Logistics News

By Cliff Holste

December 7, 2011

For Logistics Service Providers Updating IT Solutions is Key to New Growth Opportunities

Attracting New Customers by Offering Expanded Value Added Services Makes Good Business Sense

While fast paced change has been characteristic of the supply chain industry for many years, it’s not surprising that many logistics service providers are not prepared to profitably take on new customers, partially because their outdated and inflexible IT systems won’t allow it. Growth oriented providers must invest in up-to-date supply chain technology if they want to remain competitive and profitable.

Holste Says: While everyone can agree that agility, adaptability and flexibility are highly sought after characteristics of physical material handling solutions, they are just as desirable in IT solutions. What Do You Say? Click Here to Send Us Your Comments Click Here to See Reader Feedback

Updating & Expanding Value Added Services

One way logistics service providers can differentiate themselves from companies offering similar services is to expand the range and scope of Value Added Services (VAS) they offer. These services can range from simple repackaging and relabeling to more complex kitting, monogramming, and light manufacturing operations. Anytime a company can offer more expanded services it can attract more customers and increase margin. The problem is that if the company does not have adaptable supply chain technology systems to support and manage these services efficiently, they will not be profitable.

According to HighJump Software Inc. (www.highjump.com) an IT solution with adaptable architecture will allow a company to provide new offerings and workflows inherent with VAS. They claim that a best-in-class supply chain IT solution will enable a company to meet stringent requirements for quality, safety and traceability/genealogy.

Providing Real-Time Order Tracking Status

For many retailers having access to up-to-the minute information about on-hand inventory and order shipping status is critical to managing their business. For example: did the cartons of snow shovels destined for Minnesota already ship, or can they be redirected to New York. In order to answer this type of inquiry the logistics provider must have real-time visibility into inventory, order fulfillment, shipping, and even billing.

According to HighJump, the best way to do that is through a Web-portal solution. A secure Web portal provides the basis for real-time information sharing and improved inventory visibility. This IT solution enables collaboration throughout the supply chain, giving customers the most accurate and timely view into the status of their orders. Customer can make knowledgeable decisions based on changing demand. So when the radar shows that the snowstorm has shifted to the northeast, they can access up-to-the-minute information to know whether they can re-direct those snow shovels to where the highest demand will be.

Of course data security issues are a major concern. Therefore, the service provider must have the architecture in place to provide the ability to limit access to date and avoid the liability of data security issues. HighJump points at that a true, multi-customer architecture will easily allow for data dependent security controls, so that the logistics service provider can limit access to only pre-authorized employees and/or customer representatives. Authorized personal can also be limited in their ability to make inquiries and changes through role-based security features.