Manufacturing and Logistics Hub · Articles
Articles for manufacturing and logistics
What we have written for manufacturers, wholesalers and importers, and transport operators, on cash, margin, pricing, funding and selling the business. Search them, or choose your business type.
Showing the 10 newest of 14 articles.
Manufacturing and logistics articles
The 60 day wait: why a major retail listing can leave a food producer short on cash
A major supermarket listing looks like the growth win every food producer chases. The payment terms behind it can quietly starve the production run meant to fund it.
The double bind: why wholesale distributors run short on cash right before their biggest quarter
For wholesale and distribution businesses, the August Christmas stock build and stretched customer payment terms land in the same window, and most owners only notice the squeeze once the bank...
The August stock order that locks in an importer's Christmas margin
Christmas stock orders go out in August, and the exchange rate, freight cost and duty locked in this month decide an importer's margin long before December trading begins.
The absorption gap: why manufacturing margins compress when production volume slows
A quiet July production run does not show up as a cost blowout on the P&L.
The route profitability picture most transport businesses have never built
Transport operators know their busiest routes. Far fewer know which routes are actually profitable after fuel, tolls, driver hours, and vehicle costs.
Family manufacturers: planning the handover before it plans you
On the Day of Families, a look at why family owned manufacturers carry succession risk that quietly caps value, and how to reduce key person dependence before EOFY conversations begin.
Freight operators: reading the fleet as an EOFY asset decision
The run to year-end is when freight operators should weigh fleet replacement, financing and asset write-offs against return rather than habit. Here is how to read fleet economics before June.
Importers and exporters: when the exchange rate eats the margin
Businesses trading across borders carry FX risk that can wipe out a quoted margin between order and payment. Few have a hedging policy worth the name.
Transport operators: the true cost of keeping a truck moving
Transport businesses track revenue per load while the cost per kilometre, fuel volatility and fleet financing quietly decide the margin. A full cost view changes the picture.
Manufacturing business: pricing for the real cost, not last year's cost
Producers often carry stale prices while materials, energy and freight have moved, eroding margin order by order. The fix is rebuilding prices from current input cost.
Food producers: costing the New Year's price list properly
Producers heading into a new year often carry last year's prices against this year's input costs.
Food and beverage producers run hardest when cash runs thinnest
Food and drink producers hit peak production and ingredient spend just as retailer payment terms stretch over the holidays.
Wholesalers inventory is a bet, not a backup
Heading into peak, distributors hold stock that feels like safety and behaves like a cost.
Manufacturers: the order you should not have accepted
Filling the floor over Christmas feels like a good problem. Some of that work barely covers its true cost once materials, machine time and overhead are loaded properly.
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