The Options for Receiving Your Critical Parts Just in Time

Having a solid supply chain strategy in place to ensure the timely delivery of critical parts is a necessity for many businesses. For different industries, these critical parts vary, but the one thing in common they all have is that they must be delivered from point A to point B in an extremely timely and efficient manner.

So what are the best options for receiving your critical parts just in time from a provider? There are typically two options:

1. Storing Critical Parts

This option allows your company to outsource warehousing of your critical parts to one of your logistic provider’s locations. When a critical part is needed, this means that delivery is as simple as delivering the product from the warehouse to the final destination, without any complicated steps in between.

Pros:
This option speeds up the delivery of any critical parts by cutting out unnecessary steps in the pickup and delivery process. This will also typically reduce the overall cost of the expedited transport of the parts.

Cons:
The reduced cost of transport may not necessarily outweigh the cost of storing the critical parts in your provider’s warehouse, especially if the same parts can be delivered directly from the manufacturer, without being stored at all along the way.

2. Picking Up Critical Parts

Typically, for this option, your logistics provider will pick up the critical parts from a designated spot. This might be a manufacturer, an off-site warehouse location, or another means of transportation, such as an air freight delivery. From there, the critical parts are conveyed quickly to their final destination.

Pros:
Your critical parts can be stored wherever is most efficient for your supply chain strategy. Whether it is your company’s warehouse or the manufacturer’s warehouse, there are a wide range of options to choose from depending on your particular needs.

Cons:
This method of pickup increases the amount of delivery time needed for a critical part by adding extra mileage from the location of the provider, to the location of the product, and the final delivery destination.

This option also complicates the supply chain strategy, because the additional step allows more room for error, which can lead to decreased efficiency and increased cost if something were to go wrong or cause a hold up.

Each of these options provide you with flexibility to receive your critical parts within the desired time frame. The best option depends on your company’s needs, the types of critical parts being transported, and the arrangements you have with the other parties involved in the process. Determining the best fit for your company can ensure you get your critical parts on time, every time.