The shipping process involves a lot of moving parts. You have to arrange for proper inventory storage. You have to maintain communication with a longlist of contacts, from material suppliers to delivery truck drivers. You have to fill out a lot of paperwork in order to get your shipments to leave the port and reach their final destination on schedule.
With so many moving parts, it’s easy to see how the entire process can get complicated. These are five ways that you can simplify it.
1. Use a Shared Warehouse
If your company can’t manage to have a dedicated warehouse to hold your inventory, then consider a shared warehouse. A shared warehouse caters to multiple companies at once, divvying up its storage space into zones for its various clients.
Other than providing convenient storage spaces, shared warehouses — sometimes called public warehouses — typically offer features that will simplify the shipping process for your company. The warehouses typically offer clients 3PL services like product assembly, product packaging and inventory management. The warehouse team will have your products ready for transport.
2. Get Containers Online
Your company will need shipping containers for storage and shipments. Instead of calling shipping container depots to arrange visits and pick out containers, save yourself some time. Go to a website like Boxhub.com instead — it is a convenient website that will help you source dry shipping containers near you. The website offers a selection of different container grades, sizes and heights for you to choose from. Get the options that work best for your shipping needs.
After picking your shipping container, you can schedule its delivery. An experienced truck operator will transport and offload your container to your company’s preferred location. There will be no heavy lifting on your part.
3. Invest in a Communication Portal
You’ve heard the saying: “communication is key.” That is very true when it comes to the shipping process.
You will want to be in regular communication with the various parties of your supply chain, whether it’s your suppliers, delivery drivers or warehouse management team. Keep track of all those contacts with the help of a secure communication portal.
With a communication portal, these contacts can give you real-time updates about the status of your products. They can also keep you in the know about potential problems that could delay the shipping process. It’s better to be informed than left in the dark.
For instance, severe winter storms can cause major delays. If the stormy weather is affecting truck transportation and stopping drivers from delivering your shipping containers to the shipyard, the trucking company can inform you via the portal. You can then update other contacts about this news to avoid additional problems down the line.
Why can’t contacts simply call to update you? Phone calls leave margins for error. You can miss phone calls. You can mishear voicemail messages. You can play “phone tag” for days before accessing the right contact. Online portals make it much easier to send and receive information.
The portal will allow you to attach important files, like invoices, receipts and reports to your messages through the portal. So, you can confront stressful problems like report errors right away.
These are just three resources that can help you simplify your shipping process. Take advantage of them!
