COVID-19 has negatively impacted many countries throughout the world and has brought about numerous economic challenges that they will have deal with. When the pandemic crisis worsened, many countries were forced to go into lockdown as a measure to control the spread of the virus. This has brought about new challenges for logistics businesses and their operations, but the good news is that there are ways to take advantage of the current crisis.
How Logistics Businesses Can Make The Best of The Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about new challenges for the logistics industry that most had never anticipated. Consumers started panic buying and hoarding products during the onset of the pandemic and many businesses were fearing shortages of supplies. Most logistics businesses are still trying to meet demand for goods like medical supplies and essential consumer goods. Consumers also started embracing online shopping as most people did not want to leave their homes. Businesses have to deal with the high volumes of orders to meet demands.
Another issue that logistics businesses have had to deal with are the disruptions they have faced due to travel restrictions that were implemented in different countries. This has affected the supply of goods. Not only have there been delays, but some businesses have faced supply shortages.
Logistics businesses have also had to deal with labor shortages. Some businesses have had to retrench workers as a way to reduce their operational costs. Workers have contracted COVID-19 and had to quarantine; leading to these issues not only affecting the standard of work but, putting more pressure on logistics and the delivery of goods
How Logistics Businesses Can Make The Best of The Pandemic
Though the pandemic has had devastating effects for logistics businesses, it also presents emerging opportunities that they can take advantage of.
Diversifying Supply Chain
The pandemic affected the supply chain and most businesses experienced supply shortages. Businesses had to diversify their supply chain as a way to ensure the supply of goods and services. Diversifying the supply chain has allowed many businesses to have many more options to choose from than before and allow greater success and growth.
Diversifying suppliers is a great way to improve efficiency, especially when using local suppliers as they have tend to be more innovative in order to stand out from competitors. Local enterprises are also closer to you which improves the speed of the entire supply process.
Optimizing Delivery Capacity
The rapid increase in online shopping and home deliveries during the pandemic has been a challenge for many businesses to adapt to. There is room for growth for many organizations, but only if they are able to effectively manage demand. Businesses can implement route optimization technology which allows businesses to come up with new delivery policies and practices to deal with daily restrictions and implement rerouting planning and tactics. These rerouting plans are then able to resolve any issues regarding demand and improve productivity as well as reduce costs.
Businesses can also make use of order batching which is done to manage high volumes of delivery orders. To fulfill orders, drivers send out multiple orders that are for one area in a single delivery run. It’s most effective during peak delivery periods.
Business Growth Through Contactless Payment
As a way to adjust to the practices of social distancing, many companies have had to implement contactless deliveries. This practice isn’t only beneficial for customers, but has greater benefits for the business as well.
By providing contactless deliveries, businesses can earn the trust of their customers as they will see that they prioritize their safety. It is also a key selling point that they can use to grow their business, ensuring not only the survival of their business but increase their profits as well.
Using contactless delivery also increases the customer service you offer as customers are able to choose delivery times, track their orders as well as make use of the contactless payment. This offers better transparency and convenience throughout the delivery process.
Your workers are able to work in a safe working environment due to the safety precautions that are established during the packaging and delivery process. The measures that are set up improve productivity, the quality of goods that workers put out and increase employee morale.
Creating Technology-led Business Models
The pandemic has shown how vulnerable supply chains can become when they rely on physical labor, in transportation, logistics or warehousing. Businesses can eliminate this heavy reliance by introducing core digital technology such as Internet of Things or artificial intelligence/machine learning demand forecasting. This will allow businesses to start making critical systems accessible online to ensure that their workers can access these systems remotely and work from home.
They can also make use of supplier risk management which assists businesses in creating models that predict supply chain disruptions and allow them to secure capacity. This is conducted with the assistance of trend performance data as well as value chain visibility. Businesses will be able to avoid any disruptions that may occur due to lack of information.
Conclusion
COVID-19 has highlighted just how vulnerable the supply chain is. Though the pandemic has brought about new challenges for most businesses all over the world, there have also been plenty of opportunities that they can take advantage to improve their business operations and achieve success.
See the 5 Ways To Build Business Resilience Amidst Coronavirus Disaster.