Going lean means getting rid of waste and making sure every resource and action brings results. It’s especially the case with restaurants, cafes, bakeries and other food service businesses. This way they can stay profitable and weather the pandemic and other scenarios.
Lean operations for better cashflow
We’ve always heard about big manufacturing companies applying lean practices. That’s because every step towards improvement and waste elimination can result in thousands or even millions of dollars of savings or additional profits.
For small businesses, applying lean practices can also mean additional savings and profits. It can also mean another month of survival to pay the bills and fixed expenses. This survival is crucial to getting lucky or figuring out which works best for your business. It truly takes time and for luck to find us (or before we come up with an innovative idea), we have to survive each day and press on (especially in these days, it will still take some time for sales to reach pre-pandemic levels).
For that to happen, one way is to focus on matching supply with demand and monitoring our inventory. Matching supply with demand is important because it improves our cashflow and we better take advantage of available opportunities. For example, if demand is high but our supply is not enough, we miss out on additional sales. On the other hand, if demand is low but our supply is much higher, we risk spoilage and higher inventory costs.
To better match supply with demand, one useful mindset is just-in-time manufacturing (JIT). This JIT approach means we become more responsive to demand and there’s minimal or no excess inventory. This frees up some cash (instead of money sleeping on that unused inventory) while still meeting customer demand (good demand forecasting is important here).
Many food service businesses in Sydney are already doing that. One way is by choosing a reliable refrigerated transport company that does timely deliveries and tight temperature control. Timely deliveries of seafood, meat, dairy and other products are important for just-in-time manufacturing. On the other hand, tight temperature control is also important because we want to avoid spoilage and waste.
Here at Cooltrans, we’ve been doing refrigerated delivery since 1997. We help food service businesses apply lean operations by doing our part in timely deliveries and tight temperature control. It’s our way of helping the economy bounce back stronger while also making sure our customers get the best value out of our services. Contact us today for your refrigerated delivery requirements whether it’s a single carton delivery, 8-pallet load or a year’s contract.
