You will recall that Amazon was considering having drones deliver items to the customers sometime back and that should tickle your mind. It tells you how serious such e-commerce giants are when it comes to supply chain management. The innovation-focused on one aspect of the entire process- speedy delivery to the customers and at the lowest possible cost.
However, optimizing the supply chain is more than lowering costs; it makes your proposition more attractive and enhances your competitiveness, thus winning a market share.
What is a supply chain?
The process involves sourcing supplies until the products get into the customers’ hands. These are functions like demand planning, warehousing, inventory control, transportation, and, most importantly, customer service. Simply put, it’s the process you get your products to the consumer or customer. It also involves the control of the flow of goods and services by streamlining the supply-side activities. That way, you’re a force to reckon in the marketplace while maximizing value to the customer.
Why should you get involved in supply chain management?
It’s in the supply chain where your company incurs much of the cost and therefore deserves some special focus. Thus when you improve the chain, you can be sure it’s not only costs that reduce but also the customer service is improved a great deal.
Fast and efficient delivery
With logistics and supply chain, you unlock savings and efficiencies. Methodologies like transport strategy and network redesign lead to improved distribution and thus reduced costs. When your business incorporates supply chain, product innovation strategies, and integrated logistics, you can easily predict demand and act accordingly. You can adjust more dynamically even amid fluctuating economies and shorter product life cycles with supply chain systems.
Better collaboration
Most of the companies are reeling from the challenge of information flow. Statistics show that 76 percent of companies lack some automated flow of information through the supply chain. When you integrate software solutions across the supply chain, bottlenecks are removed, allowing for seamless sharing of information, giving a bigger view of the supply chain. With improved access to business data, important information can be accessed easily.
Enhanced quality control
Research has shown that companies with excellent control over their suppliers and suppliers benefit from improved quality control. When you implement standard quality criteria, you allow direct suppliers to partner with others that meet the same criteria. The process is straightforward, and therefore it’s easy for your suppliers to comply with your company’s quality demands.
Increased market share
Experience has shown that retail customers want their items delivered now and for free. Thus you have to hold that as the ideal and lay down strategies to fulfill it consistently. To ensure competitiveness, customer satisfaction is a critical element and so paramount in supply chain management.
Reduces the warehouse costs while increasing productivity
The warehouse is an expensive segment in supply chain management. The equipment, physical layout, processes, workflow involved. Thus when you have good data, you shave the costs and time to deliver the product to the customer.
Supply chain management is undoubtedly a critical aspect of your business. If you want to improve efficiency in delivering products and services to your customer, get a reputable chain management company that understands the role of supply chain management in retail industry to install up-to-date system software. That will increase efficiency and improve your bottom-line significantly.
Supply chain stock photo by Zapp2Photo/Shutterstock
