Are you sure that your supply chain is operating at its highest potential? A logistics audit is the essential health check you need to identify optimization levers. Here are the 4 key steps to making it work!

Do you really understand the value of a logistics audit? A logistics audit, also known as a logistics assessment, is an in-depth, detailed examination of your company’s logistics processes.

Why is this important? Because this audit gives you a global perspective on the performance of your supply chain and enables you to identify gaps and malfunctions in relation to a benchmark.

To help you improve your performance and services, here are the 4 key steps for carrying out your logistics audit.

What is a logistics audit?

Logistics audit follow-up

A logistics audit is a detailed assessment of a company’s logistics operations, usually carried out by expert outside firms. The analysis focuses on the efficiency of product storage and distribution procedures, including an examination of the warehouse equipment used, in order to optimize operations. Its main aim is to identify organizational weaknesses and errors, and propose improvements that will enhance logistics performance, particularly in the context of e-commerce, as illustrated by the dynamics of marketplaces in France.

Outsourcing these audits is crucial to ensure impartiality and accuracy. Audits are not limited to the logistics department; they also involve other areas such as management, sales, purchasing and IT. Entrusting this task to an external entity ensures an objective assessment, avoiding internal bias and conflict.

These analyses help to identify and rectify shortcomings in logistics planning, as well as to develop strategies for optimizing the use of resources. The logistics audit is based on data collected within the company and from its suppliers and customers, helping to assess the current state of logistics, anticipate future needs and plan accordingly, including in the context of a warehouse.

For example, a logistics audit can identify under-utilized storage areas in a warehouse and suggest appropriate solutions. In the case of a warehouse storing similar products, it may be suggested to replace standard shelving with more efficient storage systems, thus optimizing available space.

The aim of the logistics audit is also to prevent problems such as stock-outs of products in high demand, bottlenecks in production line supply, or extra costs due to the use of unsuitable storage systems.

When should logistics audits be carried out?

Logistics audit

A logistics audit is not a one-off event. In fact, it’s an ongoing process that needs to be carried out at strategic moments in your company’s life. It’s an invaluable tool to help you navigate through the challenges of managing your supply chain and keeping your logistics performance at its best.

During strategic changes in your company’s structure

Imagine your company is undergoing a major strategic change: you’re expanding internationally, developing a new product range… These events are perfect examples of when a logistics audit should be considered. These changes can have repercussions throughout your supply chain, and therefore require an assessment of your logistics strategy.

Major changes to your processes

What about major changes in your processes? If you’re seeing a significant increase in sales that’s leading to the hiring of new teams, or if you’re planning to integrate robotization into your operations, a logistics audit will be essential to ensure that your current processes are adapted to these new realities.

You notice irregularities in your logistics performance

Finally, a logistics audit is also necessary when you notice irregularities in your logistics performance. This could result in shipping errors, such as duplicates, warehousing complaints from your teams, or poor shipping results. These red flags are indicators that a logistics audit is needed to identify problems and find solutions.

In short, a logistics audit should be carried out at key moments to ensure that your logistics strategy is aligned with your business objectives, that your processes are optimized and that you maintain a high level of logistics performance.

Step 1 of a logistics audit: Choosing your frame of reference

Once you’ve decided on the ideal time to carry out your logistics audit, you’ll need to choose an appropriate benchmark. The benchmark will help you assess your logistics operations, identify gaps and malfunctions, and define areas for improvement.

Internal: based on corporate objectives

One possible choice of repository is one based on your company’s internal objectives. In this case, your logistics audit will focus on checking that you are achieving your objectives and complying with your own procedures. This requires a good understanding of your own norms and standards, as well as your company’s specific logistics performance expectations.

Logistics audit External: depending on competitors

Another benchmark angle is to look at what your competitors are doing. This benchmarking approach enables you to compare your own performance with that of your sector. It’s an effective way of identifying areas for improvement and aiming to join the market leaders. However, this type of approach requires good competitive intelligence gathering, which is often a challenge given confidentiality constraints.

Externally: from the reference system supplied by an external service provider specialized in logistics audits

Finally, you can choose to use a reference provided by a professional. At Shippingbo, we offer you a set of standards that are both in line with your sector and your business, but also according to what you expect from this audit, thanks to an upstream interview. In this way, the proposed repository is truly capable of meeting your needs, and therefore able to identify areas for improvement in your logistics.

You can also choose toanalyze only a part of your logistics, for example if you already know at which stage of your supply chain the problem is located.

Shippingbo offers a variety of audits to meet your needs:

  • Organizational logistics audit: this is a complete audit of your logistics, for which you can access a 3D option enabling you to really visualize the improvements to be made.
  • ERP/organizational audit: this is an audit carried out in conjunction with the person in charge of your ERP system.
  • catalog structuring: we provide remote support to help you structure your catalog efficiently with Shippingbo
  • e-commerce discovery: we accompany you for an initial detailed study of your business, your organization and your projects.
  • 360° diagnostics: we carry out a complete study of your business, including e-commerce diagnostics, IT diagnostics and logistics diagnostics.
  • e-commerce diagnosis and strategy: we study your business, your organization and your projects in detail, to provide you with our strategic recommendations.
  • marketplaces support: we help you discover and deploy your marketplace strategy
  • logistics organization consulting
  • Optimizing your supply chain: we carry out audits on the following parts of your supply chain to propose optimization solutions: procurement, production chain, internal warehouse flows, inventory, choice of carriers, etc.

We therefore offer you a reference tool for every situation, to support you whatever stage of your logistics you wish to analyze, and at whatever stage of your development!

Whichever repository you choose, make sure it’s well adapted to your business context and objectives. This is a crucial step in ensuring the relevance of your logistics audit and giving you the best chance of optimizing your logistics performance.

