Skip to main content

Strengthening the chain

Logistics issues have affected businesses across all industries recently. It is therefore prudent to take whatever steps you can to minimise disruption when a vital part of your supply chain is unable to meet its obligations or becomes too expensive.

Importers will be acutely aware that the cost of bringing goods into the country has soared during the course of 2021. Rising fuel costs and delays arising from the UK’s exit from the European Union are just two of the factors that have pushed up transport costs.

The obvious response is to simply increase prices, but there are many reasons why this might not be possible or desirable.

Changing consumer trends

Customer preferences and demands are always changing, but when supply issues become obvious the pace of this change can be accelerated. This has been seen in an increase in the number of consumers doing their Christmas and New Year shopping earlier than usual this year amid fears that some items may be in short supply.

One option for dealing with shortages is to reduce the number of lines you carry. Users of a cloud-based accounting solution such as Big Red Cloud can use the financial data available to them to identify the least profitable areas of their business.

Delivery terms should also be reviewed to see if frequency of delivery could be reduced without impacting customer service unduly.

Check your links

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, so it makes sense to do some due diligence on second and third tier suppliers and – where possible – identify potential alternatives. This is particularly true for businesses that follow a ‘just in time’ model where delays can be extremely costly.

Diversification is a term that is widely used across business and it is particularly applicable to supply chains, where there is a clear risk in putting all your eggs in one basket. Could you source some finished goods and/or raw materials closer to home to reduce shipping costs and the potential for delays, for example?

It is also worthwhile reviewing haulage and delivery contracts to see if using an alternative provider (or even partnering with other recipients to minimise empty space in delivery vehicles) could increase transportation efficiency.

How to react

The obvious response to rising costs in any element of your business is to attempt to renegotiate prices with an existing supplier. But with transport providers facing higher costs up the line this is no easy task and you have to be realistic about your chances of success.

At an operational level it makes sense to have some kind of business continuity plan in place, particularly for large contracts where the inability to fulfil an order could be financially disastrous.

It might also be worth considering trade credit insurance to protect the business from non-delivery through the supply chain. This type of insurance has traditionally been inaccessible to smaller companies because of its cost, but it might be possible to obtain affordable cover for specific contracts or clients.

Marc O'Dwyer

After completing a Graduate program in Marketing, Marc’s impressive sales career began at Allied Irish Banks, Pitney Bowes and Panasonic where he received numerous Irish and European sales performance awards and consistently exceeded targets and expectations. In 1992, Marc’s entrepreneurial spirit led him to set up his own business, Irish International Sales (IIS). Initially, this company was a reseller for Take 5 Accounts and Payroll software. Within four years, IIS became the largest reseller of Take 5 in Ireland, acquiring four other Take 5 resellers. He also found time to set up two mobile phone shops under the Cellular World brand and a web design company offering website design services for small businesses. In 2001, he bought the majority share in a small Irish software business, Big Red Book. At that time, the company was losing money. The company became profitable within two months, and Marc then acquired a payroll company to compliment Big Red Books Accounting products. In 2003, IIS were appointed as Channel Partners with SAP for their new SME product, SAP Business One. Marc sold his Take 5 business and concentrated on developing this new market for SAP As a result, by 2007, IIS was recognised as the largest Channel Partner for SAP in EMEA (Europe Middle East and Africa). In 2008, the IIS Sales Manager bought the Company from Marc in an MBO. He launched Big red cloud in June 2012, the online version of big red book, to date the company successfully converts 59% of trials into sales and the number of customers is growing rapidly. Marc continues to run both Big Red Book and Big Red Cloud which now support 75,000 businesses. He is a very keen sportsman, having played rugby for 20 years, represented Leinster at under 16 and under 20 levels, and league squash with Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club for 10 years. Marc has competed in 11 Marathons, including the London and Boston Marathons, and has completed several Triathlons and Half Ironman races. He has also completed six Ironman Races in Austria(x2), Frankfurt (Germany), Nice (France) , Mallorca (Spain) and Copenhagen (Denmark)

This site is registered on wpml.org as a development site. Switch to a production site key to remove this banner.