In war, one of the most important things either side tries to secure first is supply routes. Why? Well, your army is only as effective as the supplies they have. If you can’t get ammunition or food to your soldiers, you’ll have a very short war campaign that probably won’t end in your favor.
Same thing with your business. You are only as effective as your supply chain. If you can’t get raw materials to your manufacturing plant, then you can’t manufacture anything. Optimizing your supply chain processes will go a long way in making your business run smoother and more likely to end in your favor.
Here are a few tips to help you with improving your supply chain this year.
Improve Your Distribution Network
Your distribution network is the part of your supply chain that comes with feedback from customers. If you don’t do it well, your customers and about 4.48 billion other people on social media will hear about it. So there isn’t much room for error.
You can improve your distribution network with methods like routed deliveries, order tracking for customers or by adding intermediaries like a secondary distributor or a retailer.
Set Up a Supply Chain Council
A supply chain council will help provide directions while also aligning the company’s core goal and supply chain strategy. Create a governing council that provides a better strategy to improve efficiency and functionality. A supply chain council will also help remove barriers within the company while improving cross-functional communication.
As you do this, make sure that you’re working with reliable manufacturers for bulk or custom orders. This will ensure better efficiency and smooth supply chain processes regardless of your industry.
Embrace Technology
According to a 2020 survey, 57 percent of supply chain industry professionals revealed that they already integrated cloud computing and storage technologies into their company processes fully. Implementing technologies like this gives you more room to spread out your processes and make them more efficient. Plus, you no longer have to depend on traditional storage methods and processes, which reduces the room for error by a lot.
Build Healthy Relationships With Your Suppliers
Building healthy relationships with the supplier will have a positive impact on the supply chain. Even after finalizing your deal, keep and maintain a healthy ongoing relationship. Also, focus on creating strategies for maintaining supplier relationships. Manage conflict resolution and measure performance without bias.
Review Policies and Procedures Regularly
For better efficiency and compliance, you have to continually review your policies and procedures. This will help reduce the possibility of risks of fraud, make operations run smoothly without negative effects on the supply chain.
Also, having regular reviews helps you identify what is working and what needs a little adjustment. To effectively carry out reviews, you should create KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) that help you accurately measure the effectiveness of your supply chain. For example, the time taken for your supplier to deliver an order for raw materials can help you determine if you need to get a new supplier.
Have the Right Strategies in Place
Increasing your revenue and enhancing your supply chain starts with having the best strategies in place. If you’ve created some of these strategies for your business, you should work on implementing the remaining ones. This will add tremendous value to the supply chain.
