Riverside Logistics

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What can Supply Chain Consultants do for me?

Consultants sometimes have a bad rap right out of the gate. After all who wants someone to tell you how to do your job or run your business?

Frankly, if your business is growing and changing you probably need a consultant to help you chart your future.

This is not a small under-taking and it can be challenging but very rewarding when approached with the correct partner. The key is understanding your objectives, what is realistic to expect as a return on your investment, and the type of knowledge that a Logistics Consultant can bring to the table.

When do you need a consultant?

Some good indicators might be the following:

  1. You are either privately held or a division of a large company in a specific market that is a new focus.
  2. You have reached 50 million dollars in sales revenue.
  3. You have primarily operated from one location.
  4. You want to grow your business by expanding geographically.
  5. You want to grow by acquisition.
  6. Your current logistics team is knowledgeable, but they have never operated multiple locations, evaluated multiple modes of transportation, or possessed the support staff to train new employees.
  7. Transportation is a big part of your total cost of going to market.
  8. The value of your business in either service or manufacturing is very high per employee.
  9. You have product coming through a port but are uncertain of what ports are best and why.
  10. Your Supply Chain Costs are increasing dramatically in Warehouse and or Transportation and you do not have a formal way to measure your investment.

Let’s look at and talk about Supply Chain and Logistics Management Consultants (LMC). They are SME (subject matter experts) on how to move your Logistics Network from where it is today, to where it needs to be in the future. Network evaluations are relatively painless, but they take time to complete properly. For example, if you feel that a 6-week consultation will allow you to plan for and adapt to a new network, don’t waste the money.

If, however, you realize that the process could and should take up to 6 months to fully realize, then go for it. Because like most things that are keys to your business success, they take time.

Supply Chain costs are rising, becoming more complex and now demand more automation. It only makes sense to have someone who has been down the path before, who can guide your team and bring in expertise if your current management does not provide that expertise. As your business expands, its demands for adequate supply chain management increase. These increases are like stepping-stones. They go up in increments or buckets. For example, you may have to go from a single warehouse to multiple warehouses. Or quite the opposite, you may have grown by opening small warehouses throughout your network and now need to take a hard look at a smaller number of warehouses, maybe even just one, with a larger single set of inventories. And, oh by the way, you may need a WMS (warehouse management system) and a TMS (transportation management system) or an upgrade to both if you already have some in place. Additionally, how do you, or how will you, handle managing you transportation needs. Will you do it “in-house” or utilize external management?. What are the upsides and downsides of each approach? How have you accommodated supply chain risk? Did you factor in the trade-offs between operating different (multiple) facilities as opposed to one large facility? This logic also holds for how, when and where you source your product. If the pandemic has taught you anything, it has taught you the value of operating a flexible supply chain for both sourcing as well as moving product through your system.

So how does a LMC Consultant provide you with value?

Here’s how: If competent, they can create a roadmap of “AS IS” and “TO BE” showing how you stack up against industry baselines, how you maximize your competitive supply chain profile and how to develop a sustainable “TO BE” supply chain that helps rather than hinders your business as it expands.

All in all, the question is not whether you need a LMC consultation, its whether you can afford NOT to hire and use one. Market conditions are moving faster than ever. How long would it take your management team to learn what they need to know? Savings in speed can provide a lot of value. Rather than debating a topic for a year a consultant can provide solutions much faster. How much is that worth to your business? If you do not hire a consultant will opportunities vanish?

Typical savings that we encounter from our own consulting efforts usually generate savings in Supply Chain costs, NET savings, of between 15% and 25% long term. If you’re in it for the long term and you have a business that is growing, you need to strongly consider hiring a LMC Consultant to help steer your business through the myriad of supply chain issues affecting your business now and in the foreseeable future.

Riverside Logistics, has been in business for over 25 years and has accumulated a very “long and strong” set of capabilities to analyze, recommend, and execute a Logistics plan for you company. Give us a call at 804-474-770 extension 82 . We are here to help!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Where does a Third-Party Logistics Company (3PL) enter your supply chain?

This is the question many shippers ask, and the answer is anywhere!  A 3PL facilitates movement from origin to storage to final distribution to returns so you can focus on your business and not the business of logistics.  

