When you first start organizing the delivery operations of your business, it’s enough of a success just to get it up and running. To just know that customers are getting their products on time and shelves are being stocked when they should be getting stocked. Just making it isn’t enough, however. As with all things in business, efficiency is key to profit. So we’re going to look at how you ensure your delivery service is faster, less costly and simply better.

Create a better mailing room

You need to look at the process of how everything gets shipped and mailed off. Most likely, you’re going to have a team that manually goes it. There’s nothing wrong with that, but there are potential faults in the system to be created. For instance, make sure all packing and shipping materials are within reach of the people who need them. If they have to keep moving several feet to retrieve materials and bring them over, that’s a lot of wasted time building up. Similarly, make sure they don’t have to keep twisting and turning. Consider turning it into a horizontal, factory line-esque setup with packages moving from one process to the next. It’s more efficient and it’s a lot less painful for the employees who don’t have to keep twisting.

Consider the storage costs

Everyone knows that holding onto inventory can be seriously costly. The bills for keeping the storage space can weigh heavily on the business. Especially if you’re dealing in any goods that need to be kept at specific temperatures. Make sure you’re moving them out without letting them sit for too long. Do daily checks on how long certain inventory has been resting there. Look at the storage options for transport too. Providers like Tiger Containers offer options for rent as well as for sale. Buying can be a lot more economically sound in the long run if you’re often transporting goods at that volume.

Track your deliverer’s performance

Looking at the data of your delivery providers is just as important as how quickly you get it to them. If you’re running your own fleet, then telemetrics help you measure the performance of each driver and each vehicle. Otherwise, you should make sure you only use delivery services who can provide the accurate data or where the package is and when it meets checkpoints right up until it’s in the hands of the customer or the retailer its meant to go to. It’s worth trying out a few different delivery companies in that case just to see who provides the most efficient and most reliable services. Those who can’t provide that data should be missed entirely.

An efficient delivery operation needs a keen eye on every aspect of the ball. The amount of deliveries that go out, how long it takes them to travel, how much loss you’re dealing with, how much it’s all costing you. Keep track of that data and you’ll find it much easier to make it just another efficient ingredient of your profitability.