On a daily basis Dovetail receives calls from small logistics business operators stating that they need a logistics management solution to assist them in dealing with the challenges that realise when a small business operator starts to experience growth.
One of the challenges that logistics operators find themselves dealing with as soon as they start bringing in more business is administrative organisation and costs. Invoicing your clients is not that hard but invoicing them correctly can be when you can’t keep track of the amount of hours, resources and costs that went into service delivery.
Furthermore, keeping track of payments can also be challenging and might make you feel more like a secretary than a business owner.
This stresses the need for a business management software solution to be implemented as soon as your business starts growing. Business management software solutions comprise document management and billing management solutions and work best when implemented early on to grow with your business and cater to your unique requirements.
Transport Management Optimisation
Another aspect that requires immediate attention when transport companies start growing is client communication. Having to keep track of your fleet, workers, resources and relevant services while still ensuring adequate communication with your clients can be challenging at the best of times.
Therefore, logistics software is needed to keep track of everything for you, automate your admin processes, streamline delivery processes and keep clients updated regarding the times that products leave the warehouse, the estimated time of arrival and any delays along the way. Transport software can also keep track of driver behavior and help to ensure that optimal routes are taken, thereby, reducing fuel costs and increasing the success of on-time deliveries.
Warehouse Management Optimisation
To ensure optimised logistics processes you need to make everything as simple, fast and efficient as possible. As you find yourself transporting more and more products or delivering more services to different locations, you might start running around looking for serial numbers, trying to match invoices to product types and trying to manually group products together that need to be delivered to the same location – while this is possible it is not efficient.
As your courier or warehouse business grows you will need a WMS to ensure an optimised supply chain. Even if your business is currently small, dream big, think forward and prepare yourself for the future.
When it comes to logistics, timing is everything- so speak to a logistics services provider to see when you will need business management solutions, what the best time will be to implement it, when you will see a return on investment and how it will benefit you business- with logistics software timing is everything!