Whether you’re shipping raw materials to factories, die cast parts to assembly plants, or finished goods to distributors, as a manufacturing shipper, you know how important it is to stay on top of your transportation data.
In fact, according to our latest original research study, 89% of manufacturers agree that KPIs are an essential part of sound logistics management.
In the study, we worked with an independent market research firm to survey 1,000 shippers and carriers. Our goal was to create a resource that shippers of all kinds could use to better understand how their peers are setting and managing their logistics KPIs.
But what about the research insights for manufacturing shippers, specifically?
Below, you’ll find a breakdown of the results looking at the manufacturers only (100, to be exact). Get their top logistics trends and the industry standards they use for setting KPIs.
6 Data-Backed Logistics Trends for Manufacturers
1. Manufacturing shippers know the importance of logistics KPIs, but lag other industries.
89% of manufacturing shippers thought KPIs were an essential part of logistics management — that figure was equal to the average and the third highest out of any industry.
However, when asked how often they reference their KPIs, only 33% of manufacturing respondents said “daily”, 12% below the average and the second lowest of any industry.
Furthermore, when asked how they’d rate their ability to track supply chain metrics, only 36% of manufacturers said they were advanced, 8% below the average and the lowest of any industry.
2. Managing data is a challenge.
When asked about their biggest challenges, consolidating data across vendors/carriers was manufacturing shippers’ top choice, with 49% of respondents believing it to be a top challenge.
3. Manufacturers want a standard.
92% of manufacturers believe that there should be set industry standards for KPIs that everyone can agree to — 5% above the average and the second-highest of all industries.
4. Most manufacturing shippers are experimenting with AI, but are trailing others.
56% of manufacturers are using AI in their logistics operations, which is 11% below the average and the lowest of all industries.
5. Tracking compliance matters the most, followed by on-time delivery.
All KPIs are important — the K stands for “key” after all — but when asked to rate every core transportation metric by level of importance, freight tracking compliance stood above the rest, with 56% of manufacturers saying they were very important.
In second place was on-time delivery at 54% of respondents rating it very important.
6. Manufacturers tend to be more cost conscience.
Both cost and service are important in freight shipping, but we asked respondents which was most important to their organization.
For manufacturing shippers, though a majority (59%) said their organization prioritizes performance and service over cost, this was 6% below the average and last overall.
Furthermore, manufacturers were the only industry where a majority rated cost per shipment as a very important KPI — they were at 52% of respondents, compared to an average of 39% and 10% ahead of second place (healthcare).
Logistics KPI Standards, According to Manufacturing Shippers
We’ve covered the trends, now let’s look at what manufacturers think are acceptable performance standards for the most common logistics KPIs.
On-time delivery performance
We asked manufacturing shippers what they consider to be acceptable on-time delivery performance from their carriers. Here’s what they had to say, and how it compares to average across all industries in the study.
- Performance standard across all industries: 95% on-time delivery performance
- Manufacturing shippers’ standard: 95% on-time delivery performance
- Manufacturing vs. the rest: In-line
What is “on-time”?
We asked manufacturing shippers what they consider as an “on-time delivery” from their carriers. Here’s what they had to say, and how it compares to average across all industries in the study.
- Performance standard across all industries: On-time to an appointment with a 30-minute buffer
- Manufacturing shippers’ standard: On-time to an appointment with a 30-minute buffer
- Manufacturing vs. the rest: In-line
Shipment lead time
We asked manufacturing shippers how much lead time they think they should give to their carriers for truckload and LTL shipments. Here’s what they had to say, and how it compares to average across all industries in the study.
- Performance standard across all industries: 2 days of lead time
- Manufacturing shippers’ standard: 2 days of lead time
- Manufacturing vs. the rest: In-line
Primary tender acceptance
We asked manufacturing shippers what they consider to be a reasonable primary tender acceptance rate from their carriers. Here’s what they had to say, and how it compares to average across all industries in the study.
- Performance standard across all industries: 85% acceptance rate
- Manufacturing shippers’ standard: 90% acceptance rate
- Manufacturing vs. the rest: More demanding to freight providers
Demand forecasting accuracy
We asked manufacturing shippers what they consider to be an acceptable level of variance from their shipment forecast (in terms of load volume). Here’s what they had to say, and how it compares to average across all industries in the study.
- Performance standard across all industries: Within 10% of forecasted volume
- Manufacturing shippers’ standard: Within 10% of forecasted volume
- Manufacturing vs. the rest: In-line
Payment terms
We asked manufacturing shippers what they consider to be acceptable payment terms to their carriers. Here’s what they had to say, and how it compares to average across all industries in the study.
- Performance standard across all industries: Payment within one week
- Manufacturing shippers’ standard: Payment within one week
- Manufacturing vs. the rest: In-line
Keep Learning About Logistics KPIs
Want more interesting data from our logistics KPI research?
Read the full research study, an overall industry breakdown, or checkout out individual industry profiles: