How to optimize your supply chain: our advice

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The explosion of e-commerce in recent years has made the supply supply chain a central lever in meeting consumer demands. To meet your objectives in terms of cost, quality and delivery times, you need to know how to optimize your value chain.

In this article, Procemo lists all the tricks you can use and make it as efficient as possible. On the agenda: inventory optimization, rational transport management and practical logistics advice.

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Reliable, responsive, reasoned transport

Choosing efficient, trustworthy carriers is essential to satisfying consumers and meeting their traceability requirements. Here are a few tips to help you choose the right service providers.

Choosing external transport providers

Outsourcing your transport needs allows you to optimize your budget considerably. You save on fuel, maintenance, insurance, hiring and driver training costs.

External carriers bring you their knowledge of the supply chain, and generally offer high transport capacity. By choosing reliable service providers, you can ensure that your delivery runs smoothly, and free up time for other tasks.

Planning for greater efficiency 

To minimize stock-outs and increase efficiency, planning is your ally. Planning reduces the risk of late deliveries and anticipates consumer needs.

Once again, surround yourself with reliable carriers: gather opinions, analyze your competition's strategy, compare offers. Whether you choose road, river or air transport, your service provider must be aware of the issues surrounding delivery.

Remember to set up an effective communication system with your carriers to adjust stock levels and anticipate delivery times. 

Efficient inventory management to meet delivery deadlines

Inventory management is the starting point of any fluid, high-performance supply chain. How can you ensure that you always have the right stock and competitive delivery times?

How to better manage your inventory

In practical terms, how can you manage your stock better? There's no secret to avoiding stocking errors and keeping an eye on available products at all times: you need to take regular inventories.

You can also rely on an inventory management system to assess stock levels in real time. In this way, you can plan product orders to avoid stock-outs and meet consumer demand. Don't hesitate to set up an efficient replenishment procedure, or even automate it, as this will save you considerable time.

You can even anticipate demand by analyzing sales trends. This allows you to adjust your stock levels and always be up and running.

Don't neglect the organization of storage space. This will not only maximize your storage capacity, but also facilitate your team's work. Your staff need to be able to reach and handle goods easily.

Cross-docking: what does it involve?

Cross-docking is the perfect trick for ensuring short delivery times. It involves sourcing from different suppliers, then sorting goods according to current orders. This saves you all the time-consuming intermediate stages of storage and processing.

Cross-docking offers a multitude of advantages for both the company and the customer :

• reduced processing times and costs for each order;
• improving customer service ;
• reduced storage and handling costs ;
• better visibility of fluctuating demand.

What's more, this method optimizes the company's time and budget while preserving customer satisfaction : a winning combo.

Dropshipping: a model in tune with the times

Dropshipping has been popular for some years now. It eliminates the need to stock the products you offer for sale. You place your orders with suppliers, who then ship the products themselves to the customer.

This means you can regularly update your product offering without having to deal with inventory or handling. You're more efficient, faster and more flexible , and you can adjust your offer to consumer demand.

This model is, however, controversial. If you opt for dropshipping, you can guarantee the quality of the product and the reliability of the suppliers you work with. The prices you offer must also fit the model to compensate for lower margins. In dropshipping, transparency is key.

Simplify your returns policy

A simple, effective returns policy is essential to satisfy customer requirements and avoid unjustified returns.

Draw up clear, transparent return conditions and communicate them effectively . Your customers need to be able to quickly identify return deadlines, refund conditions and any fees involved.

Ideally, you should offer your customers a stand-alone solution, enabling them to generate return labels themselves.

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Optimize order tracking and logistics 

Promote collaboration with dashboards

It's common practice to use a dashboard to monitor your company's health indicators in real time. In the supply chain, the dashboard can be used to analyze KPIs in real time, so as to provide an effective solution to any disruption.

Collaborative dashboards are becoming increasingly widespread. The aim is to encourage collaboration between the different links in the chain , by generating common KPIs. Communication and information exchange are the key to making your supply chain run more smoothly.

If you're interested in setting up and optimizing logistics KPIs, don't hesitate to contact our consultants. Procemo.

Inventory management with WMS

The WMS or Warehouse Management System is now widely used to optimize warehouse space. This system relies on technologies such as RFID, barcode reading and voice input to analyze data linked to stock movements.

The WMS plus? Real-time data management gives you the visibility you need over your stocks and orders. The WMS helps you to better manage your storage space, manage your teams and improve service quality.

Secure your transport with TMS

The TMS (Transport Management System) is the solution for optimizing every trip. It enables you to plan transport efficiently, identifying the shortest routes and the most ecological and economical alternatives.

The TMS helps you to better manage loads, reduce delivery times and offer your customers a more qualitative service.

Surround yourself with experts to adopt the right strategy 

To adopt the right reflexes when faced with a changing sector, the ideal solution is to call on a firm of experts who know your field inside out. 

Our consultants Procemo are trained in purchasing, logistics and supply chain, and work with you on your strategic and operational issues. Our mission is to identify the levers for your company's performance, in an ethical and reasoned way. 

Procemo 's multi-sector expertise can help you achieve even the most ambitious goals. Discover our solutions and grow with us. 

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Conclusion

Consumers are increasingly demanding in terms of delivery times, product quality and returns management. To meet these demands, your must be fluid, efficient and resilient..

Don't hesitate to call on an expert for your transformation projects. Our consultants are at your disposal to answer your questions and guide you, contact them at !