Supply chain management is the flow that businesses follow when planning, creating and executing their product. This begins at obtaining the product’s raw materials and carrying it through to production, and finally, product distribution to the final customer:
- Obtaining raw materials
- The supplier receives these raw materials
- Product is manufactured
- The finished product is distributed
- The retailer receives the final product
- Customer purchases the final product
The supply chain management team ensures that these phases are carried out smoothly in the most time-efficient and cost-effective way possible. This is how you can improve your supply chain management:
1. Automation when it comes to purchasing
One of the most time-consuming things involved in supply chain management is the continuous monitoring of inventory levels. It is critical to rather maintain inventory levels, as opposed to increasing the if they drop. Automatic purchasing software can place orders with vendors whenever these inventory levels drop below a certain level.
2. Observing the performance of vendors
The most up-to-date software allows for supply chain management to review vendor cycles and identify any error rates that may creep up. It becomes easier to identify if new vendors should be commissioned or if re-negotiations need to take place.
3. Increasing transparency with the numbers
Each product in the production line needs to be accounted for and reconcile with the numbers that were added by the software. A strategy should be identified and implemented to enable accurate and timely data and information.
4. Empowering your workforce
When all else in supply chain management is automated, simplified and accounted for, employees have additional time to concentrate on other important duties pertaining to their roles. When management takes the time to empower them, they are able to focus on the growth of core skills which will then foster confidence. A confident employee increases in their levels of productivity. Align the workforce to the company’s culture and goals for a unified performance-based result.
5. Your customers should never be neglected
Because the supply chain is inclusive of ensuring that the product reaches the customer, their needs should not be neglected when it comes to improving the supply chain. Information analysis to meet customer needs includes looking at their buying power, spending patterns, and tracking which products they actually want.