Top Logistics Reports for Your Logistics Data

Logistics is a highly complex niche and if your processes are not organized, it’s easy to fall into a shipping disaster that will harm your business operations. This is where the importance of keeping track of logistics reports comes in.

Armed with insights into your operations and data to back them up, you are placed in a much better position to perfect your logistics setup.

That said, here are the top logistics reports you should be looking at and how you can use the data to improve your shipping and logistics operations.

1. Transit Time Report

Consumers are becoming increasingly demanding lightning-fast shipping of their orders, which is why retailers have expanded their delivery efforts to include same-day delivery services.

With that, how fast you can get goods into your customer’s doorsteps is an important metric to monitor. That’s what a transit time report can do for you. With detailed data on the delivery times of different orders, you can assess the performance of your carriers and make amendments as necessary.

2. Delivered Parcel Report

A delivery parcel report comprises a series of data about orders successfully delivered to the end customer. You can also optimize it to reveal those in the first delivery attempt.

With this report, you can get a better overview of the performance of your carrier’s delivery efforts within a specific date range. You can look at the data either from the perspective of delivered parcels by carrier or by destination.

The data you retrieve from the delivered parcel report can help you uncover information about which carriers have the fastest transit times, your average transit times by destination, and the percentage of delivered parcels so you can optimize your future delivery efforts.

It’s recommended that you monitor your delivered parcel reports regularly so you can quickly spot any issues that may be affecting your supply chain, as well as the experience of your customers.

3. Parcel Count Report

A parcel count report gives detailed insights into how your shipments are distributed across carriers. Paired with data on carrier rates and performance, you can use this information to ensure an optimized delivery system, improving the experience for your customers.

A parcel count report can also give you information about where your customers are located. This gives your marketing team an advantage, as with proper target audience research, they can create marketing and advertising campaigns that can encourage your customers in these localities to keep purchasing from you.

4. Issue Report

A lot of things can go wrong in the delivery process. From delays to hold-ups in customs clearance, you need to be able to spot and solve these issues as soon as possible so that your customers are not left waiting for their packages for too long.

This is why you need an issue reporting system that will help you track and investigate problems your shipments are encountering and consequently devise solutions to solve them.

An issue report can give you insights into which carriers or destinations are encountering the most issues, what issues they’re facing in the delivery process, why your customers are not receiving their parcels on time, etc.

This information can be very valuable in your risk management efforts and ensure that you take the proper steps to improve your delivery systems.

5. Parcel Delivery Status Report

Aside from data on your delivered parcel, you must also be on top of the delivery status of your carriers and destination countries.

This gives you a detailed breakdown of delivery statuses across your trade lanes, telling you how many of your deliveries encountered issues, how many were returned to the sender, etc.

The parcel delivery status report can also be helpful in uncovering trends. With it, you can determine which months your deliveries are more prone to delays so that you can adjust your timelines accordingly.

6. Inventory Control

One of the most important things your business should be doing is tracking your inventory. You have to maintain a certain balance in your supply chain, ensuring that your stocks are not too high or running low. Because of this, you need inventory control reports that will help you identify which of your products are running out in real-time.

There are plenty of inventory control tools that you can use, such as scanner technology, that will alert you when it’s time to replenish your SKUs.

More than that, however, make sure that your inventory control reports also have data on your order history, seasonal considerations, and how long it takes for your supplier to replenish your stocks. This will help ensure that you never run out of your best-selling products.

Additionally, ensure your inventory is visible to your customers, so you don’t encounter any problems with the lack of stock after they have placed their orders.

7. Cost Analysis

One of your business’s biggest concerns is how economical your current supply, processes, and delivery systems are. Hence, you also need a cost analysis report to track your spending.

Look for a cost analysis tool that will show you your expenses per parcel, per kg, and other cost elements. This will help you evaluate your current suppliers, carriers, and other engagements and determine if they are helping your business stay economical and profitable.

Conclusion

The effectiveness of your logistics setup relies heavily on how you gather and interpret data. You must constantly be monitoring information about your inventory, supply chain, delivery reliability, costs, and more.

Armed with invaluable information like these, you can make better decisions to streamline and optimize your processes, which in turn will boost your bottom line, improve customer experiences, and pave the way to your business success.