Let us start at the beginning.  Where are your goods manufactured?  If they are offshore, then your process starts at the port of entry and you will need transportation from the port to your facility or for storage prior to distribution.  If your goods are manufactured domestically, then will your goods be ready for shipment at time of manufacture or do you need pick, pack, and storage services?  Often, all the services outside of manufacturing can and should be outsourced for efficiency and cost savings. 

Moving on through the supply chain, the goods are now ready for distribution.  Most goods will have a short storage period prior to final shipping and space is a valuable commodity in a manufacturing plant.  A 3PL can provide the flexibility for warehouse space needed whether it is just cross docking or preparation for seasonal upswing. 

Finally, the goods are ready to be shipped!  Third Party-Logistics Ccompanies can customize solutions for your supply chain whether it’s kitting or specific packaging. Also, you will have a wide carrier selection to ensure you are utilizing the most effective method. A 3PL’s total volume will ensure competitive rates for full truckload, Less than Truckload (LTL) or small package shipments.

In addition, recommendations can be made for mode optimization and pooled distribution leveraging the volumes of other customers.  This provides the shipper options they cannot negotiate on their own.

All these steps can be managed by your 3PL and you can engage them for one service1 or all.  Regardless of where a 3PL enters the supply chain, they will add value, efficiency and cost savings. Lastly, a 3PL reduces your risk allowing you the flexibility to manage your supply chain without the additional capital needed for brick/mortar.  You can produce higher rates of return by investing in your core business!

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What quality controls should your warehouse provider offer?

This question is often asked when selecting a 3PL provider to handle the storage and distribution of products.  Before I can answer this question, I must start by defining quality controls.

Quality control (QC) is a process by which entities review the quality of all factors involved or an aggregate of activities (such as design analysis and inspection for defects) designed to ensure adequate quality in product production or distribution. ISO 9000., a series of international quality standards, defines quality control as “a part of quality management focused on fulfilling quality requirements”.

In summary, it’s a system for verifying and maintaining a desired level of quality.

So, why is this important when evaluating providers?

Obviously, you want to make sure whoever is managing your inventory is making sure they handle your products in a way that doesn’t create damage, losses, mis-ships, or compromise the integrity of your products while in their care.  You want your service provider to successfully catch issues early on and limit any future mistakes. This can help tighten up inefficient processes or aid in diagnosing a specific problem and improve warehouse efficiency, which should save you money in the long run.

What should you look for when evaluating providers?

My first question to a would-be provider:   What type of Warehouse Management System (WMS) is in place?  The most effective way to ensure quality control is to build it into the process.  This can be done by implementing a WMS that requires some form of scanning, audit trail capturing and location and storage unit barcoding.  In many WMS, such as the one we use, pickers are required to confirm remaining location quantities after each pick.  If used properly, a WMS can drastically reduce the error rate and help identify and document many non-conformities.  However, it won’t eliminate them if there are manual tasks within the processes.  There will always be opportunities for deviations.

Hence the need to verify the provider has procedures in place for unloading, receiving, inspecting, putaway, auditing, and shipping.  These procedures should identify non-conformances using trailer/carrier inspection (unloading/loading) forms, capturing inventory discrepancies during receiving, storage, and shipping, and damage/returns reporting processes.  In many cases, these procedures will describe the inspection steps for checking or double-checking and any other value-added services such as cycle counting or physical inventory programs.  There should be a system for making sure the procedures are reviewed frequently for accuracy.

Are there employees trained on these procedures or work instructions?  There should be a system in place for documenting training and making sure training is being completed and tracked for all activities from safety to routine inspections.

Finally, do they have a quality system in place for capturing and tracking errors and providing corrective action and preventive actions (CAPA)?  Any quality control system should provide a venue for capturing and reporting metrics around the effectiveness of their program.

If your provider doesn’t offer any or most of these services, you should start looking for a new provider.  Here at Riverside, many of our customer’s products are regulated by the FDA or some other governmental agency.  These agencies require strict adherence to many, if not all, of the items that I mentioned above.

As a result, we have met the audit expectations from our ISO certified customers and our largest facility location is NSF Food Grade certified.  Even if your products don’t need to meet the more stringent requirements, you can benefit from the best practices these requirements provide as we hold all our facilities to similar high standards for quality control.

Michael Kenny

Director, Warehouse Operations

 

 

 

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