Visibility from a control tower shows you the way to cost savings and improvements

In a retail study done by PostNord Logistics in the spring of 2013, it emerged that an increasing number of retailers are looking for faster deliveries and an increased flow visibility in order to provide more and better service, both internally and externally to customers.

Visibility as a logistical concept means control and follow-up in real time; in this case, control of the logistical flow. This implies the ability to follow up both larger and smaller events more thoroughly, both in the flow of goods and financial transactions. For most companies there are a number of different parts to these flows that can be streamlined and that need to be controlled. There are many sources of errors – often costly ones – that companies are unaware of. Regardless of which errors occur, it is important to be able to work proactively and preventively when problems do occur. Problem-solving should be fast and effective in order to provide the highest possible service internally and externally.

Besides the fact that companies increasingly think it is hard to  get insights into, and control over, transportation and logistics, they also want to be flexible and handle increasing numbers of internal factors, such as changes in production or order volumes. This is all made more difficult when logistic visibility and insights today are often both costly and complex.

3PL partners – applying expertise to solve many problems

Companies that need control and improved efficiency are increasingly outsourcing their logistics to third-party logistics (3PL or TPL) partners. By letting a specialist manage logistics, many hope to reduce their costs and increase flow efficiency, with a higher service level, both internal and external – and positive synergies as a result. The 3PL sector is broad, and able to handle complete logistic solutions as well as warehousing, simpler production, packing and labelling, all the way to distributing goods to customers.  

Complement 3PL expertise with a control tower

With a control tower you can follow all of your traffic via a web portal, from supplier to end customer. Imagine being able to focus completely on the other parts of your business, while still having full control of your logistic flows – even though your warehouse and some processing steps might be in the hands of a 3PL actor. With this overview you can follow up quality and efficiency, not just monthly, but in real time on a daily basis if you want. The control tower gives you many possibilities, such as seeing logistic costs per article or monitoring inbound and outbound traffic, as well as cost controls on anything related to logistics. The control tower gives you visibility and an overview.

Take control of parts and whole

There are only a few suppliers who can provide a control tower solution that gives you complete control of your logistics and all flows. As I see it, a control tower should work the same as in air traffic control, with experienced controllers monitoring airspace, planes and the surrounding environment. Just substitute the company’s logistics specialists for the air traffic controllers, who monitor the flow of goods and costs, and any alarms indicating deviations.

An important part of an effective solution is being able to monitor the business in real time, which only a few suppliers provide by integrating all the parties involved in a flow – suppliers, carriers, 3PL actors, enterprise systems, etc. With the logistics control tower you can analyze and improve your logistics operations. You take control and can manage the other actors in your supply chain.