Companies are constantly looking for ways to cut back on expenses and decrease the amount of time it takes to get their products from the manufacturer to the consumer. There are a number of new strategies that are being tried and implemented.
Reducing Layers
One means of running a more efficient supply chain is to reduce the need for a distribution center. This is often considered the middle layer of the chain. Instead, direct shipments can be sent from the factory right to the store. By eliminating the warehouse, product is delivered to the store faster and at less cost.
Packaging
For shipment strategies such as direct shipments to work, the items must be packed appropriately and prepared for shipping in a specific different manner. The product must be ready to go directly to the store, with proper labeling, packing and tags. Vendor compliance for packing and shipment building is key to preparing products to go directly to the store. Suppliers must have everything in order to prevent manual adjustments at the retail destination, or chargebacks.
Online Efficiency
When the buyer is dealing directly with the factory or supplier, manual labor producing paperwork can create problems. Paper documents make it difficult to manage orders and adjustments. They often result in errors and lost time due to manual rekeying of data. Anywhere paper exists in the transaction process, there's a stumbling block that prevents visibility and efficiency for both parties. Electronic documents are a way to reduce time and promote efficiency in the supply chain. Incorrect packing lists can be changed quickly and easily. Purchase orders, invoices, all the way down to labeling processes are automated - reducing the amount of time it takes to deliver the package to the retail location.
Cross-docking
Skipping the warehouse step of the supply chain can be a competitive advantage for reducing cycle times and lowering costs. An efficient way to do this is to ship it to a common dock location for it to arrive in one place, and then be separated at the dock and sent to its retail destination. Rather than shipping it to the warehouse where the order is stacked, stored, repacked and distributed, the order is handled at the same port, across the dock; hence, the name cross-docking.
Automating Workflow
As the popularity of shipment strategies such as direct shipments and private labels grows, visibility and automation at the factory level become more important. Factory floor automation and tools that feed data directly from the buyer to the factory's packing area and shipment building facilities are key. When these processes and documents are automated and available for all parties to view electronically, buyers and suppliers are empowered with more options to make better decisions and ensure that the right product is available at the right store, on time.
Author Resource:
Author is a freelance writer. For more information on Vendor compliance please visit http://www.tradecard.com/.Distributed by Content Crooner
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