Best freight forwarding tips for logistics management

Dicas da FOX Brasil para Agentes

Every freight forwarder should see the improvement of their logistics management processes as a critical factor to remain competitive in the market. Yes, to constantly optimize your business’ administration is a challenging task, as it requires financial investment and much effort from your team as a whole.

However, the international logistics industry is growing non-stop. And since most forwarding companies provide a similar range of services, the best way to stand out from the competition is by offering a singular experience to your customers and partners. This, of course, involves working on your business’ logistics management.

You might be wondering what you can do to improve your freight forwarding management. To help you with this, we’ve listed some useful tips below. Check it out!

Logistics management tips 

Use KPIs to analyze your performance

KPIs, also known as Key Performance Indicators, are metrics that should be constantly collected and analyzed by your business in order to evaluate your performance in different aspects, such as productivity, operational efficiency, delivery times, etc.

Using KPIs will make your logistics management strategy much more assertive, since they will help you identify flaws and implement customized action plans to correct them and improve your business’ work conduct. In other words, they will guide you to the right path and ensure your freight forwarder achieves a successful performance in the market.

Establish clear communication with your employees

Although using KPIs is essential to give you a broad perspective on your business’ logistics management effectiveness and what should be changed or improved, this is definitely a team job.

Making your processes more optimized requires a group effort and, therefore, it is important that your employees fully understand what your goals are and how you expect them to contribute to achieving them. Therefore, make sure to establish a clear channel of communication with your team. They should not only know their exact role but receive constant feedback from you about their performance.

Use technology in your business’ favor

Technology is any logistics business’ main ally. Currently, there are several systems and software that can help to make your workflow more efficient and optimized. These have the capacity to automate some operational processes, reduce errors in the supply chain and make your logistics management much more goal-oriented.

After setting your business’ objectives, search for the most adequate technology to implement as part of your management strategy. Some examples are Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Transportation Management System (TMS), Warehouse Management System, real-time tracking, etc.

Invest in the development of partnerships

In order to expand your reach as a freight forwarder, maintaining strategic partnerships is key. As a manager, your efforts should not only be internal but also external. Besides establishing clear communication with your own employees, you should also constantly follow-up with your partners overseas and make sure they know your business is available in case they need any assistance in your country.

Some ways to do this are keeping in touch via e-mail, meeting face-to-face at logistics fairs or joining logistics networks that promote annual meetings where you can strengthen your current connections and, at the same time, make new ones.

We hope these tips were useful to you! If you are interested in learning more tips to improve your logistics management, check out this blog post with the most important risk management strategies for freight forwarders!