The use of flexible intermediate bulk containers (FIBCs) has quickly become indispensable in numerous industries. If you use FIBC bags, one of the most important things you can do for your logistics department is to ensure that you have a dependable and reputable FIBC bag manufacturer on speed dial.
These large bags are used for transporting and storing a wide variety of bulk materials, ranging from minerals to grains to chemicals and much more. They can be extremely useful and help you cut costs when it comes to your logistics.
However, there are several ways that you can further optimise your FIBC bag supply chain, which will help you improve your efficiency and also reduce costs even further.
Know Your Requirements
In order to optimise your FIBC supply chain, you need to know exactly what your specific requirements are in terms of transportation and storage. This will help you determine which kind of bags you will need as well as their size.
Once you know this, you will be able to determine the volume of bags that you require and what kind of lead time you are able to accommodate. Without this critical information, it becomes difficult to truly optimise the supply chain as far as FIBC bags are concerned.
Get A Good Supplier
Probably the most important part of optimising your FIBC bag supply chain is to find a reputable and dependable supplier who can supply you with bulk bags that meet your quality standards and who can provide the necessary support services that might be required from time to time.
Your bulk bag supplier should have a proven track record of delivering quality bulk bags to clients on time. Therefore, it’s important that you research your supplier before signing on the dotted line to make sure that you are not let down at a critical juncture. Once you have a good supplier, it would go a long way towards establishing a long-term relationship with them to create stability within your supply chain and also ensure that your company benefits from the positive relationship.
Ensure That You Have The Correct Capabilities
If your company has never dealt with FIBC bags before, then it is important to ensure that you have the correct capabilities in your sending and receiving warehouses to handle them safely and efficiently.
Bulk bag transportation and manoeuvring might require certain types of machinery, depending on the type of bulk bag that is being used. It’s important to ensure that you have the correct machinery and equipment needed to pick up and move as well as fill or decant bulk bags both at the sending and receiving sites.
It is also critical to ensure that the correct skills needed to handle these bulk bags on-site are present. Having the correct capabilities will reduce safety-related incidents and ensure a more efficient warehouse.
Optimise Your Transportation
Transporting FIBC bags is somewhat different to transporting other goods. Thus, ensure that you choose the correct types of transportation to minimise the risk of damaging cargo or running over budget.
To optimise the supply chain, you will want to attempt to find the most cost-effective and efficient mode of transportation, considering factors such as the distance to be traveled, the expected delivery time, and the volume of goods to be transported. Therefore, the transportation type should be matched to the bulk bag type to ensure that delays are eliminated.
Implement Quality Control Measures
It is important to carefully monitor the quality of the FIBC bags in use, as a failed bag could lead to lost products or safety-related incidents. Although FIBC bags can be reused many times over, they do have an eventual expiry date, which means that they should be regularly checked for quality control purposes.
By ensuring that the FIBC bags meet the required specifications and standards, you’ll significantly reduce the risk of shipments being rejected or lost, and you’ll save yourself from having to absorb the cost of the loss.
Therefore, it is important to work with your FIBC bag supplier to ensure that quality standards are met and maintained.
At Tufbag, we pride ourselves on being a quality FIBC bag manufacturer with a robust quality control system in place that allows us to trace the quality of our bag manufacturing from the finished product right back to the raw input material stage. Contact us today to optimise your FIBC bag supply chain.