Consider the logistics

Editor’s note: Michelle Stockman is an independent consultant with her company, Fort Smith-based Msaada Group. Stockman earned a bachelor’s degree from Loyola University-Chicago in communications and fine arts, and earned a master’s in entrepreneurship from Western Carolina University. Her thoughts on business success appear each week on The City Wire.

When the word logistics is mentioned, trucking is a common image that comes to mind. However, logistics is more than the transportation of goods. Logistics is “a channel of the supply chain which adds the value of time and place.”

Logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption, and it involves the integration of information, transportation, inventory, warehousing, material handling, packaging and security.

With a central location within the country, access to east and west as well as north and south routes, the Fort Smith region is a logistics hub with ABF,  J.B. Hunt and USA Truck within our back yards. However, the trucking industry is one portion of the overall logistics picture. In fact, there is a small business or two that began in Fort Smith to deliberately take advantage of the logistic advantages of this region.

While many small businesses are focused on receiving their goods rather than the steps involved in obtaining their raw materials or goods, this is a piece of the supply chain that does affect each business in some way. Whether the small business is in retail or in manufacturing, raw goods and products need to arrive at the business daily, weekly or monthly. Understanding how materials arrive at your business is another opportunity for the business owner to put themselves in the driver’s seat for the business.

Engaging the small business in logistics is defined as “having the right item in the right quantity at the right time at the right place for the right price in the right condition to the right costumer.” Clearly, there is more to logistics than loading a vessel and sending it off in the correct direction. While many small businesses simply require their shipments to arrive on time, a small business owner who better understands the shipping process will enhance price negotiations and time requirements when establishing a relationship with a given vendor.

For small businesses engaged in international trade, logistics needs to go a step further to incorporate the process of obtaining goods through customs. Also, small businesses that produce goods need to have a solid understanding on how to get those goods to the market. From the production line through packaging and loading, logistics management can cost a business its profit margins or more if the final step of getting goods to the customer fails.

An understanding of packaging, shipping methods, labeling, loading, unloading and shipping timelines is a portion of what goes into logistics. Freight lines, modes of transportation, customs, customer requirements and more are areas businesses need to think through in their logistics fulfillment. Whether the small business owner or an employee manages the company’s logistics, the end result needs to be a satisfied customer who is building trust in the business’s ability to deliver on time, as ordered while meeting the customer’s fulfillment expectations.

Given the rich resources in logistics within this community, there should not be a lack of knowledge available to business owners on how to build a better logistics practice within the company. With the additional resource of the World Trade Center in Roger’s, the world awaits for our small businesses to ship around the globe.

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Stockman can be reached at [email protected]