3 Ways To Trim Costs In The Supply Chain

Re: 3 Ways To Trim Costs In The Supply Chain

It goes without saying that it's good to keep a keen eye on the costs, and those 3 way's seem to make sense, only it seems to me that a lot of people seem to have the unquestioned asumption that 'Leaner and meaner' is always better.

Let's use running a Diner as an Analogy.....,

How about the son (Business Graduate) that takes over dads diner, cutting costs by removing those expensive fresh flowers, and putting cheap plastic flowers on the tables instead, taking away the d****s that constanly need expensive washing, eliminate a few 'redundant' people, only have a few stressed out grumpy people left that drop the plates into the customers lap etc. etc. while also finding out that nobody wants to eat at
that cheap diner anymore?

All the Best,
To your Happy - Small Business - Inspiration,
HP

http://hpshappyhomebusiness.blogspot.com

Re: 3 Ways To Trim Costs In The Supply Chain

Hello
1. Eliminate Redundancies In The Supply Chain. For all supply chain partners, create a flow chart of all activities involved in the procurement, set up, production, inspection, storage, and transportation of all materials and components that go into the final product. You will likely find activities that are repeated by different supply chain partners (e.g., outgoing inspection by one supply chain partner immediately followed by incoming inspection by another). If you can work with your supply chain partners to eliminate such redundancies, you can reduce their costs and, as a result, your price.
2. Shift Tasks To The Most Efficient Supply Chain Partner. Sometimes the capabilities of supply chain partners overlap. Let's consider a customer's purchase of engraved plaques. The customer's immediate supplier may do direct marketing, fulfillment, and engraving. That supplier's supplier may do design, manufacturing, and engraving. In this case, who should do the engraving? The most efficient supply chain partner should, assuming that either can meet quality, delivery, and service standards. But this means that you have to question "the way we've always done it" so that you can do it the best way.
3. Leverage The Supply Chain's Buying Power. Often, the products and services purchased by second tier suppliers are also purchased by a first-tier supplier. Many times, that first-tier supplier gets a better price than the second-tier suppliers. In cases like these, the first-tier supplier can negotiate to add second-tier suppliers' volume onto its agreements, thereby getting even deeper discounts for itself and reducing total cost throughout the supply chain.

Thanks