Stage 2 of a logistics audit: Analysis of the existing situation

Once you’ve defined the appropriate frame of reference for your logistics audit, it’s time to move on toanalyzing what already exists. This is an essential stage in which you will evaluate the various components of your logistics according to the chosen benchmark. Here are the key areas to examine:

Analyze your storage

Warehousing is a crucial element in your supply chain. You need to consider the way your products are stored, the organization of your storage space, and the equipment and technologies used. Are there any improvements that could be made to optimize space utilization or reduce handling time?

Analyze your inventory management

Stock management is also a key factor to evaluate. This includes the accuracy of your stock levels, turnover rates, shelf life, and how you manage slow-moving or obsolete products. Good inventory management ensures optimum service levels while minimizing costs.

Analyze the efficiency of your order preparations with a logistics audit

It’s important to look at the efficiency of your order picking. This includes preparation accuracy, preparation time and error rate. Optimizing this process can lead to significant gains in terms of customer service and operational costs.

Analyze your shipments

Examine your shipments in terms of punctuality, error rates and costs. Look for potential problems such as frequent delays, shipping errors, or excessive shipping costs.

Analyze your relationships with your carriers

Your relationship with your carriers is also an important aspect of your logistics performance. This includes the quality of the service provided, reliability, costs, and how you handle inconvenience.

Analyze your returns management

Finally, don’t neglect returns management. This is an area that can have a significant impact on customer satisfaction and costs. Examine your return processes, return rates, and how you manage returns.

Once you’ve carried out an in-depth analysis of your current logistics, you’ll be able to compare your performance with that of the chosen benchmark. This is the next step in our logistics audit, and is essential for identifying your strengths and areas for improvement.

Step 3 of a logistics audit: Perform a comparative analysis using the same KPIs

The comparison between the initially defined benchmark and the existing situation identified during the audit is the key step inidentifying performance gaps and making the necessary corrections. This step takes into account the relevant KPIs identified for each analysis. Here’s how it works:

Warehouse operations comparison

Theefficiency of warehouse operations is compared with the standards defined in the benchmark. Occupancy rates, receipts and shipments per hour, staff productivity and other KPIs are analyzed in depth. This analysis enables us to identify areas for improvement.

Analysis of activity logs

Activity records such as purchase orders, receipt orders, delivery notes, etc., are compared with the repository to determine whether stock volumes, stock turnover rates, and the effectiveness of bin allocation rules are in line with expectations.

Warehouse layout assessment

Thewarehouse layout is compared with the benchmark to assess whether logistics planning, storage areas, storage system efficiency and layout are optimized.

Loading dock and delivery activity

Loading dock and delivery activities are assessed against the benchmark. KPIs such as loading and unloading dock accessibility, carrier synchronization and optimized routes are analyzed.

It’s essential that the KPIs are well defined and in line with the company’s objectives. They also need to be integrated into simple, effective dashboards to facilitate their analysis. In addition, the involvement of field teams in the choice of KPIs and in the decision-making process is crucial to ensure their buy-in.

Logistics audits with Shippingbo

At Shippingbo, we understand the importance and benefits of a quality logistics audit. That’s why we call on professionals in the field, who are then trained in the Shippingbo solution and certified to ensure you receive the best logistics audit service. They then visit your warehouses to assess your logistics alongside you and lend you their experience, giving you access to their expertise and enabling you to maximize your supply chain management.

Once you’ve identified the gaps between your benchmark and what you’ve been able to analyze, you’ll be able to determine the right solutions to improve your logistics performance.

Step 4 of an optimal logistics audit: Determining solutions

Determining solutions is a crucial step after a logistics audit. This is when the information gathered during the audit is used to formulate improvement strategies. The aim is to find the most effective solutions to maximize the performance of your supply chain.

Setting up processes

Logistics audits can reveal areas where existing processes need to be modified.

For example, if the audit reveals inefficiencies in inventory management, a new regular inventory and stock rotation process could be implemented. If the audit reveals problems in order processing, a new order preparation and dispatch process may be necessary.

These new processes can help increase efficiency and precision, leading to improved logistics performance.

Reorganizing the existing

The audit may also indicate that certain aspects of your supply chain require reorganization. For example, if storage space is poorly utilized, or if there are inefficiencies in shipping routes, a reorganization could prove beneficial.

This reorganization could involve redefining storage areas, implementing new picking strategies, or creating more optimized shipping routes.

Arm yourself with new tools

Finally, the logistics audit may reveal the need for new tools to improve your operations. And that’s where Shippingbo can become your best ally in maximizing your logistics performance.

Shippingbo’s software suite gives you access to management of every stage in the life of your supply chain : order management, inventory management and transport management. This gives you total control over your logistics, enabling you to optimize all your processes for: real-time order processing, efficient preparation and faster dispatch.

Conduct a logistics audit with Shippingbo

A logistics audit is more than just an inventory. It is a real strategic lever for analyzing your processes, revealing friction points that are invisible on a daily basis, and above all identifying concrete opportunities to save time, cut costs and improve customer satisfaction.

At Shippingbo, we’re convinced that an effective logistics audit is as much about method as it is about data. That’s why we provide you with a structured 10-point approach, combined with powerful tools to measure, compare and manage the performance of your supply chain, from preparation to dispatch.

Whether you manage a warehouse, a marketplace or a multi-channel e-commerce business, our aim is simple: to provide you with a clear, actionable and results-oriented vision. Far from complex or generic audits, our methodology is designed to adapt to your challenges, whatever the size of your organization.

Are you hesitating to launch a logistics audit? Our 10-point method will help you decide where to focus your efforts:

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