Do you know what’s needed for your supply chain management system to be successful?
Beyond simple luck, any supply chain manager will tell you the successful management of your supply chain requires dedication, attention to detail, and quick thinking whenever obstacles are thrown at your business.
As a supply chain is the series of steps and activities required for a company to deliver goods and services to a consumer, there are many interconnected parts which need to be considered. You need to plan for contingencies and do everything you can to set up your supply chain for success.
What makes a successful supply chain?
Our parent company Avetta are experts in supply chain management. With our focus in workforce management and their experience with supply chain management, we combined to create the world’s largest provider of supply chain risk and workforce management solutions.
All that to say—we know what we’re talking about.
Avetta knows all about supply chains, from top to bottom, beginning to end. Through their extensive experience with supply chains, they’ve come to understand what works, and most importantly: why.
We’ve compiled a list of five different supply chain management success factors. For your business to be successful, we recommend implementing them.
Number One: Pre-Qualified and Diversified Suppliers
First up is the importance of pre-qualifying your suppliers. By only selecting suppliers who have been audited and certified for safety and sustainability leads to higher performance, and increased confidence that your standards are being upheld. You need to know the people working for you have thorough safety systems in place and all the right insurances.
By diversifying your suppliers and not sticking to one region, you can mitigate the risk involved with unprecedented events like flooding, cyclones, and public health outbreaks. It’s a big mistake to only be relying on one or two similar types of suppliers in the same region, and having no one else available outside of that.
Number Two: Multiple Backup Plans
One backup will never be enough. As many businesses have learned the hard one, the cost of being unprepared is immeasurable. All businesses will need to solve new problems. Unexpected hurdles is part of the game.
When you have multiple backup plans for varying scenarios, you’re on the front foot and you can adjust at a moment’s notice. Your flexibility will be your advantage.
Here are three ways to prepare effective backup plans:
- Uncover all hidden inefficiencies which may lead to disruption. Engage your workers from the top all the way to the bottom to point out issues at every stage of your supply chain.
- Tap into managers across your supply chain. Ask for their input in creating backup plans that work for their stage of the supply chain. Ask them to describe how their ideas benefit your business as a whole in the event of disruption.
- Embrace innovative technology which allows your supply chain to scale up or down at a moment’s notice.
Number Three: Real-Time Data Analytics
Good data—the right data—helps to inform business decisions. When you use data to drive your operations, you’ll come out on top. With real-time data, you can eliminate the guesswork, resulting in a more efficient and optimised supply chain. You can also make faster, data-based decisions.
Transparency with data is a big one—supply chains which freely share data with their entire business perform better than those who don’t. Transparency also has benefits of:
- Maintaining control within each stage of the supply chain
- Increasing accountability and compliance
- Increasing efficiency and profitability
- Minimising financial and reputational losses
Number Four: Automated Supply Chain Management Platform
When automation is done well, the success of your supply chain will skyrocket. Using a supply chain management platform can greatly reduce individual effort, while significantly increasing efficiency.
This is where Avetta’s software comes in. They make all the following tasks accessible, straightforward, and tailored to your needs:
- Set compliance standards.
- Train onboarding clients and suppliers.
- Track compliance status and identify issues.
- Manage individual workers and the workforce as a whole.
- Monitor performance across the supply chain.
- Eliminate manual documentation and signatures.
- Build visualizations, dashboards, and reports based on configurable data.
- Access your client and supplier network.
Number Five: Solid Supply Chain Network
Saving the best for last: you need a thoroughly vetted supply chain network.
When you have access to a supply chain network of suppliers, contractors, and vendors, it’s easier to build and manage quality relationships with them. Such a network leads to a smarter, more sustainable, and highly efficient supply chain. It puts you in control and gives you unparalleled visibility. It helps reduce risk and protect your reputation.
Talk to us today about how we can make your supply chain more successful.
A version of this blog first appeared on the Avetta blog here and has been republished with full permission.
