4 Innovative Logistics Tricks for Businesses

[This article was written by Samantha Higgins.]

Logistics requires top-notch business management and organization skills. It’s a difficult operation to travel from one location to another with thousands of miles in between. Think outside of the box, and consider these four innovative tips to improve your logistics operations.

1. Set Timers

Speed is often a problem in logistics. Sometimes it takes too long to get an item from the point of its origin to its intended destination. Some warehouse workers take too long to locate the inventory, while some truck drivers take too long to drive shipments from one location to another.

One trick is to monitor the timing of each process. Some businesses set countdown timers or have some device that monitors the number of minutes that it takes to finish a task. Setting a timer is the same as creating a deadline for an important project. A timer is optional, but it could help employees to work faster.

2. Increase Shipping Speeds

Delayed shipping is the number one complaint in customer service. When customers buy products online, they want them delivered as soon as possible. Work on increasing your shipping speed using a few innovative techniques.

First, get your delivery driver to consider using a temporary parcel locker. This unit is easy to rent, affordable and conveniently located anywhere along your shipment route. If the driver must stop along the way, use this locker to store as many parcels as needed.

3. Invest in Texting

Most workers are asked to leave their cell phones alone and not use them while working. However, texting will increase the speed and efficiency of your logistics tasks. Today’s business professionals text their clients because it’s a faster method than email. It’s easier to read a text than answer a phone call. So it’s faster and easier for one logistics worker to communicate with another by texting.

4. Broadcast Your Mistakes

Businesses that make mistakes and forget them are twice as likely to forget them. When a dispatcher or warehouse packer does something wrong, broadcast the mistake for the rest of the company to see. Anyone who notices this error will make sure that it’s not repeated.

In the logistics industry, tens of thousands of items are packed, shipped and delivered in one day. Different suppliers and equipment are used by workers every day. Every business process is interconnected to the next one, so if a mistake happens with one process, it will delay the next. That’s why it’s important to review efficient tips and tricks for streamlining the logistics operations.

Author Bio:

Samantha Higgins is a professional writer with a passion for research, observation, and innovation. She is nurturing a growing family of twin boys in Portland, Oregon with her husband. She loves kayaking and reading creative non-fiction. Samantha writes for Cleveron, which offers parcel lockers