Addressing Landed Costs

With any product based business, there are always additional costs that are beyond the product’s materials and specifications. Shipping costs in particular can add such significant additional costs that addressing these amounts can make a huge difference in the overall costs of the products. Since this can affect the amount of margin you are able to collect, it is important to look with a critical eye at what makes your landed costs. Starting with seemingly smaller items can get you started in streamlining your processes. Something like adjusting the weights of the items you are shipping to their correct amounts can affect how they can be packed for maximum efficiency. This can affect how many cartons can fit on a pallet and ultimately how many pallets can fit in the cargo shipping containers. A seemingly small part of the supply chain has just saved the company thousands of dollars. Another part of addressing landed costs is the visibility you can create by looking at each part individually. Before lumping each part together onto a company offering international cargo shipping services know the facts about your key points individually. Even with the global shipping services it is important to take into consideration that it is your cargo shipping, not theirs. You need to have the visibility. In looking at what makes up your landed costs, you can improve projections since you will have a better handle of the supply chain costs, and you will know more details regarding returns and damages as well as how customs duties are affecting your bottom line. Finding the exact landed costs may seem insignificant, but having the total picture of your supply chain can be a huge asset to your company.