How can you trust your logistics partners?

By doing regular service quality meetings and regular auditing to verify their certification and licensing, of course with a proper SLA in place to guarantee the integrity, quality, integrity, reliability, safety, reputation and compliance

One of important steps prior to selecting the logistics partners should be definition of the exact scope of outsourcing that will be most beneficial for our company. Example of such decisions make include the responsibility for the warehouse property where the outsourced operations will take place. Should the 3PL rent the space and provide storage and handling services, or do I prefer to have control on the lease agremement while the 3PL provides people, MHE, racks, IT and other equipment? Both scenarios have their pros and cons so it may be worthwhile to quantify and compare them in order to take a sound business decision.

Hitting the requirements goes without saying. But it's really hard to evaluate how partnership will go before it starts. Over the years of working with multiple teams I've learned that trust build up during evaluation process is a good indicator of healthy relations in the future. Trust is when you promised to provide certain piece of information you need on time and in correct format. If things are provided faster in a better format than you expect this is a good sign. Assuming the team you work with on the evaluation is the team to be with you on a daily basis - you are in good hands. If you get the info late or cannot get a proper response - beware. This will likely won't change and even become more severe. Business=people.

Trusting a logistics partner is vital for seamless goods movement and meeting customer needs. Key trust factors include assessing reputation, expertise, transparent communication, reliability, and compliance. Technology investment, references, clear agreements, financial stability, and adaptability are crucial. Choosing a partner with a proven track record, effective communication, and a commitment to compliance ensures dependable logistics support aligning with business requirements.

Establishing clear expectations of the Logistics partner is the first step in achieving trust as they are well positioned to understand what they are expected to do . The next step is how you transform the SLA’s into reality .

Como coloquei no tópico 1, a escolha do parceiro logístico é uma decisão fundamental e que pode impactar diretamente no seu negócio e no seu NPS junto ao seu cliente. A escolha precisa se basear em uma sequencia lógica, onde primeiro avaliaremos a capacidade técnica da empresa, background check, análise financeira, compliance, risco de imagem, análise jurídica e etc, tudo isso fazemos na RFI; Com isso vc avaliará, um uma long list, 10 fornecedores e passarão para o segunda fase do processo e receberão a RFP, somente 4 ou 5 melhores colocados, sendo que dessa forma não corremos risco de cotarmos com fornecedores sem capacidade de entregar o que precisamos e isso é um grande problema. Estruturando um BID corremos menos risco para contratar.

Even after careful evaluations and consideration in onboarding a new logistics partner, they should not be assigned to critical tasks starting from the beginning. Instead, there should be some mechanism to make them gel in their way up by starting from least critical tasks and lead to critical tasks based on performance.

Due diligence is essential. You need to protect yourself from any potential risk. Make a risk matrix with the criteria that is most important for you. Evaluate the logistic partner through the criteria matrix. Ask around for references and experiences, google it. Only after thorough background check you can be 90% sure that you covered all of your risks.

User Once you have defined your expectations, the next stage is to evaluate Logistic Partners. Consider the following criteria: Ask for three major problems identified in the last year and the steps taken to improve. Request details of three steps taken to reduce carbon emissions within logistic movements. Inquire about processes suggested by the LP that helped customers reduce waste in terms of money, time, and resources. Find out how the LP provides real-time cargo movement information to customers. Request a summary of the last year's data on the number of movements, committed delivery timelines versus actual delivery times, and the average percentage

“Behind every great leader there was an even greater logistician.” “Leaders win through logistics. Vision, sure. Strategy, yes. But when you go to war, you need to have both toilet paper and bullets at the right place at the right time. In other words, you must win through superior logistics.”

Partnership in logistics is always a 2 way street. You win your customers loyalty by proving it. If you are willing to go an extra mile for your customer, they will also be willing to extend an extra financial incentive to build a trust based relationship.

One cannot emphasise enough on the importance of building relationships. Strong relationships creates sustainable long term relationships based on trust and confidence in one another. Partners can easily understand each other’s objectives and expectations. Also establishing relationships opens a platform for open communication which is a critical factor in every business. If one looks at the current issues happening especially in the shipping industries such as shortage of trucks and many more, it is crucial for companies to have logistics partners that are willing to go an extra mile in making the impossible possible. Therefore building relationships should be a top priority to have long lasting, trustable and sustainable partnerships.

