Reducing transport costs has always been one of the top priorities for any business. There are many ways to optimize costs and improve processes in the supply chain – from management adjustments to the use of modern logistics digital platforms and CRM for transportation companies.
Cost reduction strategies can be very different – it all depends on the specifics of the business and the situation in a single company. Let’s take a look at the key ideas for saving money.
1. Supply chain flexibility
A flexible approach to cargo transportation opens up new opportunities to reduce costs and minimize risks. Don’t rely too heavily on a single mode of transport and a familiar supply chain structure, even if it hasn’t changed in years. Explore the possibilities of combining different transportation options. For example, rail transport is by default cheaper than road transport, but their combination in some cases can give an unexpected financial effect.
2. Consolidated delivery
Partial Truck Load (LTL) transportation offers excellent opportunities for savings in the transport of small consignments. Try to combine several deliveries into one shipment, or team up with other senders – this is a profitable partnership.
3. Smart fleet management
The use of software for routing and supply planning is one of the key tools for reducing transport costs in companies with large fleets. TMS and FMS class systems allow you to lay out optimal transport routes, plan truck loading, track fuel consumption and optimize the load on drivers.
4. Warehouse optimization
The situation with your warehouse largely determines the whole nature of the supply chain. How high is your warehouse throughput? How efficiently is storage space being used? Modern WMS systems help to conduct analytics and improve warehouse efficiency at all levels.
Digital solutions to save on freight
Modern logistics is built on high technologies. Global transport giants such as DHL and Maersk invest billions of dollars in IT. Digitalization gives logistics companies a number of advantages:
- transparency and manageability of the supply chain
- wide opportunities for analytics and forecasting
- optimization and automation at all stages of logistics work
- cost reduction increased return on investment
But effective IT solutions for transport today do not require billions of investments and are available even to medium-sized businesses. IT company WEZOM can share its experience in creating such solutions in the US and Ukrainian markets. You can read more about the company on our website https://wezom.com/. We have experience in business digitalization in many industries, but primarily in logistics. Contact us, we are always ready to help!