Few industries move as fast as high tech, where innovation and speed-to-market help you win and retain customers. So it’s critical to maximize the window you have to sell the product, and a smart supply-chain strategy can help you do that. Here are three approaches to consider:
1. Speed up logistics to launch your product earlier.
Getting to market a month earlier improves profits an average of 3.1%, and beating the competition by six months improves profits by nearly 12%, according to the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences. Increasing shipping speed can help shave off some of that critical time.
Take Vivo, a supplier and manufacturer of computer and other products and accessories. The company engaged UPS to help find operational efficiencies and better processes as they outgrew their current space and systems. UPS looked at available shipping lanes, and developed improvements that not only improved transit times, but also reduced costs by 3%.
2. Strategic visibility into warehousing and distribution.
Positioning inventory closer to demand is another way to get products to customers even faster. High-tech companies should consider third-party logistics providers who can offer time efficiencies from multiple stocking locations, and a holistic view of inventory through visibility, whether it’s fresh off the manufacturing line, in transit, or warehoused. For example, eSecuritel, a Brightstar company, provides mobile device insurance and replacements. The company fully streamlined fulfillment by moving inventory to UPS’s campus near its worldwide hub in Louisville, KY. UPS coordinated warehousing and staffing. eSecuritel was able to achieve maximum visibility, and also lower overall transit times to its customers.
3. Speed up cash flow and re-invest to stay ahead.
High-tech manufacturers need to turn over their already-lean inventory as quickly as possible, to recover their investment in manufacturing soonest, and speed up, and maximize, their investment in future product development. But inbound funds to manufacture new inventory are traditionally not available until payments for products have been received. Companies which would benefit from faster access to funds can consider options such as UPS Capital Cargo FinanceTM service, which allows them to borrow against their inventory in transit on an unsecured transactional basis.
Identifying shipping efficiencies to cut down on transit times and costs. Outsourcing to third-party partners with strategically located facilities to further increase speed to market. Using the value of inventory in transit to free up cash and reinvest in new inventory. These are three surprising ways that UPS, with its expertise in high-tech manufacturing and distribution, can help companies maximize their sales within short product cycles.
Find out what it takes to get products into your customers’ hands faster and more cost-effectively. See how UPS can help here.