Construir um relacionamento com o seu fornecedor fará você o transforma-lo em parceiro de fato. É comum contarmos o nosso fornecedor somente quando temos problemas e isso é péssimo para o relacionamento, importante cultivar essa relação, estar próximo, fazer visita, marcar reuniões com um frequência definida e assim ajustar pequenos problemas antes que eles virem grandes. O relacionamento é uma via de mão vias, não é só quando você precisa do fornecedor.

Good incentive planning is something that generates engagement out of mutual interest. Sharing the gains generated by continuous improvement and connecting partnership increments (such as new partnerships) to performance promotes a focus on benefit per result. For this, it is extremely important to share information and strategic vision (within limits, of course) and integrating systems and indicators can be a way of generating this partnership action.

To be sure, KPIs are essential to proving evidence of performance. However, the human factor is always critical to build trust. Communications is key here, and it has to be two-way. Ensure that you evaluate your logistics partners and have them evaluate you, and listen to what each is saying. Use NPS surveys and other market research to establish what customers think of your logistics (enabled by the partners). Be seen to take action to improve the relationship. Ask for ideas to improve the service offerings, and develop win-win outcomes.

Sempre considerar parceiros com confiabilidade em seus processos: afinal, um prazo determinado para a entrega de um produto ou serviço deve ser cumprido, salvo exceções, previamente informadas, para a devida programação junto aos clientes determinados pelo uso logístico. Deste modo, monitorar torna-se a ferramenta mais poderosa, após todas as etapas anteriores cumpridas, para que tanto o solicitante quanto os executores averiguem o fulxo correspondente e melhores maneiras de seguí-lo dentro de fatores bons ou excelentes.

Holding periodic KPI meetings on SLAs is a must, but there should be tools that can provide visibility of metrics that are indicative of the overall performance of the logistics partner. Having the means to gauge the partner's overall performance on a short-, mid-, and long-term basis will give the organization the capacity to nudge the operations in the right direction and make decisions that will help drive improvements in the process.

The trust can be built once you are connected very firmly with your logistic partner and how it can be done is that you don't stick to only one platform for communicating. Use multiple social media platforms to stay connected so that if they are not able to connect with you officially then they can be available on other platforms and being transparent and clear with you is the key to go along. If there are even minor changes in any operation you should be aware of that. Like changes in shipment schedule, loading and unloading schedules, any loss of documentation, mishap at port, or any kind of disturbance can be communicated between both parties to build trust between each other.

The most important thing that helped me in having a valuable evaluation, whether for suppliers or logistics service providers, is that I work for a company within a large group of sister companies. Through this, the exchange of experiences contributes significantly to taking a clearer picture of the logistics partners. This resulted in a regular, updated, and evaluation, which is undoubtedly a strength.

When possible, informal monthly or bi-monthly meeting with your account manager is vital. You will be surprised with the amount of knowledge people share on face to face meetings. Not to mention logistics service provider work with all type of clients and face daily challenges and issues. Having an “old-fashioned" conversation with your logistics provider could allow you to avoid mistakes by contemplating on others lesson learned.

Learning and improving are part of an endless cycle. Make it part of your company DNA. Every partner should commit to setting all the necessary arrangements, not only to avoid previous mistakes but to build a sustainable and exceptional operational environment. But learning does not only come from errors. Learning also means sharing. Regretfully, some leaders have the mindset: "If I hire your services you have to do what I say". They just miss the opportunity for the partner to share vital information, like insights, to similar challenges they have faced before with other clients. Creating a welcoming atmosphere to discuss issues and brainstorm solutions from both sides is how you can secure an actual improving climate inside your team.

Other ways to build trust with your logistics partners are: - Honesty and transparency: Be truthful and sincere with your logistics partner. Admit your mistakes and apologize when necessary. Share relevant information and data with your logistics partner and avoid hiding or withholding anything. Respect your logistics partner’s confidentiality and privacy. - Use case-specific tools: Use tools that are tailored to the specific needs and challenges of your industry or sector. For example, if you are in real estate project management, you might need tools that help you manage construction contracts, subcontractors, materials, permits, inspections.

Learning and improving is completely your responsibility to achieve. Your shipping partner's learning and improvement processes are theirs to achieve, not yours. Remember that you always have the power of the purse and that is their incentive, as a last resort, to learn and improve or risk losing your business. This is where you identify to your shipping partner, through KPIs, what is going wrong. They, in turn, need to assure you that they are learning and improving.

Além dos dados, é preciso também ter os motivos quando o indicadores ficarem abaixo do acordado. Com isso é possível ver o principais dores e cobrar o fornecedor ou criar um plano de ação em conjunto e desta forma melhorando continuamente.

