THE 7Rs OR PRINCIPLES OF LOGISTICS

In years of Working in a Logistics and Transportation Industry, I have come to notice that there are some Organisation and Companies whereby People do not take into Consideration at all the 7Rs or Principles of Logistics. Well, there might be many reasons behind that which might be as follows.

1. Doing Business as Usual.
2. Having poor Strategic Management
3. Hiring Employees who are not Professional into Logistics, Transport and Supply Chain Management.
4. Employees being in a position of not knowing the importance of taking into consideration the principles or 7Rs of Logistics.
5. Employees being unaware on how to put into action the 7Rs or principles of Logistics and on how to apply them in their daily operations.

Now let us see and take a look on how different organisations speak and narrate on the 7Rs or Principles of Logistics with their impact to the Logistics, Transportaion and Supply Chain Industry.

What are the 7 R’s of logistics?

The 7 R’s (or Rights) are the set of ideals and principles used by organizations that can be a foundation to be successful in the trucking and logistics industry. These are the ‘right’ product, quantity, condition, place, customer, time, and price. Each R is complementary with each other and won’t be as effective when incomplete.

Getting The RIGHT PRODUCT

Any company that provides a service must clearly specify the type of products that it will deal with and which it is ready to transfer and knowing the product you want to deal in will help you save a lot of time and resources, and even manage it with proper guidance.

Having the RIGHT QUANTITY

Determining and knowing the correct quantity is one of the most important things in logistics services, as most service providers are a third party. Delivering the right quantity to the Customer or Client is very crucial since at the time you will deliver less quantity to the customer that is whereby you will lose their trust to you.

Maintaining the RIGHT CONDITION

In order to be able to maintain the condition of your products or your items well, you need effective storage, as each product is stored with reference to its specifications and placed on the appropriate facilities to maintain its condition and quality, and thus deliver them in a right condition. The product quality must be maintained until it reaches to its final destination; therefore, transporting your products on the right condition is a must.

Delivering to the RIGHT PLACE

Service providers will need to have drivers who are fully familiar with?delivery option, along with the importance of providing tracking systems, which must be provided to the service owner and the customer himself, and thus provide the ability to track the location and thus ensure that all products are delivered in their correct place. Of course, delivering goods to the right place is a given, but it’s not just about the final destination. The right place can also refer to using “the right trucking and logistics delivery Company''. Since it essential and need to have strategic planning, scheduling and sorting, trucks allocations and routes management.

For the RIGHT CUSTOMER

One of the most important steps is to determine the segment of customers you deal with, and thus direct the appropriate service to the right customer, and this will require you to first determine the target market to provide attractive service to customers, which must actually meet their needs. To deliver your product to the right customer depend on how you are able to find a right customer for your service or product whereby this can be done through MARKET ANALYSIS. You can rely on modern marketing methods as well as digital marketing, which will help you expand the segment of your customers and get the largest possible number of suitable customers.?

At the RIGHT TIME

When talking about logistical services, we find that time is one of the most important elements, especially since all customers pay great attention to the delivery time, and the presence of any delay or defect in it may cost you the loss of customers. These calls for service providers to know what the appropriate time are to provide products in an efficient and timely manner as well. Delivery control systems can be used to verify their arrival at the agreed time. Though In production you need know what you are producing at a particular period of time since some products tend to be seasonable. For example, at the Raining season you might produce umbrellas and at the Cold season you might produce sweaters.

At the RIGHT PRICE/COST

The process of pricing services is a very important thing, as each service must have an appropriate price that covers costs while achieving a profit margin, even if it is simple, and good storage systems and continuous updating of prices will help you gradually increase your profit margins. By combining all of the previous six factors, you should be able to arrive at the right price. How much will the product cost to produce? Are they especially fragile? Which packaging is required and how much will it cost? How many products do you need to ship, and can you do so with TL or LTL (less than load) truck movement? There are so many factors at play that must be considered carefully in order to arrive at the optimum price, from start to finish. Again, you will need to undergo a MARKETING ANALYSIS so as you can be able to determine the production and transportation costs of your competitors so as you cannot deliver a product or service of the same quantity or quality to your customers but with more cost or price that your competitors since you will lose your clients.

What Are the Benefits of having an Effective Supply Chain Management?

In today’s delivery market and global supply chain continue to be more complex than ever. A data-driven approach to logistics management is crucial to survive the competition. Given the 7 Rs discussed above, you might be wondering where it will lead you. To simply put it, the 7 Rs will give you an edge over your competitors.

Quality control

This will be the first thing your customers will notice upon establishing an effective?supply chain and logistics management. Having your goods delivered at the right time will show not only how much care you put into your customers.

Higher efficiency

Sometimes, the best solution or plan won’t be the best without automation. It might not be the most popular solution since it cuts down people's jobs, but for some industries this is the game changer. It boils down to the right automation solution, where and when you deem it necessary. Automation guarantees increasing productivity. And with the right management, maintaining machines won’t cost you a lot.

Keeping up with demand

The best supply chain systems enabled companies to keep up with loads of demands for a particular year. Just imagine the biggest soft drink company you can think of and how it can supply up to 6 different continents. An effective management system helps you achieve that. And it is more beneficial for your business to invest in acquiring real-time and accurate information of your market in a particular year.

Reduced overhead or Costs

Probably one of the things that you will want for your business, lower costs. Of course, all businesses want that. The money we save can be put into better use and improve our products. Enabling your organization to have an efficient logistics?management system reduces your overall expenses for the particular year.

REFERENCES:

1. www.logisticsboard,co.ke: CPD TRAINING PROGRAM IN LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT.
2. https://www.diggipacks.com/7-rs-of-logistics
3. www.transportify.com.ph/7-r-of-trucking-and-logistics-delivery-in-the-philippines/