The logistics industry cannot be called well developed. After all, even when discussing the problems of logistics, some people talk about cargo transportation, while others mean the work of a warehouse. Meanwhile, logistics deals with the entire complex of transportation, storage and escort of goods. Therefore, the creation of a logistics company today means entering a low-competitive business area.
There are not so many really large logistics centers in our country. Most of the customers work with individual cargo transportation companies, solve problems with insurance and cargo escort, loading and unloading operations, and customs themselves. Meanwhile, real logistics companies are ready to perform all this work and perform it at a high level of quality. Most customers who have signed contracts for logistics services are amazed at how many previously unsolvable problems are solved easily and simply by professional logistics.
Logistics consists of a full range of services, from route planning to unloading cargo at the final destination and picking orders at the direction of the customer.
A logistics company, as a business, is capable of bringing in tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars a month, showing high profitability. Meanwhile, the services of logistics companies most often cost the customer less than the cost of carrying out all these works on their own or with the help of small transport companies. The reason for this lies in the high organization of interaction between all participants in the transportation market, optimization of work and cargo clearance procedures, highly professional knowledge and skills of logistics company specialists.
The logistics company is ready to organize the delivery of cargo by any transport, not only cars, but also with the help of river and sea, rail transport.
It independently resolves issues with customs clearance of goods, organization of its storage, loading and unloading. All this allows the logistics company to reduce its own costs, respectively, reducing the cost of customers for the delivery of goods to the desired points.
An important property of logistics centers is the information support of cargo along the entire route of its movement.
Only the logistics network is able to provide information at any time on where the cargo is located. Therefore, the level of service of a logistics company is many times higher than the level of service that small companies can provide.
The prospects for the development of the logistics industry are very optimistic. Large Western companies operating in our market have long been accustomed to transferring their worries about the delivery of goods to a logistics center. Therefore, the demand for logistics services is constantly growing, developing, in general, the level of service.
In addition, many transport companies have long noticed that customer needs for comprehensive services are constantly growing. Therefore, many companies engaged in cargo transportation are gradually expanding the list of additional services, entering into agreements with companies providing warehousing services, and are gradually moving towards an understanding of the need to create a single supply chain.
Unfortunately, the transportation costs incurred by Russian logistics companies are many times higher than the costs of similar Western companies.
After all, the labor productivity of domestic transport systems is much lower than that of Western ones. Despite this, the growth of logistics services in recent years has been quite large. Experts estimate the volume of the domestic logistics market at about $50 billion. This is a lot of money, even considering the poor development of logistics services. Insufficient understanding of the importance of logistics by all market participants forces logistics companies to create their own infrastructure, including a transport fleet, warehouses, forwarding structures, which entails the need for large investments.
However, if it is possible to create a certain union of companies specializing in different areas of activity in logistics, then it is possible to organize a logistics company with highly qualified business process specialists at low cost. In this case, the work of a logistician consists precisely in developing optimal routes and transportation options, concluding contracts for loading and unloading, courier services, forwarding, customs clearance, cargo insurance, paperwork.
An important part of the activity of a logistics company is quality control.
The competitiveness of the company, the possibility of expanding the market share depends on this. As for the costs of creating a logistics company, they depend on the completeness of the list of services provided by the company, as well as on the scale of activities. In principle, if transport services will be provided by a separate company, then, when planning initial costs, transport costs can be ignored. When using own transport, for a large logistics center it is necessary to purchase approximately 10 trucks, which should ensure the transportation of goods at the request of customers.
A lot depends on the customers who will use the services of a logistics company.
If the main customer is a trading network, then in the transport fleet it is necessary to have both heavy trucks for the delivery of wholesale consignments of goods, and small trucks for the delivery of goods to retail outlets. If the main customer is a large company interested in delivering goods to various cities of the country, then the car park can be limited only to heavy trucks. Some logistics companies are engaged exclusively in the transportation of oversized cargo, taking on all the difficulties with the clearance of such cargo.
When planning the costs of creating a logistics center, it is necessary to take into account the organization of the warehouse, the acquisition of loading and unloading equipment, and the availability of qualified personnel.
The current costs of the logistics center also depend on the list of services, the availability of a transport fleet, the number and area of warehouses, and the staff of the enterprise. The business of a logistics company is a complex type of entrepreneurial activity. The complexity of services implies a clear organization of the interaction of all participants in the supply chain, as well as careful accounting of all income and expenses.
Experience shows that the profitability of a logistics company ranges from 30 to 80%.
Despite the high level of investment required to create a logistics company, high profitability allows you to recoup the initial costs in about 2-2.5 years.
Strict requirements for the organization of management, as well as the amount of investment in the creation of a company, require good preparation and a detailed high-quality business plan . It is better to entrust this work to a highly qualified specialist by placing an order on the website.