A business should strive for excellence in transporting goods in business logistics at an efficient manner to be successful. All these important 8 factors help the supply chain process by which customer needs can be fulfilled by a business.
Type of Products
The product that is to be transported is the most important factor while transporting goods in a business logistics. The product can be a Perishable item like food products, Non-Perishable item likes machine components or Dangerous products like Inflammable goods, etc. Only after gaining knowledge of this factor, other can be determined and planned for.
The transportable goods need not necessarily be finished products, but can also be raw materials or semi-finished goods for processing at different locations. The flow of transporting goods in business logistics are simply divided as
- Inbound logistics — the flow of raw materials shipped to your business for manufacturing
- Internal logistics — the movement of raw materials and finished goods from one department of your business to another
- Outbound logistics — the preparation for shipment, and the transportation, of the finished products
So, by dividing the products within these categories, any problem can be identified and the bottle necks can be removed in the supply chain which make it easy to plan and prioritize the goods for transportation.
Place of Origin & Destination
The transporting goods may be heading in or out of your factories or to a customer’s destination. A place of origin & destination is determined for a product before it is transported. Some companies store their products in warehouses for managing the inventory according to demand before the sale happens at the actual destination.
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The place of sale and delivery for a product may be within your country or for exports of goods outside the country. The place of destination is important as the distance, weather, accessibility, etc… play a vital role.
Time Needed to Transport
Time is one of the crucial factor in business logistics. Products have to reach on agreed time for a smoother operation during transport. Calculations for time required to source the product, load, unload, emergency, breakdowns need to be added in planning the logistics.
A delay during transport of perishable goods has the risk of losing entire shipment. If the product is not delivered upon agreed date, the customer might cancel the business order due to change in demand for sales or manufacturing. Thus, time needs to be factored in while transporting goods.
Weight and Volume of Shipment
Weight and volume of a shipment needs to be calculated during the planning phase for a transportation of goods. The weight and volume determines the optimal mode of transportation after considering the above factors as well.
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A product of low weight but high volume will require more or bigger vehicles for transport. Whereas, products of low volume but higher weight will require the use of stronger vehicles fit for transport.
Security of Goods
The quality and security of the transporting goods also needs to be factored in for establishing successful supply chain. In business logistics, the products must be transported with minimum loss and damage during the transport. Insuring your products for shipping of the goods protects you from accidental damage to loss of goods due to misplacement.
Packaging also plays a vital role in the transporting go goods. Some products require waterproof packing and some for easy transportation. Depending on the requirements, the goods have to be packed securely for the transport.
Permission and Documentation
Documentation play a vital role in transporting goods across cities, states and countries. Most of the time, the complexity of paper work, permissions and documentation increases directly proportional to the distance of destination in my experience.
Transporting goods across cities and states in a same country is usually not so hard. A few permits from local authorities and clearance for the product and the mode of transport need to checked and taken before hand. In logistics for export the paperwork need to mention all the necessary details like the address of the buyer, seller, the quantity of goods, etc. Also, the goods also have to be cleared through customs and needs to be inspected if demanded.
Overall Transportation Costs
The viable option and overall transportation costs of goods should be calculated to find the success in supplying the product. The costs for transport vary depending on the destination, time, mode of transport, quantity, etc. The most efficient route has to be planned to get from Point A to Point B in terms of low cost keeping in mind all the other factors.
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Mode of Transportation
The choice of mode of transportation will be the dictating factor of success for transporting goods in business logistics. All the factors discussed in the article are linked with one another but nothing more than mode of transport.
Small quantity perishable goods can use air frights for transport. Large volume Exports need to be cost efficient, thus ships are the right mode of transports. The place of destination, time required all play an important factor to be considered
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