Logistics Planning and Management
Today companies are saddled with rising transportation costs, as well as, carrier availability and reliability, all while consumers continue to demand more for less. Even with the proliferation of Third Party Logistic (3PL) and Fourth Party Logistics (4PL) providers, companies are still struggling to contain transportation costs. To effectively manage transportation costs, companies must avoid the costly demand and supply planning mistakes which lead to expediting freight at higher costs, failing to build optimal loads leading to higher costs for the same service, or needing to satisfy demand from alternate and less cost effective locations. Logistics planning provides organizations with a view into all the factors associated with the shipment of goods, allowing them to coordinate and integrate other parts of their Supply Chain Planning processes, e.g. Demand Planning, Supply Planning, Inventory Planning, and Replenishment Planning to increase supply chain responsiveness and overall profitability.
Following are the specific Logistics Planning and Management service offerings provided by Plan4Demand:
| Service Offering | Value to Client |
| Load Planning and Optimization – is a process to create an efficient, effective plan to meet delivery commitments at the lowest possible cost. The process includes collaboration with customer service, production, carriers, distribution centers, 3PL’s, 4PL’s and customers to ensure the plans are executable. The process utilizes product weight, pack size, cube, size of container, route, carrier, origin, destination, simultaneously to create an efficient executable plan. Plan4Demand can provide assistance in this area using our diagnostic tool kit, package selection templates, system implementation skills and organization/change management skills. | An effective Transportation Planning process allows companies to reduce their transportation spend, ensure on-time delivery, increase customer satisfaction and increase profit margin. |
| Transportation Optimized Replenishment – is the process of balancing the optimization of the replenishment plan with that of the transportation plan by considering both as inputs to a combined plan. Only by considering the costs and constraints of both processes, can the value of each shipment be optimized. This process considers the product quantity, product mix and days of coverage required to meet customer demand, transportation constraints, what the current product mix is and what are the gaps the need to be filled to profitably optimize the load. Plan4Demand can provide assistance in this area using our diagnostic tool kit, package selection templates, system implementation skills and organization/change management skills. | This service offering allows companies to synchronize their supply planning processes with transportation planning processes in order to reduce transportation spend, decrease returns and allowance and increase profitability. |
| In-transit Inventory Optimization – is the process that involves balancing the appropriate inventory levels e.g. safety stock, buffer stock to cover supplier lead times, transit times and supply chain risk. It answer the question of “how inventory do I invest in to cover the unknown?” and “when do I place my next order?” The process includes collaboration with operations, supply, marketing, sales and finance to set and manage inventory and customer service levels. Plan4Demand can provide assistance in this area using our diagnostic tool kit, package selection templates, system implementation skills and organization/change management skills. | By optimizing in-transit inventory, companies can reduce their inventories, reduce supply chain risk, maintain customer service levels, and profitability. |
| Centralized Transportation Planning – is the implementation of a Load Control Center (LCC) to provide transportation planning, control, and visibility within the organization. Plans future transportation moves with an eye on cost optimization including, Shipment Planning, Freight Rating, Matching, and Payment, Load Tender & Acceptance, Routing, Scheduling, Dispatch. LCC’s can work equally well with inbound or outbound loads, but best practice is when both are included. The LCC also functions as a visibility hub for the logistics needs of the organization. Additionally the LCC facilitates the management of Logistics Partners, Customs Management, Freight Claims, Carrier Performance and Relationship management. Plan4Demand can provide assistance in this area by helping companies design, plan, train, implement and optimize the LCC processes and technology using our system implementation skills and organization/change management skills. | Companies can achieve significant transportation savings through centralized planning through, optimal routing and rating, conversion of LTL to TL shipments, consolidation of LCL shipments. Other savings areas include documentation compliance and accuracy, freight rating, payment, and matching, accessorial capitation, customs management, carrier bid optimization / rationalization. |