A capacidade de aprender com experiências passadas e adaptar-se às mudanças do mercado é crucial para a evolução e sustentabilidade da parceria logística. A revisão periódica da parceria oferece oportunidades para refinar processos, integrar novas tecnologias e expandir capacidades. Essa abordagem proativa não só melhora a eficiência operacional mas também contribui para a competitividade no mercado.

A confiança é um componente chave na gestão logística, mas deve ser equilibrada com verificações regulares e responsabilização. Este equilíbrio entre confiança e supervisão assegura que as expectativas sejam atendidas e mantém a integridade da parceria, ao mesmo tempo em que proporciona a flexibilidade necessária para que os parceiros inovem e se adaptem às demandas do negócio.

La confianza y la flexibilidad es casi un factor común en las operaciones de comercio exterior, ya que aunque siempre manejamos la regla de oro "Just in time" como un deber, por todos es conocido que pueden existir muchos factores no controlables (clima, protestas, roleos, omisiones, entre tantos otros). Sin embargo y debido también a lo anterior es muy importante tener claro con todo proveedor un S&OP en el cual basarse en cualquier eventualidad.

Everyone has their preffered vendor. Withing a team, likely several key favorites. It's important to rotate vendors with a frequency which matches your organization and customer needs. This is applicable to service and pricing. There's always a few vendors that will get "comfortable" with the telationship. This is where the client is most vulnerable of being taken advantage. Always get three quotes and rotate to protect your business.

"Trust but verify" is a common mantra of many senior logisticians. The ability to get to the ground truth on matters is sometimes pivotal to successful operations - I can cite many examples of this. One way to get ground truth is to ensure you personally have access (at least viewing rights) to the logistics / supply chain information systems in order to verify what is being said. I've seen dozens of people across several organizations stating something as fact; however, after pursuing the ground truth, I was able to discredit the statements being made and highlight the true issues causing the delay or shortage.

Sistemas de verificação rotineiros do que você recebe devem ser implementados. Após estabelecimento de contratos, prazos, preços e qualidade você como comprador deve manter um índice de satisfação interno na sua empresa, um método de avaliação de fornecedores que pode ser bem simples, uma planilha por exemplo. Lembre-se de alimentar essa planilha com dados sobre o produto recebido. Realmente bate com o que foi descrito? Prazo foi adequado? Entregaram no local correto? Houve mudanças no planejamento/preço? Mantenha seu catalogo de fornecedores sempre sob avaliação. São seus parceiros mas erros podem acontecer em qualquer empresa, espere o melhor, se prepare para o pior, sempre tenha um segundo fornecedor possível em mente.

In my opinion, the most important thing to build trust with your logistics partner is to test them during times of crisis and challenges. You cannot trust someone who takes advantage of difficult times for their own benefit. On the contrary, someone who is there during critical times & ready to help is the one who deserves your trust.

Establishing trust with partners in the field of logistics collaboration is heavily reliant on the clarity and fairness of contractual conditions. A solid contract serves as the foundation, defining obligations, performance metrics, and conflict resolution processes. Make ensure that terms covering delivery schedules, quality standards, and contingency plans are included. Transparent pricing and payment terms promote mutual understanding. Contracts should be revisited and updated regularly to accommodate changing demands. A well-crafted agreement serves as the cornerstone for a dependable and long-term logistical collaboration.

Establishing a pre-qualification process is essential for companies to evaluate a logistics provider's grasp of the customer's business domain. This process should delve into how the logistics company devises risk management plans for cargo transportation. Moreover, it's crucial to inquire about knowledge and experience retention strategies. Often, a single individual from the logistics company becomes well-versed in the customer's business processes and products. However, when that person departs, their invaluable insights disappear. Logistics companies should have measures in place to preserve and transfer this knowledge seamlessly, ensuring continuity and reliability for their clients.

Trust in our logistics partners is the cornerstone of successful operations in the air freight industry. In my role as an Air Freight Manager, I've learned that trust is built on a foundation of transparency, reliability, and shared goals.

You can trust your logistics partners by conducting thorough background checks, verifying their track record and certifications, establishing clear communication channels, and maintaining transparency throughout your partnership. Personally I prefer solo ownership because in my many years of experience I have found one partner is the willing horse and a partner will often times rest on their laurels and take advantage of the other person. It’s almost human nature so I would venture carefully when considering any kind of partnership! Working I. A business partnership however, and collaborating is an entirely different animal and this I highly recommend.