Top 5 challenges of logistics companies and their solutions

Today the principal objective of logistics companies is meeting customer expectations by ensuring on-time delivery and quality services. It has been long ago since it was enough to just move the product from point A to point B. Now customers are increasingly demanding to get full visibility throughout the entire project lifecycle.

Achieving these goals is a real challenge requiring automation of many operations, preparation and hiring well-trained employees, optimization of such business processes as warehouse and supply chain management, and a lot more. In this post, we will speak about problems that companies of the industry constantly face and their logistics software solutions.

Problem 1: Lack of effective supply chain coordination

Supply chain management (SCM) is the system of supply chain activities representing efforts aiming at the development and coordination of supply chains in most effective ways. Poor SCM results in the lack of on-time delivery, so a responsible company loses customers’ / partners’ credibility. Even a glitch in the product that is not available at required time and place can lead to extra expenses.

Solution: Location and activity tracking system

One of the most efficient logistics software solutions is the integration of the tracking system. Many companies implement applications for tracking loads, monitoring drivers’ activities, building the optimal routes, creating and looking through delivery schedules, viewing the location of trucks / freights / drivers in real-time.

IoT solutions and location-based services are widely used for coordination of supply chains. They can also allow building the system of location tracking. For example, a certain manager gets an automatic notification when the freight arrives at the place.

Problem 2: Inaccurate maintaining of documentation

Logistics companies refer to organizations that have large databases and in most cases communicate with one customer many times during the project. Speaking about relations establishment and documentation maintenance, besides clients there are also partners, suppliers, multiple requests, and so on.

When documentation is poorly performed, requests and emails are slowly processed and answered, it badly affects relationships with customers and internal business processes as well.

For example, when a contact manager doesn’t have quick access to information about previous negotiations and agreements when he/she needs it right away, it will unlikely make a good impression on the customer. Also, time is money and automation of some operations results in saving expenses.

Solution: CRM system

CRM solutions are irreplaceable in building and maintaining accurate and quality databases. The information can involve the history of calls, emails, purchase orders, receipts, agreements, and a lot more. Also, managers can schedule various activities, plan interactions with clients, and set up automatic reminders about calls to be made.

A shared and secure access (only certain employees can access data) to databases that are accurately kept and constantly updated simplifies and improves the work of managers as well as relations with customers, partners, etc.

Problem 3: Slow picking processes and stock discrepancies

Another problem logistics companies can face in their daily routine. Inventory and warehouse management must be well-organised so that employees can easily find necessary items when they need. To avoid stock discrepancies the inventory must be always accurately checked and counted.

Also, employees must check whether suppliers’ receipts match products received or not, as well as if purchase orders have right item codes. They must ensure that the right product is received, stored in the right place, moved to the right customer, and “sent” to the right delivery address. The situations when something is lost or confused, lead to extra time and expenses to fix them.

Solution: Inventory tracking system/app

The integration of a mobile logistics app that enables to track inventory items and scan barcodes, will allow to eliminate discrepancies, minimize human handling, and automate picking process. Also, the optimization of picking process allows to save both labor time and operating costs, as well as eliminate inventory losses.

Problem 4: Lack of effective internal communication

Communication is important for any company. Transparent internal communication leads to effective cooperation, understanding responsibilities, and elimination of working mistakes because of lack of misinterpreting of some issues. When employees of interacting departments have instant access to internal enterprise up-to-date information and many ways for connecting (calls, emails, messages, group chats), there a great communication workflow established.

Solution: Mobile app for internal communication

The integration of a mobile app for internal communication will allow avoiding errors appearing because of misinterpreting of tasks, misunderstanding between departments, information missed, as well as situations when everyone blames each other.

Thanks to such solution you will also increase employees’ awareness related to company/industry news, events, etc. Learn more about the goals you can meet by custom mobile app development from our article “How to make a great mobile app for internal business communication”.

Problem 5: Employees’ training and adaptation

As it was mentioned earlier, well-trained and skilled specialists are required to provide quality services and ensure company success. Probably, each logistics company has its specificity that requires education. For example, established management processes, integrated complex software systems, complicated long-lasting projects, languages.

There can be a necessity for quick preparation of employees for certain project or position, onboarding of new employees, so that they gain specific knowledge and instructions to perform tasks, operations, or manage some systems. To solve these challenges large companies often implement eLearning software solutions.

Solution: Learning management system

When needing to establish a strong educational environment in most cases it’s better to integrate a custom eLearning software solution. The creation of a separate course or courses will enable your company to quickly prepare specialists, ensure they acquire required skills and knowledge, track their progress, and direct them throughout the entire training process.

You will also reduce expenses on wages for instructors, training facilities, and visiting educational courses. Each successful logistics company knows that well-trained staff is the core of great performance.
To sum up, logistics companies have to deal with many operational challenges. To cope with them and meet business goals they are constantly looking for the ways to automate workflow and optimize various processes.

There are a lot of logistics software solutions you can integrate, so feel free to apply to a reliable company to get a free consultation.