At Marpak, we are always looking at ways in which we can work with our clients to reduce the cost of their operations. Our packaging solutions are designed with quality and efficiency as a priority, and this ultimately helps our clients run a more efficient supply chain.
In order to maximise profits and improve your efficiency, it is best to identify which areas you can make savings in without compromising your ethical responsibility at the same time. A good financial team should already be doing this, but there can always be a few alterations.
Some changes can be relatively simple and painless; others will require continuous change in order to best meet changing requirements from yourself, your company and most importantly your customer base. This is in fact one of the better places to begin.
A Happy Client Base
The most important aspect to saving costs in your business is to keep your clients and customers happy. It can be as simple being prepared to offer a variety of services. Amazon is a great example: they offer a multitude of delivery options at varying prices according to the desires of the customer, so that in no way are they misled and are therefore happy.
This doesn’t necessarily mean being a slave to your customer base’s every demand and whim, as there will comes times when a relationship between the provider and consumer is no longer profitable for either. But the customer must feel that the relationship between both is open, honest and benefits them overall.
Analyse & Improve
This leads neatly into the need for evaluation and review. Review of profit margins and budgets can reveal where too much money may be being spent. Evaluation of requirements at every rung on the ladder can lead to big and surprising savings. Cutting the expenditure on unnecessary items can lead to savings, as can replacing them with cheaper and similar quality items (or services). If you are joining a new organisation, this can be done with an evaluation of what has been ordered previously, but can also be noted by noting competitive prices to ensure that the best deal has been made.
Savings can even be made with items that you may not even consider. Small items such as stationary may be an obvious candidate for cheaper alternatives, but could the packaging used to deliver your items be made more lightweight, and therefore make a saving in transportation costs? These are the savings that can be achieved by operating with our packaging solutions.
Employee Performance
Evaluation of your staff using performance based measures can also help increase your efficiency. This can be by setting personal and team goals to achieve – goals that are quite achievable, and a clear reward system for achieving them as well. It is not forcing your employees to work against each other, but working and encouraging them to achieve their potential.
Working with your employees to get the best of them can make them feel more of an integrated part of the company, and encourage them to work harder and better for you all. This must remain ethical practice, as playing playing off against each other is unacceptable and will foster an unworkable atmosphere amongst colleagues. This will also damage your productivity as a group.
Provoking similar responsible competition can also be applied externally, and will show the seriousness by which your company must be taken.
Shopping Around
Be prepared to shop around to ensure yourself a good deal for all services, including utilities, logistics, and security – just as you would when shopping online and on the high street. It should be noted however, that this can’t work for everyone. Play your hand cleverly, but not without the knowledge of what you have to back it up.
Overall, the main thing to consider when finding areas to save is the need for constant re-evaluation. Checking yourself now can save money later without the need to lose too much at all. The old adage of having to spend some money in order to save it is just as true as it ever was. A good financial team to identify and evaluate those areas of savings will help you in the long run.
Trimming certain aspects of your business in small ways will accumulate to making yourself a bigger savings for you and your company. The status quo of cost must constantly and consistently be challenged and evaluated in order to get the most from your supply chain.
Fore more information about our products and to learn how your business can save on packaging costs, get in touch with Marpak today by calling 0113 277 5518. You can also contact us online.
