May 3, 2022 •Deyman Doolittle
As a business that deals with shipping, logistics, and complex supply chains, there are all sorts of potential challenges negatively impacting your bottom line. Your raw materials sourcing might be delayed. Gas prices might inflate. Warehouse supply could be limited. Carriers might overcharge you or under-deliver. There are always areas for improvement in logistics. With so many moving parts, trying to protect your bottom line can be complicated and overwhelming, especially if you don’t have the right tools or strategy.
There are several types of logistics strategies. One way to take back control is to consider shipping optimization. Shipping optimization consists of a couple processes: transport optimization and auditing. Transport optimization looks at how your shipments are actually traveling, if they are taking efficient routes, using cost-effective packaging, etc. A parcel invoice audit will help you identify where you are overpaying for shipping and, in general, how you can cut some of your shipping costs.
Since these two processes overlap a fair amount, it makes sense to look at them together and discuss their joint benefits. In this blog, we are going to break down the need-to-know information of transport optimization and couple it with the insights a parcel audit can give you. When used together properly, you should be able to start formulating your own shipping optimization roadmap.
What Does Optimization Mean in Logistics?
Optimization in logistics refers to improving the efficiency and performance of the entire supply chain, including manufacturing and distribution. This includes process improvements, tool improvements, and fundamental changes to your logistics strategy.
The goal of optimization in logistics is to look at all the possible restraints in your supply chain and seek out opportunities for improvement. As you start to break down logistics into smaller components, like transportation, for example, your optimization strategy gets more nuanced. That means there’s more information you would want to have. Let’s take a look.
What Is Transportation Optimization and How Do You Optimize Transportation?
Transportation optimization is the process of assessing your shipments, shipping rates, and constraints to come up with the most realistic and efficient routes and strategies across your entire transportation network. This often involves collaborating with your carrier to come up with the best transportation methods, routes, packaging, loads, and more to get the most cost-effective service.
A big part of transportation optimization has to do with your carrier contract. Namely, you want to make sure you get a fair rate before you sign the contract but also that you have a way to keep the carrier accountable. Enter the parcel audit.
The parcel audit essentially analyzes all of your data, from transactions to accounts to bills. The audit then provides you with insights and information about where there are inefficiencies or discrepancies in your shipping. These could look like:
- Duplicate charges for the same parcel
- Lost parcels
- Damaged parcels
- Late deliveries
- Deliveries sent to the wrong address or location
- Inaccurate rate charges
- Incorrect weight or dimension charges
The list goes on, but what’s important is that with a parcel invoice audit, you can see exactly what you are spending and on what. That means if there are inconsistencies (there almost always are), you can go to your carrier and ask for a refund with the data your audit provided. What’s more, with the right auditing software and services, you can even use the auditing data as a starting point to negotiate an even better rate from your carrier.
ShipSigma…Optimizing Your Shipping in a Few Clicks
At ShipSigma, we have years of experience in the logistics industry. We know that logistics can often feel like a blackbox shrouded in mystery. We are committed to bringing transparency, understanding, and equity to the shipping industry. Beyond that though, we are committed to bringing you unrivaled service and guaranteed savings. How?
For starters, we have a team of dedicated and experienced individuals who offer the “white-glove” service in the shipping scene. Perhaps even more importantly though, we created a parcel auditing software that provides line by line insights for you automatically. It shows you where you are being incorrectly or overcharged, files claims, and obtains refunds automatically. Combine this with our cost & rate analysis to find out what you should be paying your carriers and you’ve got a renegotiation in your future.
With the auditing data and our team’s experience, we know we can save you money. Whether it’s refunds or renegotiations, we can help you every step of the way. If we can’t deliver, you won’t pay a thing. Optimizing your shipping and transportation is an important task, and we know it may require you to share some sensitive data. All the more reason to have a partner you can trust. All the more reason to work with us at ShipSigma. Contact us today to get started.