Being “too” successful doesn’t sound like a problem, nor does having too many customers or shipping too much product. But growth comes with its own setbacks — like shipping challenges which can make or break organizations on the cusp of greatness.
Shippers face significant complications as they scale, from problems with efficiency and organization to compliance and optimization.
Here are a few common roadblocks that might be slowing down your operation’s growth, plus tips on how to overcome them.
Roadblock #1: Increased Shipping Volume
Challenge: Scaling up shipments often results in complexities like order mismanagement, shipping delays, or costly errors, all of which harm customer satisfaction.
Solution: 3G Pacejet Shipping is designed to handle these challenges by seamlessly managing larger volumes while maintaining speed and accuracy. As an ERP-integrated multi-carrier solution, it automates scheduling, packing, and order processing, so you can scale your operations without worrying about disruptions.
Home City, a textile importer, was able to process 3,000 shipments in a single day and move to one-day processing times by integrating 3G’s solutions.
Roadblock #2: Ensuring Compliance
Challenge: As operations expand, keeping up with evolving regulatory requirements gets tougher and more complex. From international shipping compliance to environmental standards, shippers must navigate a maze of rules or risk fines, delays, and lost business opportunities. Plus, as shippers grow — and their customer base expands in kind — retail compliance can become a challenge as well.
Solution: Software helps shippers stay compliant by automating documentation, shipping paperwork, and reporting.
3G Pacejet Shipping helps with retail compliance by helping generate retail-compliant labels and paperwork, such as support for GS1 labels and integration with Advanced Shipping Notices (ASNs), ensuring shipments meet complex retail requirements without manual intervention.
3G Transportation Management offers robust greenhouse gas reporting capabilities, providing businesses with the data they need to measure, track, and reduce emissions across their shipping operations. These insights enable organizations to make informed decisions that align with sustainability goals and regulatory requirements.
Roadblock #3: Suboptimal Routes
Challenge: More shipments mean more routes, and without proper optimization, costs can skyrocket. Unoptimized routes result in higher costs, extra shipments, and inefficient use of resources.
Solution: Route optimization tools help shippers find the most efficient routes for their loads, and can assist them rerouting shipments when necessary. By rerouting shipments, shippers can improve on-time delivery performance.
Roadblock #4: Incompatible Legacy Systems
Challenge: As shippers grow, the need for new software and automation solutions becomes clear — but legacy systems often aren’t built to handle the complexities of modern operations. The integration of new technologies can be clunky, leading to data silos and operational inefficiencies, creating more shipping challenges from communication failure.
Solution: Flexible integration capabilities allow shippers to seamlessly connect new systems with existing infrastructure, avoiding compatibility issues.
API and integration support means that new tools — like ERP and WMS systems — can be integrated without significant disruptions.
Roadblock #5: Too Much Data
Challenge: Managing and analyzing a larger data pool from increased operations can be overwhelming, making it difficult to make timely, data-driven decisions. Without proper data management, it’s possible to miss valuable insights or fail to notice operational inefficiencies.
Solution: The right transportation suite can provide shippers with real-time analytics and reports, turning raw data into actionable insights.
For example, 3G offers features like dashboard visualizations that help shippers keep an eye on KPIs like delivery times, costs, and service levels, enabling quicker, more informed decisions.
Scale Confidently and Beat Shipping Challenges With the Right Tools
Addressing growth roadblocks is crucial to building a more efficient, compliant, and profitable operation.
By tackling these shipping challenges head-on, and finding the right tools and technologies to make the process simpler, you can scale your shipping operation smoothly. What’s more, you’ll maintain high standards and enhance overall performance while you do it.
If you’re ready to optimize your growing shipping operations, explore the 3G Transportation Suite and Other Integrations to stay ahead of the curve.
