When running a business which involves any kind of physical goods, supply chain management plays one of the key roles in overall business system. Having a detailed overview of your stocks and all the materials and parts needed for your production is inevitable, whether you’re a manufacturer with thousands of customers, or a small Etsy-like shop.
Since it’s important to keep track of the complete chain, from suppliers, physical elements, customers and numerous factors related to each, specialized software solutions can largely benefit these type of businesses.
Change is Constant so forget about Spreadsheets
Products, services, manufacturers, their materials and everything your business deals with is a dynamic set of elements. Every small change in the chain demands for re-assuring and re-evaluating that everything, from safety, backup, environmental and regulatory controls and specifications, are in place. Logically, frequent information updates are something for what you should rely on automation.
However, there is still an immense number of companies which rely heavily on spreadsheets for planning their buying processes. But it’s 2016, and spreadsheets are simply unacceptable as they’re too slow and unreliable. Manually entering and updating data increases the chances making mistakes In order to be able to use the most accurate and up-to-date information, you might want to invest in supply chain management platform.
And no, these solutions are not just for your inventory management. Besides helping you keep track of the movement of goods, they can also help you cut costs, plan minimum stock retain, create multiple scenarios in which the chain could be changed. Finally, it all results in smart decision making regarding purchase quantities as well as distribution time.
Select Supply Chain Management Platform that Best Fits your Industry
In order to get the most out of what supply chain management solutions have to offer, buckle up and research the market for systems that were tailored for needs of companies in your industry, or that are related to yours in a few primary aspects. Because of their structure, great deal of supply chain management solutions has the ability for integration with other similar software, like enterprise resource planning and customer relationship management platforms. Integration and great number of helpful system features increase the chances of your projects being carried out in faster, better and cheaper way.
Adopting the Latest Technology
Businesses that handle their supply chain successfully, are usually smart and aggressive users of technology, as they incorporate it while it’s still fresh rather than matured. Mastering the latest technology and maintaining your systems in top shape, helps organizing a more efficient supply chain and thus ensures for your company to stay ahead of the game.
- Forward-thinking manufacturers are orchestrating 80% or more of their supplier network activity outside their four walls, using big data and cloud-based technologies to get beyond the constraints of legacy Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Supply Chain Management (SCM) systems. – Forbes
Efficiency and Information Management
The essence of using the supply chain management platform is that it should actually work for you, which means that it should collect and analyze information and thus enable you to make good and rapid decisions. Managing business efficiently can be possible only when collecting the information that is relevant and in line with your business goals. And finally, information should be easily accessible. If you spend more time managing the platform itself than it improves your operations, then you may have made the wrong choice.
Availability & Affordability
The way we do business as well as the essential principles of trade and supply haven’t changed with the switch to online interactions. What more, cloud-based supply chain management enterprise solutions provide you with handy features, available from different locations, all at an affordable price. Another advantage of cloud-based solutions is that they are less vulnerable to service blackouts and temporary malfunctions.
This was just a segment of what you can do to make changes to strengthen your business and boost productivity and revenue.
Making efforts to improve your supply chain management will result with your overall performance improvement but in order to level with today’s fast-changing, dynamic business environment, you must be open to considering new challenges and revisiting new trends continuously.