Businesses around the globe are struggling with supply chain issues. Ports have backlogs. Shipments have delays. Inventories are stretched. Why?
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the flow of the supply chain. Many countries have implemented tight restrictions for incoming shipments and enforced quarantines for people in transportation to prevent the spread of coronavirus. But the pandemic isn’t the only cause of supply chain issues. Natural disasters, labor shortages, global conflict and other circumstances have all contributed to the disruption in the trade process.
These issues aren’t going to disappear anytime soon. The only thing that your business can do is adapt shipment strategies so that you can minimize the sideeffects.
How can you adapt? Here are some things that you can do.
Purchase Your Shipping Container
The demand for shipping containers is high right now. If you’re waiting to rent a shipping container, you could find yourself waiting for weeks without much luck. To speed up your shipping process, you should skip the rentals and consider buying one instead.
How can you do that? You can go to an online portal like Boxhub shipping containers to look at their selection of new and used shipping containers. They offer new one-trip containers and cargo-worthy used containers. Go through the portal to find the right container size and type for your products — for instance, you may want a refrigerated container to maintain the integrity of your inventory.
Notify Your Clients
If these supply chain problems are affecting your product deliveries, you can’t leave customers in the dark. The average person is going to have absolutely no clue about what’s going on in the global supply chain.
Let your clients know that there are supply chain issues that are affecting how much inventory you have on hand and how long it will take for them to receive deliveries. If they have additional questions about this, let them know that they can contact you for more details.
A little bit of transparency should wipe away any confusion for the customer. They won’t get so frustrated when something takes a long time to arrive at their doorstep. They won’t write a complaint on your website. They’ll understand.
Get Backups
Finally, it may be time to look into a backup supplier for your products. A backup supplier that’s much closer to your main location could help you circumvent issues like long travel times and shipment delays. See if there’s a nearby company—or even better, a domestic company—that’s offering similar products. Working with them could be a huge relief.
Sometimes, you’ll pick suppliers that are further away (like in China) because it tends to cost less. While this may seem like a good budgetary strategy in the shortterm, it could do more harm to your business in the longterm. Think of the additional costs caused by delays and unhappy customers. It might be worth picking a closer supplier.
Some supply issues may be inevitable. You can’t control the weather. You can’t control other countries’ restrictions and labor shortages. And you can’t control the impact of a pandemic. But you can control your business. Follow these tips to help your company manage these supply chain issues and stay on track.
