How to reduce complexity in your European Operation
If your business is based in the UK and has locations in Europe, there is a good chance that the complexities of cross border trading have been exacerbated further by the recent changes in legislation related to Brexit.
Supply chain management across multiple countries is not only logistically challenging, but administratively demanding too. Sourcing and vetting suppliers, ensuring product branding or quality, managing order placement, tracking or invoicing in multiple currencies and ensuring smooth movement from location to location to maintain continuity of supply. You may also experience language barriers in communicating effectively.
Managing these complexities is time consuming and costly.
Packaging supply chain management
Whilst we appreciate that managing packaging in your supply chain may not be your biggest headache currently, we are pretty sure that the ability to reduce the workload associated with it would be an appealing prospect.
There can be a lot of time and money tied up in managing a relatively low value commodity like packaging and, if it goes wrong, the impact can be costly – especially if you are dealing with fresh or perishable goods.
How to create more time and reduce cost
You can remove a lot of the management associated with multiple suppliers across Europe by choosing one supplier with a European presence to manage everything on your behalf. This helps your business to significantly reduce the management cost of the packaging supply chain. It also removes speculative buying from local suppliers and ensures continuity of robust supply, removing any localised quality issues.
When your packaging supply is managed by one supplier, it also uncovers opportunities for packaging consolidation or re-engineering – reducing the amount of material you use. This reduces your impact on the environment as well as the overall packaging cost.
Administration becomes easier too – one point of contact for order placement, consolidated invoices in a single currency and removal of communication barriers associated with language difficulties.
Macfarlane are supporting customers with European operations through their network of strategically placed distribution centres and a specialist multi-lingual team based in Europe.
Our team are on hand to help your business reduce complexity and consolidate your supplier base, simplifying your transactions.
Contact us today to find out how we can support your business in Europe.
