Tackling Excessive Logistics Costs: A Strategic Approach for Retailers
In today’s dynamic retail landscape, managing logistics efficiently is paramount. Retailers often grapple with escalating logistics costs stemming from systemic and operational inefficiencies. At Quickborn Consulting, we specialize in identifying these challenges and implementing tailored solutions to optimize logistics operations.
The Challenge: Unpacking Logistics Inefficiencies
Retailers frequently encounter several issues contributing to inflated logistics costs:
- High Freight Costs: Inefficient routing, low consolidation rates, and suboptimal carrier agreements can lead to unnecessary expenses.
- Excessive Handling or Transfers: Fragmented supply planning and lack of visibility often result in redundant warehouse movements.
- Unfavorable Incoterms: Misaligned commercial terms can increase landed costs and risk exposure.
- Detention, Demurrage, and Storage Charges: Poor planning and delayed customs clearance can cause goods to remain idle, incurring additional fees.
- Fragmented Purchase Orders or Under-shipments: Frequent small shipments elevate per-unit logistics costs and hinder freight consolidation.
These challenges not only erode profitability but also impede time-to-market, especially in complex, cross-border supply chains.
Our Solution: Strategic Consulting for Logistics Optimization
Quickborn Consulting offers strategic consulting services to pinpoint the root causes of excessive logistics costs and develop actionable improvement plans. Our expertise lies in aligning systems, data, and business processes to foster long-term logistics efficiency.
Freight Cost Optimization Advisory
We help retailers unlock significant savings by transforming how freight decisions are made—starting with data already available in MFCS:
- Centralize logistics-relevant data: MFCS houses PO details, vendor profiles, item locations, and shipment terms—all crucial for cost optimization.
- Analyze for opportunities: We extract this data into BI platforms like Oracle Analytics Cloud or Power BI to identify inefficiencies, high-cost patterns, and missed consolidation.
- Automate smarter decisions: Post-analysis, we help clients build business rules directly into MFCS—like preferred routing logic or PO blocking conditions—to drive cost-effective shipping choices at the source.
Shipment Consolidation & Routing Efficiency
Reducing shipment fragmentation starts at the PO level. We help retailers optimize this upstream process using MFCS:
- Strengthen PO logic: We refine how purchase orders are created by applying rules based on vendor, item, ship window, and destination location.
- Enable smart consolidation: Business logic—like vendor-level thresholds or order timing rules—drives automatic grouping of orders, reducing freight frequency and cost per unit.
Incoterm Strategy Support
We assist in defining Incoterms at the vendor contract or PO level and analyze their financial impact using integrated cost structures, ensuring alignment with business objectives.
Detention/Demurrage Prevention
Through integration with systems like RMS/SIM/WMS, we compare actual receipt data to shipping dates, identifying discrepancies and preventing additional charges.
PO Consolidation Advisory
Utilizing BI tools, we detect PO fragmentation and employ system automation to suggest or enforce consolidation, streamlining the procurement process.
Key Benefits
Implementing our strategic solutions yields significant advantages:
- Reduction in freight and customs costs through improved planning and execution.
- Enhanced on-time delivery rates.
- Improved service levels while lowering delivery costs.
- Strengthened PO lifecycle management, minimizing per-unit cost inefficiencies.
- Empowered logistics, sourcing, and supply planning teams with actionable insights.
At QBCS, we are committed to transforming logistics challenges into opportunities for growth and efficiency. Our strategic approach ensures that retailers not only overcome existing inefficiencies but also build resilient, cost-effective supply chains for the future.
Let’s Reduce Your Logistics Costs - Together
If rising logistics costs are impacting your margins or slowing your time-to-market, it’s time to take a more strategic approach. We don’t just identify inefficiencies—we implement practical, data-driven solutions that deliver measurable results.
Are you ready to optimize your freight, streamline your shipments, and regain control of your supply chain? Reach out to us to talk about how we can help your business move smarter and spend less.
