Lean Supply Chain Management: 4 Ways to Adjust

An antiquated supply chain can be the difference between a happy and a disgruntled client—and in many cases, it is the determining factor of a company’s success or failure. Just as logistics have changed drastically in the past few years, the supply chain is evolving and shippers must learn to adapt or be left behind.

Companies are constantly tasked with finding innovative ways to cut costs while maintaining and even improving upon quality and production efficiency. While the concept of lean manufacturing leverages technology to allow an organization to essentially do more with less, the concept of a lean supply chain can be employed in much the same manner by using data to your advantage.

Lean Supply Chain Management Strategy

Interested in learning more? Read on for four ways to adjust to a lean supply chain.

1) Pinpoint Areas for Potential Costing Improvements

By running analyses on multiple shipping points of origin and destination with historical data, you can potentially spot alternate least cost routing points. You can also use historical information to run impact studies for how a potential change may affect your operations before diving in and realizing it’s not viable until it's too late.

2) Locate Weak Links and Strengthen Them

Freight damages not only cost money—they can cost you lost business. Scrutinizing historical problem areas for similarities at origin and destination can help identify the root cause of damages and transit delays.

3) Identify Potential Opportunities

By using geographic reporting by zip code, you can plot where you have been to see if there are any potentially untapped markets on the map.

4) Leverage Your Data in Your Rate Negotiations

Visibility of freight charges can give you more leverage with your carriers when it comes time for annual contract renewals.

Data can be used in your supply chain operation to lower costs while simultaneously increasing service levels and customer satisfaction. But simply having tons of data is no good if you don't know how to interpret and use it. Let SphereWMS take care of the details.

For more 3PL WMS information or to learn more on adapting to the latest trends in the lean supply era, visit our website.