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The goal of any business, large or small, is to create a happy customer. This comes with the satisfaction of acquiring a product that lives up to expectations. That happy customer will then spread the good news and help build your customer base. How did all of these happen? It happened because strong logistics management was applied to every aspect of that final product from inception to planning to manufacturing to shipping to fulfillment. Nothing gets left to chance when you’re working with effective logistics management techniques.
One key component with logistics management is setting deadlines. This means working out well in advance how long something is going to take to be accomplished and providing the right amount of time. This means making sure materials are delivered to manufacturing sites with enough time to generate the product. Deadlines are used to determine when a specific shipment of product will be ready to head out. As distribution centers receive the product in within those deadlines they will be able to get that product delivered to the customers.
When a customer is told that they will be receiving a specific product within 2-3 days, you have established an expectation that needs to be met. That last thing you want is to create an angry customer, especially when you don’t have to. This means coordinating not only with you own fulfillment centers but also with the final shippers. You can have shelves and shelves of inventory but if you haven’t arranged for UPS to pick it up, it won’t matter!
Logistics management supports the ideas of contingencies as well. Unforeseen circumstances can arise such as storms. A strong winter storm that dumps blankets of snow on the east coast can slow down shipments heading to the west coast. This is actually why many companies that do business nationwide have several hubs positioned across the country to make sure those deliver goals are met.
Once again, logistics management made this all possible but assessing the best and worst case scenarios. Only by doing this can your business flourish. Even if you have one shop in one part of town, you know your customers. You want to have the products they desired on hand. This means understanding the nature of inventory and restocking along with your own fulfillment needs. When logistics management works seamlessly, the customer never sees it but you’ll know when they come back for more business.
