Shipping plays a crucial role in the solar manufacturing industry. How well—or poorly—it's handled can impact the overall health of a company. Project completion and customer satisfaction both rely on smooth shipping operations. A modern, well-integrated shipping strategy can be a game-changer for sustainable business growth.

Tip #1: Use Data to Discover Your Actual Landed Cost

A significant barrier to entry in the solar industry is accurately determining the actual landed cost of products. Advanced data and analytics play a crucial role in demystifying these costs, allowing companies to gain a clearer picture of freight as an expense of sales.

Understanding trends across your lane, carrier, and freight activity can help you more accurately determine your landed cost. A common approach to determining shipping costs involves simply dividing the total spend by the number of units shipped, then using this average cost to inform the product price. However, this method is far from optimal, and can overlook regional differences in purchasing habits and lane frequency.

MyCarrier’s Advanced Analytics feature is a centralized repository of data with powerful reports that provide a comprehensive understanding of shipping costs. This single source of data allows companies to have more precise pricing strategies that reflect true shipping expenses. As a result, products are more competitively priced and the savings can be reinvested in other initiatives or passed along to customers.

Tip #2: Get Peace of Mind With Cargo Insurance

As competition heats up in the solar market, making sure that solar equipment arrives safely is more important than ever. This is where cargo or freight insurance comes in. It's not just about reducing the risks of damage or loss during transit; it's about protecting your investments and ensuring financial stability when unexpected disruptions occur.

Timely deliveries are key to keeping project schedules on track, avoiding revenue losses, and ensuring customer satisfaction. Having insurance in place provides a quick way to deal with unforeseen issues, helping to keep projects moving forward smoothly.

Insurance can be purchased through third-party services for each of your shipments. However, claims management can quickly become a headache as your company grows. MyCarrier partners with Loadsure to give shippers the ability to get full-value coverage with each quote you create. Our Claims Portal also makes it easy to file, manage, and track claims—all in one place!

Tip #3: Take Advantage of Freight Auditing Tools

In the complex world of solar transactions, freight auditing is like a financial health check for your business. Freight auditing tools:

• Identify and correct billing mistakes

• Promote transparency

• Ensure budgets are adhered to

• Reveal potential cost savings.

A freight auditing tool, like MyInvoiceHub, provides a single source of truth for your financial data. Oftentimes, quote, invoice, and audit documentation can live in many different places. Having all of this important information in one place streamlines your workflows and eliminates manual processes, freeing up resources to be used more intentionally.

Tip #4: Boost Efficiency By Integrating Your ERP and TMS

Integrating an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system with a Transportation Management System (TMS) allows for seamless data exchange, reduces the need for manual data entry, and minimizes the risk of errors. For solar manufacturers, this means better inventory and logistical management.

Accurate data is a powerful tool for making informed decisions. Integrating your ERP with your TMS ensures data is always accurate and provides real-time insights, empowering businesses to make timely decisions that optimize supply chains and manage inventory effectively.

MyCarrier’s NetSuite and Acumatica integrations maximize your efficiency, allowing you to fulfill shipments directly from your ERP. All the necessary documentation and information is stored in both your ERP and the TMS, so you can work in your system of choice. We also offer integrations with Sage, Quickbooks, and more.

The MyCarrier Solution: Packaging It All Together

Efficient shipping is critical in the solar industry. Solar manufacturers can enhance their operational performance, maintain project timelines, and ensure customer satisfaction by securing shipments with cargo insurance, auditing invoices for financial health, and aligning ERP and TMS systems for operational efficiency.

Together, these strategies pave the way for sustainable business growth and resilience in a competitive market.