Supply Chain Consulting Defined
Supply chain consulting is a wide range of things, so it varies. This includes understanding how to manage your packaging. It means managing your inbound transportation. Also, this means your own fulfillment, warehousing, and carrier negotiations. So everything from how to make your product to how does it get to where it needs to go. That all encompasses your supply chain operations.
Lojistic's role in supply chain consulting is understanding and identifying inefficiencies. In particular, the inefficiencies within your supply chain. Consider any shipper, whether it be your inbound transportation or outbound transportation. There's always going to be opportunities to improve efficiencies. and understand where either legs or unneeded costs are driving up your product costs. Not to mention reducing your margin.
Understanding and Aggregating Data
Businesses often struggle with understanding and aggregating data. In particular, the data that encompasses their supply chain spend. Businesses spend time and money on being able to digitize and sort that information. Then they make it actionable. Actionable being an important word here. With that, you make some strategic decisions and improve their bottom line. You have to be able to use data. Thousands and thousands of lines of data. Then you turn it into information you can actually use. Some easy examples of taking information and making it actionable include the following:
- Monitoring
- Using your KPIs to make strategic decisions
This helps with things like your average cost per package or your average zone density. Also, your average spend per service level. These are things that cause powerful change once you have that knowledge. You can take action on it, finding areas to improve. You can track that improvement. Improving KPIs means a reduced cost per package, cost per pound, or time and transit. These are things that are going to reduce your total cost.