This scenario is a sequential process. A concurrent process might involve a web design company that offers a package deal for clients that simply turn all design and content ideas over to an all in one company that employs various tech professionals who work together on the same project. One person might handle content development, another handles programming and another focuses on marketing. Each team member might work completely independent of each other at the same time. Let"s say they work on the project for six months and then charge you $10,000, creating shockwaves. Careful planning and supply chain analysis using process mapping can prevent such a disaster from happening. Supply Chain Analysis Forecasting  Supply Chain Analysis Forecasting  One of the strongest arguments for leveraging supply chain analysis is to make more accurate spending forecasts based on historical data. When costs remain stable or fall in seasonal patterns for long periods they become predictable. By analyzing historical data you can decide on alternatives to the components that seem to have unpredictable costs. Reducing volatility and surprises can be key to making better forecasts, which is essential when budgets tighten.

The ratio of world trade to the GDP of the globe as a whole, an index also used to measure openness of economies, increased by 20 percent to just over US$20 trillion by the end of 2011. The sharp rise in global trade over the past two decades is partly due to innovations in logistics as well as changes in policies in trading countries, which has led to a reduction in the cost of delivering goods and services across borders. A report launched by WEF indicates that removing supply chain bottlenecks could significantly enhance global trade. For example, if counties were to improve border management and necessary infrastructure, especially transport systems, to just half the level of Singapore, the global GDP would shoot by 4.7 percent which is about six times what we would get by scrapping all import tariffs. Challenges facing international supply chains Challenges facing international supply chains Basically there are 7 challenges facing companies trading across borders. These are: Sub-optimal sourcing results caused by inadequate data on total cost High overhead costs incurred in managing global sourcing and logistics needs High cost of expediting freight Disconnect between domestic and inbound international transportation operations Highly varying inbound lead-time Reactive logistics management where a proactive approach would be most suitable Lost sales and high inventories as organizations struggle to meet demands of the long supply chain. The biggest challenge actually is the long learning curve necessary to fully understand the rules of global trade. From government regulations to transportation lanes, complex product flows, sourcing and third party relationships, it becomes almost impossible to manage every step of the supply chain effectively. Solutions to these challenges Solutions to these challenges Process automation – if companies can replace slow manual processes with “one touch” flow of activities, they would be taking the first step towards increased efficiency while cutting on costs. Improved visibility – where is the shipment? When is it arriving? Is the expected arrival date different from the planned date? When shipment is visible, you can schedule activities without worry and even plan for tolerances. Managing total delivered costs – this refers to the ability to analyze and even predict total cost of the supply chain right from the source of supply to the point of distribution. This should help when making sourcing and logistics decisions. Complying with regulations – due to increasing security concerns in the supply chain, there are a number of requirements to which you will need to comply, with failure to which you may face fines, delays or penalties. Dynamic routing – instead of static, redundant routes, companies operating across borders must now “rate shop” to come up with efficient combinations of routes, carriers and third parties to reduce costs.  Managing variability – variability of lead time can cause uncertainty, risk and usually require inventory buffering. Reducing a 4 day variability by even 1 or 2 days can save you millions worth of inventory costs and reduce loss of sales by a substantial margin. Integrating planning and execution – global logistics has always suffered because information that decision makers need is stored at multiple points and thus takes a bit of time to access. Having a “single workplace” containing all the information needed throughout both planning and execution can help solve this problem. Summary While it’s true that not every item on the above list will be appropriate for every company, together these solutions provide the right framework for developing a working logistics strategy for companies that trade across borders.

The third party logistics (3PL) industry is expanding as more organizations realize the benefits of outsourcing logistics to specialized companies. To attract more customers, 3PL organizations offer a wide range of services, ranging from transportation to customs clearance. A very important aspect is that certain warehousing and distribution solutions ensure critical operational improvements, resulting in faster return on investment and greater profitability. As a shipper, it’s very important to understand your needs in order to best assess what type of 3PL solutions are appropriate to your current circumstances and future development plans. Most 3PL service providers have combined a variety of warehousing and transportation services that can be further customized according to customers’ needs. Here’s a practical guide to the warehousing and distribution operations 3PL companies are able to complete nowadays. Standard Services Standard Services Warehousing and distribution involves moving large volumes of stock in and out of facilities on a daily basis. To help you manage this task, 3PL service providers propose a series of basic warehousing and distribution services, including picking, packing, labeling, organizing and shipping merchandise. Most 3PL businesses provide general trucking services (TL and LTL), specialized services (refrigerated goods, hazardous materials, etc.), inter-model transportation (rail, ocean, air freight) and time-constrained services (same day, over night, JIT, etc.). Additionally, these companies can track and trace shipment by bill of landing, purchase order number, client reference number and SKUs, allowing you not only to better organize your warehousing and distribution activity, but also to ensure that freight always arrives at the destination as planned. Thanks to the advanced tracking systems 3PL service providers use, you can institute corrective actions when delays occur. Solution Development Solution Development Numerous 3PL companies offer standard services along with industry-specific IT solutions that include all the necessary tools for activity monitoring, strategic planning, supply chain customization, process automation and efficient inventory management for the best business outcomes. Specifically, these systems can help you perform a series of tasks, such as freight consolidation and distribution, cross docking, shipping planning and optimization, traffic and route management, order processing and fulfillment, product return, and even payments and financial audits. The most advanced warehousing and distributionsoftware solutions also provide customs management features, enabling companies to manage more difficult business areas, including customs brokerage and duty drawback. What’s even more noteworthy is the fact that certain IT products can be fine-tuned to synchronize complex supply chain processes, turning them into reliable bridges between 3PL organizations, logistics users and end consumers. Considering all these, logistics software is one of the best solutions you can opt for to increase efficiency. Logistics Management and Consulting Logistics Management and Consulting Besides the aforementioned warehousing and distributionservices, 3PL companies offer consulting services regarding fleet operation, vendor selection, rate negotiation, distribution network design, and facility location analysis and selection. With a dependable 3PL advisor on your side, you can easily find the most efficient logistics solutions that will help you streamline your overall operation and boost profit margins. The warehousing and distribution services provided by most 3PL companies give you exceptional flexibility in adjusting space, labor and transportation according to your needs. Being able to utilize certain resources only when needed allows you not only to operate between industry ups and downs without stress, but also to save a lot of money. From offering efficient shipping fleets and climate-controlled, secure storage facilities to improving warehousing and distribution processes for the purpose of enhancing customer satisfaction and increasing return on investments, 3PL service providers deliver complete, end-to-end logistics solutions that can assist your organization in overcoming challenges and achieving its maximum potential in order to gain unparalleled competitive advantage.