What are the dos and don’ts of logistics?

1. Dos
   • Find a trustworthy logistics partner
   • Ensure an efficient tracking method
   • Use sturdy packaging material
2. Don’ts
   • Micromanage your operations
   • Stack packages far away from one another
   • Fail to anticipate emergencies

Anyone looking to start a business of their own would be prudent to become aware of the dos and don’ts of logistics before they ever begin to deliver to their customers. Whether you own a brick-and-mortar store or maintain a purely online presence, coming up with a structured manner of shipping your services should be taken into consideration.

The simple guide below lists several tips for your business to maximize and avoid logistics blunders.

Do’s

Find a trustworthy logistics partner

If your business is looking to diversify to e-commerce, one of the most important things to consider is the kind of logistics partnership you’ll want to enter in. There is no single logistics company that is able to accommodate every kind of service, product, and goods. You have to find the one which is best fit for the primary type of service that your company is offering.

Open-mindedness is the key to finding the right logistics partnership for your business. This is why conducting your research is important. Some businesses fall into the trap of accepting contracts from shipping companies simply out of convenience. This sets a dangerous precedent, as cutting corners in choosing your partners will eventually lead to disastrous outcomes for your business.

Your future logistics partner’s track record, reputation, and credibility are all essential ingredients to look out for in order to achieve a reliable and highly efficient method of distributing your goods and services.

Ensure an efficient tracking method

In line with choosing a trustworthy business partner, your business should also be able to rely on the kind of tracking method you use for your packages. Manufacturing a product is one thing, but delivering this product to the utmost of the customer’s satisfaction is another.

Ensuring the product reaches your customer involves a meticulous undertaking of guaranteeing that the package is correctly barcoded, the package contains the correct item, and the destination corresponds to the customer’s address.

Your business has to evaluate the type of barcoding system that best suits their main area of operations. This endeavor involves an understanding of the ins and outs of the business’s logistics operations, including storage facilities, packaging, customer needs, and the like.

There is no single delivery service which has not received at least five customer complaints in their lifetime. No system is perfect, after all, but if you’re a small business, aiming to reduce the number of complaints on misplaced products and wrong delivery items is something you should aim for. This is why it’s important to choose a reliable pool of manual labor who have an excellent eye for detail in your business’s packaging operations.

Finally, it is just as equally important to ensure that every product contains the correct information in order to reach its destination.

Use sturdy packaging material

Any sensible business owner would do well to understand that different packaging types exist for different products. Trying to fit an exercise machine into an unappealing spread of plastic bags is something that doesn’t even make sense to both you and the customer, especially.

This is why it’s important for the business to have an agreement with the right kind of packaging supplier. The business has to ensure the supplier has the correct type of packaging for whatever product or service they’re offering. Taking note of the supplier’s reputation and the variety of shipping packages they have is essential in order to meet your business’s packaging needs.

Don’ts

Micromanage your operations

One of the first mistakes a small business owner makes is thinking that they could do everything. Some of them are so obsessed with the idea of becoming a self-made business owner, that they tend to fall down the rabbit hole of managing everything in their company’s operations — from the supply chain, manufacturing, and even distribution.

If you don’t want your business to make the same mistake, you should always make it a point not to undertake everything that runs your business. Avoiding this involves creating life-long partnerships with third-party suppliers and contractors that have a good reputation for consistently delivering excellent services. You should also ensure you’re hiring people that you trust.

Stack packages far away from one another

This advice speaks for itself. Businesses should ensure their products maintain their quality from the manufacturing process, until the shipping process. In order to achieve this, they should ensure their packing methods are up to par.

A key component of achieving this is ensuring the packages are stacked compactly on top of one another as much as possible. This is so, in order to avoid the shifting of materials while they’re being transported.

Fail to anticipate emergencies

Running a business is full of unpredictable scenarios. The world is always changing, along with the needs and wants of customers. Always having an emergency backup in place will prove to be an advantage for your company.

A business should always be able to expect the unexpected. These unexpected situations can include missing packages, late deliveries, as well as defective products. While these types of scenarios seem difficult to overcome at first glance, most of them can be avoided or remediated by maintaining a constant stream of communication with all the necessary partnerships, groups, and stakeholders involved.

Lastly, it’s important for your business to take responsibility for such blunders. Mistakes are commonplace, but there is always hope for recovery.

Key Takeaway

Every business should understand the complex processes involved in the way their products are transported to the necessary individuals or organizations. This simple guide containing some of the do’s and don’ts of logistics has hopefully provided you with an idea of the factors to consider in your business’s operations.