Day: October 28, 2018

How Can You Add Value to Your Supply Chain Clients?

Adding Value to Your Supply Chain Clients
Adding Value to Your Supply Chain Clients

Customer satisfaction is key to retention, and value-added logistics services can give your company a competitive advantage.

What Value-Added Services Could Help You Retain Customers?
Value-added services have moved far beyond rainbow pallets and shrink wrap. Consider these ideas that you can put to use in your current operations:

Expanded Offerings

From custom gift baskets to creating twin packs, expand buying choices to increase sales and clientele.

Shelf-Ready Options

Price, tag, and display the customer’s way to a more streamlined stocking experience.

Personalization

From embroidered apparel logos to custom smartphone covers, personalization is a hot trend.

More Efficient Inventory Management

Customized products = fewer SKUs = reduced inventory carrying/management costs.

Reduced Suppliers

Could your suppliers offer you more value-added services as well? This could reduce unnecessary suppliers and streamline your supply chain.

Reduced Labor

Automated solutions and value-added services reduce downtime and the number of ‘touches’ necessary to pack and ship, ultimately saving on labor.

Yard Trucks

Shipping times lagging? Product and equipment damage costing you dearly? Yard trucks can help, making the movements of trailers and cargo easier and preventing damage.

Transportation Management

The closer packaging/manufacturing/distribution/shipping destinations are to one another, the more cost-effectively you can manage transportation.

Continuous Improvement

Teaming up with a third party logistics company can help you analyze and streamline your current processes, from purchasing and packaging, to value-added services and delivery. Where might your processes benefit from reengineering?

Partnerships

Partnering with third party logistics companies could prove a valuable friendship, providing the flexibility to meet the needs of seasonal fluctuations, business growth, and more.

Falling behind in the ever-changing world of e-commerce? DJ Products has the tips and tools you need to ensure success. Learn more about electric yard trucks from DJ Products today.

Global Trade Impacts Cause a Lack of Focus on Ethics and Sustainability

America is Lagging Behind in Global Trade. We Need to Step on the Accelerator and Catch Up!
America is Lagging Behind in Global Trade. We Need to Step on the Accelerator and Catch Up!

In the midst of the U.S. trade war with China and U.K.’s impending ‘Brexit,’ on-site factory audits show a waning interest in ethics and sustainability. Are your semi trailer movers toting products from ‘red light’ districts?

Not Keeping Pace

Although overall ethical scores recorded in factory audits in the second quarter are higher than average 2017 values, manufacturers are falling behind on the previous quarter’s improvement pace. On the commonly used ‘traffic light’ ranking system, more than one-third of factories are falling into the ‘amber light’ category. (‘Red light’ indicates critical non-compliance issues such as child/forced labor.)

How Bad is It?

‘Ethical compliance’ remains a fairly broad term. Ensuring safe working conditions remains a major struggle. Though progress in this arena has slowed overall, second-quarter 2018 showcases fewer factories with immediate critical risks (threats to worker life/safety). Yet the number of fully-compliant ‘green light’ factories stands at a two-year low. Less than 20% of factories get the ‘green light,’ requiring significant improvement in the mid-to-long-term, especially in monsoon-ravaged Asia.

From Green to Brown

In the environmental arena, despite China’s 2017 efforts, the country continues to lag behind its Asian neighbors in terms of environmental compliance. In the first half of this year, manufacturers scored 21% lower than their Asian counterparts, with smaller factories (less than 100 workers) accounting for two-thirds of issues.

Presenting unprecedented challenges for the global supply chain, the drive to fight pollution and climate change (not to mention tariff repercussions) could send companies searching for new suppliers to surmount sustainability challenges.

How are you protecting worker safety? DJ Products semi trailer movers deliver. Learn more about ways to lighten your workload, prevent injuries, and save time with DJ Products today.

Semi Truck Washing Has Become A Whopping $12 Billion Industry

When You're on the Road for Hundreds of Hours, You Rack Up a Heavy Coating of Dirt, and Businesses are Rising to Cater to That!
When You’re on the Road for Hundreds of Hours, You Rack Up a Heavy Coating of Dirt, and Businesses are Rising to Cater to That!

How clean are your yard trucks? In efforts to protect against the ravages of corrosion, truck washing has become a $12-billion industry in the U.S., and it continues to grow.

Wash Me

Newcomer Fleet Clean USA, a mobile truck cleaning service with over 1,000 businesses in 18 states, has reported growth of 40% annually, on average, since its inception 8-years ago, with a 50% increase in its scrubbing business since last year. The company’s founder and CEO, Scott Marr, touts Fleet Clean’s capacity to save customers time and money, eliminating the need for in-house or wash-bay activities while drivers are on-the-road.

