At Safe Hands Global Investment Limited, Shipping logistics refers to all the inbound and outbound logistics involved in transporting finished goods as they move through your supply chain, from first-mile delivery and drayage to end customer shipments.

There are several factors that impact your shipping logistics strategy, including procurement logistics, freight shipping, and carrier partnerships.

Where you store your inventory compared to where a bulk of your customers live also plays a major role in shipping operations, especially when it comes to last-mile delivery.

Shipping logistics can be broken down into three major categories:

• Inbound logistics
• Outbound logistics
• Reverse logistics

Here is a breakdown of all three and how they influence your overall logistics operations.

Inbound logistics

Inbound logistics are the processes that move products from a manufacturer or other party to be received at a fulfillment center or warehouse. Your inbound logistics network should include everything your business needs to transport, store, and deliver goods including:

• Sourcing products
• Production lead times
• Warehouse receiving

Outbound logistics

Outbound logistics, on the other hand, are all the operations necessary to move your products from a fulfillment center or warehouse to your customers, including:

• Order processing
• Picking and packing
• Shipping
• Carrier partnerships

Reverse logistics

Reverse logistics refers to processing customer returns and exchanges. This includes both inbound and outbound processes, like return labels, inspecting returned merchandise, processing refunds, and shipping out a new item if it’s an exchange.