Is your distribution efficient?
Just like a health check, distribution efficiency is a business area that should be assessed each year.
Supply chain needs are dynamic – the number of customers, location of customers, inventory levels, number of orders, order size, fleet utilization, etc. all change. In order to determine if your distribution is efficient, BizSpeed provides a distribution assessment with a team of distribution specialists with expertise across companies, industries, geography and technologies.
Our distribution assessment helps you answer the following:
- What is the most efficient distribution strategy?
- Should I add or close distribution centers?
- Do I have the appropriate fleet size?
- Is my fleet properly located?
- Are inventory levels appropriate for current demand?
- Are my vehicles operating efficient routes?
- Do I have the right technology to operate efficiently?
Standard Distribution Assessment
Our standard Distribution Assessment takes 2-4 weeks and involves the following steps.
- On-site analysis, review and documentation of:
- ..Order entry
- ..Warehousing
- ..Route planning
- ..Delivery/pickup
- ..Accounts receivable
- Installation of GPS and tracking up to 4 trucks’ actual route and utilization for 2 weeks
- Analysis of a subset of orders (1000-2000), including the 4 GPS enabled trucks.
- Route analysis of order subset using commercial route planning toolsets and customer provided data:
- ..Depots/warehouses
- ..Orders and order details
- ..Customers with accurate addresses
- ..Vehicles with capacities
- ..Products with metrics (weight or volume)
- Geocode customer locations for accurate route planning and analysis
- Analysis and assessment of current routes versus planned with toolset. Include and compare current metrics such as:
- ..Average stop time
- ..Average miles per trip
- ..Average orders per trip (vehicle)
- ..Fleet utilization – trucks used/total trucks
- ..Total miles
- ..Order to Cash (OTC) cycle
- ..Order completion – ordered vs delivered
- Review findings and tailor based on dispatch/fleet input
- Provide on-site and written walk through, including:
- Executive Summary
- Detailed opportunity areas and potential impact
- Summary ROI
Results
Results vary based on number of factors including: number of trucks, number of trucks per depot, number of stops per day per truck, residential versus commercial delivery, current automation technologies for routing and GPS, and similar types of factors.
In some bulk delivery companies, we have reduced total transportation costs by close to 30% – reducing the number of vehicles, miles driven and labor used. We’ve seen improvements in the 10-15% range for larger customers that already have some automation in place.
To learn more contact us here or call 866.270.0541 toll-free.
Even if you have some level of automation such as route optimization, advanced picking or GPS tracking, you should perform an assessment to ensure you are getting the most of your investment.
