Do you enjoy managing your supply chain? Too many managers answer this question with a clear No. Supply chain management can turn out to be stressful. It is not easy to be consistent with profitable inventory flow. Managers who dread the entire process can avoid certain difficulties with the right supply chain management system. Given here are 5 different ways you can jumpstart and manage your supply chain management.
Scheduling for success: One of the best ways to set up your business for success is to see to it that supply chain implementation creates and maintains a realistic schedule. As you know, basic supply chain management involves three major factors: scope, schedule, and resources. Poorly planned schedules tend to cause the majority of implementation headaches.
Choosing your supply chain managers carefully: Suppliers, manufacturers, and wholesalers don’t just affect products; they affect relationships as well. The relationships are usually intercontinental, but they can turn out to be a positive factor if goods are of standard quality and available on time. Choose your partners if they are responsive enough to make you feel comfortable. Trust is an essential part of any business, as it generally helps save lots of time.
Getting rid of your spreadsheets: “Too many enterprises plan their purchases using slow and unreliable spreadsheets,” says Jason Averill, VP, Avercast. In order to make sure you have been using the most updated and accurate information, it’s always good to rely on an affordable, but intelligent supply chain management system.
Supplier participation through your system: Supplier participation and acceptance are considered to be absolutely critical to any collaboration project. The success of your system is directly tied to your supplier’s willingness to use it. For example, if you are a big fish, your suppliers will be willing to participate and use your system for its expected efficiency and accuracy. At your end, the advantage is access to your suppliers through a single interface. Such a technology keeps all supplier-related work easy to track and manage.
System implementation: It is one of the most important decisions in supply chain management. You should be able to determine if you need to implement SaaS, cloud-based, or on premise solutions for your business. The decision depends on two major factors: ROI and IT resources (or support). Implementation of SaaS requires a much smaller upfront investment. Typically, it can be implemented faster, as you don’t have to buy or implement your own software.
Apply these five concepts to supply chain management for things to turn out for the better. If there is anything left out, kindly leave your answers in the comments section below.