Services are available 7-days-a-week, and offered a la carte, including exterior, interior, and engine bay cleaning. Their service even offers options to meet the needs of reefer trailers, who must conform to strict food-safety regulations. Prices run from $15 to $195 for the full shebang, which includes interior detailing. Most customers schedule maintenance washes 1-2-weeks in the same location.

Touchless

The company and its franchises determine pricing based on a computer program that takes into account travel distance, vehicle type, volume, and other factors. A crew of three can wash 5-8 units in an hour, working out of a custom-bodied Class 6 (non-CDL) vehicle equipped with a system that recaptures some of the 22-gallons of soiled water it takes to clean a tractor-trailer for filtering and later discharge.

Riding the Wave

The business is trying to grow, hoping to add to its 22 franchise locations by year’s end. Startup cost? $150-175,000, which Marr states can be recouped in just 12-24 months.

Wishing you could wash your hands of a little extra work? Save time and boost productivity with the help of yard trucks from DJ Products today.

Cut Your Shipping Costs with Our LTL (Less-than-Truckload) Tips

Thinking Smarter About How We Travel and Transport Never Hurts to Think About.
Thinking Smarter About How We Travel and Transport Never Hurts to Think About.

Are you being penny-wise and pound-foolish when it comes to an investment in cart caddies and motorized trailer dollies? While many shippers rely on eking the lowest possible transportation rates out of carriers, there are other more effective ways of cutting shipping expenses, especially when handling less-than-truckload (LTL) shipments.

Secrets to Cutting Shipping Costs

As the LTL segment increases, shipping logistics plays an integral role in cost. Focusing on process improvements sidesteps shipping dilemmas and safeguards rates. These can be accomplished by watching…

1. Pricing:

Avoid Surprises

Knowing true shipping weights is essential to avoiding admin correction fees and fees for overweight/overlarge shipments.

Looking to Net Cost

Don’t overlook fees that factor into total expenditures. Discount rates can be misleading.

Shopping for Simple Pricing

Pricing complexity leads to confusion and excess costs. Perhaps a simplified flat weight/space rate may be better.

Understanding Shipping Rules

Look to cost as a measure of what companies don’t like/specialize in. Choose the right carrier for your needs, looking to predictability in rate structure. Less variability reduces costs.

2. Packaging:

Protect Shipments from Stacking

Shipment condition at its destination is a prime concern in regards to expense. Mark packaged pallets as ‘FRAGILE’ to inform dock workers (not the bill-of-lading). Place a protective layer atop pallets devised to support stacked weight.

Shrink Wrap

To safeguard structural integrity.

Maximize Space

Pack to the maximum height requirement and pallet’s edge – but not beyond. This ensure maximum bang-for-the-buck and circumvent fees.

3. Carrier Choice:

Carrier Specialties

Selecting carriers that specialize in the services you need (national/regional/economy/commercial/residential) saves money.

Shipping Speed

Not everyone needs it yesterday.

Looking for ways to speed processes and reduce labor? Learn more about cart caddies and motorized trailer dollies from DJ Products today.

Warehouse Technology Trends for 2018

How are Warehouse Operations Changing ?
How are Warehouse Operations Changing ?

Will driverless trucks be making their way to your warehouse docks anytime soon? As technology constantly improves, material handling equipment and supply chain procedures reach levels that were once considered a distant dream.

So what changes can you look forward to in the near future? Experts weigh in on the top warehouse technology trends of 2018.

DIY Last-Mile Deliveries

Customers are demanding faster delivery times, leaving retailers scrambling to stay competitive without increasing costs. Industry giants such as Amazon and Walmart have begun handling last-mile deliveries in-house, with other companies following suit in order to save the expense of third-party delivery services.

Shift to Regional Warehouses

Expedited delivery has also made warehouse location more strategic than ever. Companies around the world, once again led by Amazon, are moving from large warehouse hubs to smaller regional warehouses. In addition to putting product closer to delivery points, these smaller facilities get approved more quickly and they’re easier to build.

Rise in Cybersecurity Concerns

Safety has always been a major concern in warehouses, but now managers are in the position of protecting something they can’t even see. As more data is collected and stored in warehouse management systems and other digital applications, companies are looking for solutions to eliminate electronic poaching of proprietary information.

Experimentation with Alternate Logistics Options

Innovations in technology are encouraging companies to experiment with unconventional logistics methods. In addition to the aforementioned driverless trucks, drone delivery and robotic workers are just two of the high-tech options being tested.

Time-Tested Material Handling Equipment from DJ Products

Our battery-powered pushers, movers and tugs incorporate cutting-edge technology and state-of-the-art ergonomic design. Visit our website and learn more about why the time is always right for material handling equipment from DJ Products.