How Monitoring Your Goods in Transit Can Help You Achieve a Real ‘Just-in-time” Strategy

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Cost control is an essential part of all business operations, the higher the costs, the lower the potential profit, and vice versa.

Of course, it’s not as simple as slowing everything down in order to reduce delivery costs and the cost of purchasing the materials you need. Businesses have deadlines and you need to have the product ready and shipped to your customer as fast as possible.

In short, there’s a fine line between delivering the very best customer service, getting the materials at the right price, and maintaining a healthy profit.

That’s why many businesses are looking at technologies that allow them to deliver ‘just in time’.

What Is Just In Time?

Put simply your customer wants or needs your product on a specific date, just in time is a method of ensuring they get the product when they need it, but not before.

The reason it has become popular is that the customer can rely on getting the necessary goods, while the supplier can plan dispatches to minimize costs and maximize profits.  When it works properly it’s a great idea.

How Monitoring Helps

To achieve a just in time delivery you need to work out the most cost-effective delivery schedule. This is the one that maximizes the time you have available to create the product while ensuring it arrives with the customer in time.

For this approach to be effective you’re relying on the delivery company doing their job properly and delivering your product when they said they would. In addition, the delivery company needs to look after your product to ensure it arrives in perfect condition.

Tracking parcels is an effective way to ensure the parcel is where it should be and it is delivered on time. But, this doesn’t guarantee that the product will be well treated during transit and it has to be if you’re going to gain a reputation as a manufacturer that delivers.

Monitoring the parcel dramatically reduces the chances of it arriving damaged. This is because the delivery service will see the sticker on the parcel that confirms it’s status.

For example, you can put a temperature monitoring sticker on your parcel and it will indicate if the parcel has gone outside of an established range.

Simply set the temperature range and note the color of the middle of the sticker. When the parcel reaches your customer the color should be the same. If it isn’t then it means the parcel has gone outside the pre-established perimeters.

It won’t stop your customer from being annoyed at having to reject the parcel, but, they will understand why and you’ll be able to claim against the courier firm for your damaged goods.

Perhaps most importantly, the drivers will handle your parcel with more care, ensuring that the parcel gets there in good condition. If you can be confident in the delivery process you can happily send the parcel at the last minute and it will get their just in time. In that way you’ve created the largest opportunity possible for your team to produce high-quality products at low prices, maximizing profits and even improving staff morale.