Your day as a facilities manager is filled with a multitude of tasks to monitor and expedite your operations process. But what happens when your software can’t keep up? So often, your operations department is left with outdated technology and resources that not only take valuable time away from your team but lead to mistakes and inefficiencies that can be carried out across departments. If you think it may be time to reevaluate your current logistics operations, you’re probably right. Wondering where to start? Not to worry. Today, our team of in-building logistics software experts at SCLogic provide five indicators that it may be time to invest in upgraded logistics operations software.

One: Package Tracking and Delivery Debacles

One of your primary job duties for mailroom, office, or central receiving managers is managing the influx of packages coming in and out of your department. A major issue that plagued many of our current customers before switching to our mailroom logistics software, Intra, was the lack of oversight over mail and parcels. With no way to integrate purchase orders or configure delivery routes for their department, many teams were left with dozens of misplaced packages, inefficient delivery routes, and a frustrated workforce. 

Without proper oversight of package output and delivery, there is little to no room for identifying gaps in your current workflow or creating a viable long-term strategy for success. Many of these daily pain points are alleviated by updating your in-building logistics software to a more modern solution such as Intra. Our Mail & Parcel and Central Receiving workgroups reduce turnaround times and improve automations by offering P.O. line item receiving and a detailed analytics dashboard to help you ensure that current partners meet all SLA requirements. For mailroom managers, you can even set configurable delivery routes, and request signatures at delivery stops to monitor chain-of-custody. As a result, your team will find confidence as you navigate previously tedious daily tasks with maximum efficiency. 

Two: Reactive Maintenance Has Become the New Normal

If there is one thing any asset manager despises, it’s the notification that their hardware, technology, or other assets are malfunctioning or broken. Frequent maintenance requests from across your department are a good indicator that it may be time to upgrade your logistics solution to one that prioritizes a proactive maintenance schedule, such as Intra. Our Asset Logistics Workgroup provides insights on KPIs, including assets without lifecycle status, missed asset inspections/audits, Mean Time to Repair (MTTR), and Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) so that you can monitor the health of all of your assets in real-time.

Not only does this prevent you from facing unnecessary frustrations through having to wait for assets to be fixed, but it improves customer and partner relationships by preventing additional delays in request completion. Another indicator that your current process may be outdated is financial strain regarding maintenance costs. Unfortunately, reactive maintenance can add up quickly. If you’re spending an excessive percentage of your annual budget on maintenance costs instead of investing in an updated solution, you’ll find yourself struggling to modernize.

Three: Lack of Integrations Leads to Lost Time

Integrations, you know them, you love them, and when you don’t have them in your current operations software, it’s noticeable. As technology becomes an increasingly integral part of daily workflows for facilities managers, the need for extensive integrations options is non-negotiable. If your team is currently using multiple point solutions instead of a comprehensive software platform, you’ll likely find that you’re losing time by having to switch through different applications to complete a single task. While this may work for a short time, the real challenge comes in integrating data and seeking service assistance. Each point solution you use may have a different protocol for contacting customer service. If multiple point solutions are down, you lose valuable time waiting for an answer, which may not even satisfy your team’s needs. Additionally, the lack of data transfer between applications makes it nearly impossible to get accurate metrics for your internal KPIs or SLAs. 

Four: Your Current Operations May Result in Compliance Issues

One area that is often overlooked when reevaluating your logistics operation is how your current setup works with compliance regulations for your industry. If you’re unfamiliar with regulatory compliance and how that can impact your team, you’re not alone! The good news is, our team recently did an entire blog series on regulatory compliance for common industries that we serve, including healthcare, government, commerce, and finance. In short, regulatory compliance refers to the compliance practices and laws put in place for your specific industry to protect the privacy, data, and safety of employees and consumers. If you fail to abide by compliance practices, your business can face exorbitant fines and even legal repercussions. 

Consider this, your current operations system holds sensitive data such as social security numbers and financial records, but you have not fixed noticeable vulnerabilities within your system. If a data breach occurs and these records are made public, it could absolutely destroy the trajectory of your business. This happened to Equifax in 2017, which exposed the personal information of 147 million people, resulting in a settlement of $425 million to help those affected. While this is on a massive scale, businesses of all sizes can become targets for hackers, and the less prepared your business is, the more likely you will be unable to recover. When discussing strategy for updating your logistics operations, make sure to do a deep dive into how compliance practices should be considered. 

Five: Data and Business Intelligence Tools Are Nonexistent

If you know us, you know that we always must include something on the importance of data and analytics monitoring! One of the most significant indicators in deciding that you need to update your facility operations software is your current system’s ability to gather meaningful data. While this may not seem like it is of utmost importance compared to the customer-facing tasks your team deals with, the inability to collect relevant data for your department and organization dramatically hinders your ability for long-term growth. Without data, you cannot make strategy-backed decisions for your team based on previous success patterns and gap identification, resulting in reactive workflows and a team filled with untapped potential. 

Utilizing an operations software that is data-focused, such as Intra, provides the opportunity for your team to leverage a variety of business intelligence tools, as well as our configurable analytics dashboard, to create a comprehensive overview of your team’s daily workflows. This not only shows your team relevant metrics throughout the past month, quarter, or year but provides a user-friendly dashboard to show to stakeholders and superiors to help justify budget increases or departmental expansions. In addition to internal growth metrics, you can also measure metrics surrounding partners and point solutions, so you can see where you may be able to cut costs or expand your current partnerships. 

Let SCLogic Bring Your Logistics Operations to the Next Level

When considering an update to your current logistics operations, we understand that the decision isn’t always so simple. As a facilities manager, considering the size of your team, employee adoption, and specific needs for your industry can make implementing new software daunting. At SCLogic, we have had over 25 years of experience working with many industries and crafting our software, Intra, to their unique needs. We are constantly working to keep our offerings cutting-edge with a focus on usability, security, and innovation. If you’re ready to take the plunge and move your logistics operations into the modern world, email [email protected] or schedule a demo with one of our team members today!