Your supply chain is the lifeblood of your organisation. Without this constant, regulated, high quality stream of raw materials and products, your organisation would cease to exist. In today’s globalised economy, protecting your supply chain from unexpected risks and turbulence is no mean feat. In this post, we uncover some of the latest advances the most innovative companies are adopting to keep their supply chain fully optimised.

We see countless small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) overlook or undervalue their supply chain needs to focus instead on their accounting processes or manufacturing systems. While these are important elements of a business, an ineffective supply chain brings everything else to a standstill. Companies of all sizes, throughout all stages of growth, need to ensure their supply chain meets a few basic requirements;

• It should comprise an established network of reliable suppliers, providing the highest quality products, on time, at the agreed price
• Alternative suppliers should also be identified and engaged
• It needs to underpin the overall business strategy
• It must be flexible and adapt to various changes and demands
• It provides accurate visibility of business performance

These are the basics; your supply chain management should also:

• Identify and mitigate all kinds of risk
• Predict future behaviour of suppliers

Does this sound like your current supply chain process? If not, it’s time to join the companies who are benefiting from a super charged supply chain management system supported by a modern and robust enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.

Supply Chain and Industry Best Practice

• Compare your supplier network and track their performance against industry benchmarks
• Automate all supply and manufacturing planning, logistics and fulfillment processes
• Align your supply chain management processes with your whole company’s key business strategy and metrics
• Accessible on mobile and tablet devices for on-the-go management
• View supply chain data through a full suite of tools that support ad hoc queries, executive dashboards, and reporting, as well as advanced graphical analysis

Risk Management within your Supply Chain

• Predict future supplier risks across a range of potential factors (natural disasters, bankruptcy, labour issues, plant shutdown etc.)
• Quickly respond to risks based on company-centric scorecard – e.g. if there is a risk that a key supplier will let you down, the platform can begin sourcing alternatives
• Minimise stock replenishment issues and optimise warehouse space across multiple locations

Glimpse into the Future

• Gain greater confidence in your supply chain with analytics to show trends and patterns
• Predict future potential in pricing and availability to link in with your whole company strategy
• Combine external data as well as internal business information to accurately and timely respond to market demands

Gain a competitive advantage for your company with a super charged supply chain management system that is optimised for your entire business.

Image Credit: Photo by Noah Silliman on Unsplash

A version of this post has been published in my blog