Tips For Cutting Costs In Your Company's Shipping Department

8 September 2016
 Categories: Business, Blog

Share

How well does your company's shipping department run? If it's been a while since you last reviewed your shipping procedures, you could be losing a good amount of money. Learn more about how you can cut back your business's shipping expenses before you audit the department and make changes.

Organization

As a business owner, office organization probably isn't something that you often consider. However, when it comes to your company's shipping department, the way things are organized could affect your overall profits. Mailing containers and other shipping necessities aren't always easy to store, so it's easy for a shipping department to become a space that's messy and overrun with supplies. Unfortunately, if your shipping area is a mess, your employees are probably wasting a good amount of time trying to find what they need to do their jobs properly. Also, without a good organizational system, it's easy for your department manager to accidentally order supplies that he or she didn't realize were already stocked. To get things organized, have your employees:

  • Make sure all of your company's mailing containers and shipping supplies have a clearly labeled space so they are easy to find.
  • Implement a barcode system to help your manager track your current inventory.
  • Create their own workstation areas where they can prepare mailing containers for shipping. Each employee's workstation should include important instructions and procedures posted in clear view, as well as a small stock of the supplies they use most often to increase production time.

Bulk Supplies

Mailing containers and other shipping supplies can be ordered in bulk to save money. While it may not be feasible to order every product (especially items such as custom mailing tubes and oddly shaped boxes) used in your shipping department in bulk, you should be ordering the products that are used most frequently in large quantities. Some of the items you should consider ordering in bulk include: mailing containers in sizes that are frequently used, box tape, and labels. All of these items are probably used for almost every shipment, so there's no reason to order them on an as-needed basis.

Auditing your shipping department to determine where changes are needed is necessary on occasion. The good news is, you probably don't need to make a lot of changes in order to save money. By making sure the area is organized, your employees can easily access the mailing containers and shipping supplies needed, and your employees have a clear process to follow, you help ensure that your shipping department runs smoothly without wasting money.

For more information, contact Chicago Mailing Tube Co. or a similar company.