As a certified Great Place to Work®, we have some of the best employees in the industry. One of those employees is Meghan Williams, an Operations Specialist who works from the Logistics Plus Global Headquarters in Erie, PA.
This video is included in a series of new “Employee Spotlight” interviews over the coming weeks and months that will showcase many of our diverse employees from around the world. We hope you enjoy getting to know a little more about us and the “people who power the plus” at Logistics Plus.
A special thanks to Meghan for her participation in this interview. Stay tuned in the coming weeks to learn more about the employees at Logistics Plus.
Whether it’s due to cost, delivery time, or increased business opportunities, rethinking your shipping network may be more important than ever. Unfortunately, there is no “one size fits all” approach to creating an optimal shipping network. For one industry, it may be crucial to have strategically placed warehouses across the country. In another industry, it may be more important to deliver products timely across the country. Having an out of date shipping network may be holding back the growth of your business. Follow these tips to help optimize your shipping network today.
Create a Strategy
To create a successful shipping network, you must plan, build, and optimize a strategy that best fits your needs. Begin by doing an analysis of your business to determine what is most important to your customers. Would they rather receive packages quicker or get the cheapest shipping rates? Regardless, every shipping network strategy should aim to accomplish two goals:
1.) Decrease the time customers wait for their orders.
2.) Lower your cost per order.
Choose Warehousing Locations When optimizing a shipping network, location is crucial. Certain areas across the U.S. such as Los Angeles, New York City, and Chicago have become hotbeds for distribution because of their proximity to large parts of the population. Having multiple distribution centers and available warehousing across the country can be a huge benefit for businesses and can help decrease transit times and costs. Have a clear idea of where your customers are located and base your warehousing and distribution strategy on those locations. Having optimal warehouse locations is an important key to a successful shipping network.
Implement Technology Solutions During the planning stages, business intelligence tools can help model an optimal distribution strategy. After a network has been implemented, a transportation management system (TMS) can be a valuable and time-saving asset for any shipping network. A TMS can give you the best quotes, transit times, and service options to help deliveries and pickups become more efficient and accurate. Along with a TMS, an effective warehouse management system (WMS) allows real-time reporting for order confirmation, tracking activity, received shipments, and more. As technology continues to expand, more efficient and effective solutions for distribution networks are presented. Continuously updating technology is an easy way to keep up with the ever-changing shipping industry.
Look Towards the Future
As the transportation industry constantly changes, it’s important to stay up to date on current and future industry trends. With a severe driver shortage and the capacity crunch, transportation costs will rise significantly. As transportation costs rise, distribution networks will have to gradually expand closer to key market locations to reduce mileage and costs. There is currently a shortage of about 60,000 drivers this year, and it’s estimated that by 2026, the shortage may triple. Another factor of rising transportation costs is fuel cost volatility. Monitoring current and future freight trends is a great way to optimize your shipping network and stay ahead of competition.
Creating an optimized shipping network doesn’t just mean adding more warehouses, it can also mean removing some. It’s important to remember that all businesses have different needs and there is not just one correct way to optimize a shipping network. By creating a proper distribution strategy and implementing it, you can become more efficient while saving time and money.
The Logistics Plus project cargo team completed an entire factory relocation of a heat treatment facility from Cypress, Texas to Monterrey, Mexico. Logistics Plus was responsible for all rigging, disassembling, and transportation of the facility. With a deadline of 30 days, the Logistics Plus team completed the project in 28 days.
In total, the factory relocation used a 12-man rigging crew, 2 electricians, 3 Logistics Plus supervisors, overhead cranes, hydrolic jacks, heavy forklifts, 28 trucks, and 2,400 labor hours.
In case you missed it, Scott Frederick, Vice President, Marketing, for Logistics Plus, was featured in a recent airing of Business Spotlight on WPSE AM 1450/FM 107.1 Radio. Business Spotlight is a 30-minute program airing Fridays at noon. Each segment focuses on a business or organization that is making an impact across the region.
In this segment, Scott discusses his roles with the company, marketing “without a plan,” LTL services, growth, awards, and more. You can listen to a replay of the interview on the Logistics Plus YouTube Channel below.
Recently, 15 Logistics Plus employees competed in the 1st Annual LP Charity Ping Pong Tournament. Alfredo Ayala emerged as the Logistics Plus champion and got the chance to play against professional ping pong player, Jasmine Guan, in the overall championship match. Jasmine has won several province championships in Liao Ning, China and is the mother of LP employee Peter Yu. Jasmine went on to defeat Alfredo 21-5 in the championship match. ?
Thanks to everyone who participated and helped us raise $440 to buy winter coats for underprivileged Erie School District children. The video below features the championship match between Alfredo and Jasmine:
As a certified Great Place to Work®, we have some of the best employees in the industry. One of those employees is Andrew Copple, an IT Support Specialist who works from the Logistics Plus Global Headquarters in Erie, PA.
This video is included in a series of new “Employee Spotlight” interviews over the coming weeks and months that will showcase many of our diverse employees from around the world. We hope you enjoy getting to know a little more about us and the “people who power the plus” at Logistics Plus.
A special thanks to Andrew for his participation in this interview. Stay tuned in the coming weeks to learn more about the employees at Logistics Plus.
Whether it’s due to cost, delivery time, or increased business opportunities, rethinking your shipping network may be more important than ever. Unfortunately, there is no “one size fits all” approach to creating an optimal shipping network. For one industry, it may be crucial to have strategically placed warehouses across the country. In another industry, it may be more important to deliver products timely across the country. Having an out of date shipping network may be holding back the growth of your business. Follow these tips to help optimize your shipping network today.
The Logistics Plus project cargo team completed an entire factory relocation of a heat treatment facility from Cypress, Texas to 
In case you missed it, 
