Kristina Antonorsi Discusses Ways to Improve Your Distribution Management
The distribution channel is the process of getting a product to the customer. It can be through online or offline channels, but it is always necessary for any business that sells products.
The distribution channel is one of the most important aspects of running a successful company. Kristina Antonorsi, an entrepreneur from Venezuela, understands that there would be no way for the company to distribute its products and services to customers interested in them without distribution. Your company’s success relies heavily on ensuring you have an effective distribution channel set up to reach as many people as possible with your goods and services.
What is Distribution Management?
Distribution management refers to an entire area of business that has the sole purpose of overseeing and managing the flow of goods from point A (the place where it is produced) to point B (its final destination: the consumer). Kristina Antonorsi believes that the success of a distribution management team relies on its ability to plan and allocate labor and resources efficiently to keep costs low while still ensuring there are no delays in production.
Production companies often outsource some aspects such as warehousing, transportation, and shipping, allowing for greater flexibility and cost savings. Distribution managers work with all other departments within a company to ensure they’re getting the supplies they need when needed.
Who Does This Job?
Typically, those who pursue this field of work have a background in supply chain management, logistics, or business administration. Kristina Antonorsi feels that this job involves coordinating with many people across many different departments within a company to make sure everything is running smoothly and on time. Knowing how to negotiate effectively is extremely important when working in this field.
What Does Distribution Management Involve?
In short, distribution management entails keeping track of the flow of goods from one location (such as a warehouse) to another (the customer’s home). Kristina Antonorsi believes that It also means managing resources such as workers and trucks to be allocated effectively and used where needed most. A lot of work goes into making sure the right resources get sent to the right places at the right times, so there aren’t any delays or damage done to goods.
Here are a few ways to improve your distribution management.
Track Inventory with the Cycle Count Method
One of the most common ways to keep inventory is the cycle count method. To begin this process, you will need to inventory your products by recording quantities and product types for each location where they are stored (warehouse, retail stores). When doing this, you mustn’t include products in transit or products that have been sold, so you don’t double count anything.
After repeatedly doing this step, use the information to calculate the average quantity on-hand. At regular intervals (for example, weekly or monthly), repeat the counting process and compare numbers to see if there has been any change in inventory levels. If there has been no change, managers can assume that everything is within its expected range and that inventory is managed properly. If there has been a change, investigate the cause immediately to determine whether it’s normal or abnormal.
Automate Data Collection
To make sure things run efficiently and on time, it’s important to automate the data collection process as much as possible. This will include installing software on your computers to collect the data, so you don’t have to enter it manually. It would help if you also had barcodes on inventories so scanners can easily read them and use equipment where human error is eliminated as much as possible.
Eliminate Unnecessary Costs
The more efficiently you manage your resources, the less likely you will end up with excess labor or materials that are not being used effectively.
One way to keep these costs down is by ensuring there are no delays in production. If products or services are not completed on time, it will lead to backorders which affect the entire flow of the company’s inventory. This means keeping track of routine audits, inspecting incoming shipments for quality control purposes, and ensuring that all products and services are delivered on time.
Inventory Expense
One of the biggest expenses in a distribution center is inventory. To keep these costs down but still maintain an adequate supply, you must consider all options when deciding what supplies to store and where they should be located.
When choosing products for storage, only choose items with high turnover rates because these have a very short shelf life and can become obsolete quickly if not used before their expiration date. By using this method, you’ll need less space overall because you won’t have things sitting on shelves for months at a time without being touched.
Balance Labor Costs
Your employees are another major expense in any business, so they must be allocated to areas where their skills will be most effective. This means hiring the right people for the job and making sure you clearly understand who is responsible for each task.
On average, it takes about two days to train new employees on their tasks, so scheduling should be carefully considered when planning out workers’ shifts. There must be no gaps in coverage because this will increase overtime costs and lead to delays. Besides considering all possible options when scheduling, you should also ensure enough resources are allocated to make sure deadlines can be met if necessary. If workers need to stay late or work extra hours, try to spread them out evenly over time rather than letting them make up one full shift at a time.
Final Thoughts
Using these methods, you’ll find that your distribution center is running more efficiently and on time, expenses are being reduced across the board, and inventory levels staying consistent. In addition to increasing profits, this will also build customer satisfaction, improving market share.
When trying to improve anything from a system to a product, there is always room for improvement no matter how good a job you’re doing. Here I made suggestions that could easily be done in any warehouse or distribution business.
