In the simplest sense, a supply chain is a network that connects a business and its manufacturers to create a product and deliver it to the final customer. It consists of a wide variety of people, products, entities, information, resources, and activities. It also embodies the processes needed to transform raw materials into the final product and “supply” it to the end-user. Modernize your supply chain with tools from Profound Logic.
Traditionally, businesses designed supply chains to maximize profits and minimize costs. Instead of creating individual instances whenever a customer places an order, a supply chain can handle all functions—product development, marketing, operations, distribution, finance, and customer service—in a cost-effective manner. However, the COVID-19 pandemic that started in 2020 demanded that businesses evolve and modernize their supply chains. Besides profit optimization and cost reduction, enterprises should focus on adaptability, value creation, and social responsibility. Modern consumers are not just buying what they need, but they are also buying from the “right” sellers. Most buyers make a purchase and stay loyal to a business if it delivers a high-quality product on time, offers data transparency right after the customer clicks the checkout button, provides top-notch customer service, is responsive to uncertainty, and demonstrates social responsibility.
The pandemic revealed flaws and vulnerabilities of many supply chains. The health crisis highlighted challenges that only modernized supply chains can handle, such as:
- An influx of orders due to the increasing use of e-commerce.
- Switch in demand for specific products.
- Manufacturing disruptions.
- Sporadic lockdowns that cut off access to key manufacturers.
Without a doubt, the worldwide health crisis has had a significant influence on how business leaders think and make decisions about the supply chain. Moreover, buyer sentiment played a massive role in the need for radical change. The shock to the system exposed what businesses must address quickly—modernize the supply chain for increased communication among stakeholders and utilize technology efficiently to expedite the best strategies.
The New Normal Demands a Fresh and Modern Approach
The COVID-19 health crisis amplified issues and concerns that already existed in a traditional supply chain. For a business to succeed in the aftermath of the pandemic, known as the New Normal, you need to improve your supply chain to become more resilient, collaborative, and connected with manufacturers, buyers, and other stakeholders.
How? You need to invest in:
- Modernizing legacy code and technology.
- Implementing newer technologies like AI and robotic process automation.
- Retraining your team.
What Are the Advantages of Modernizing Your Supply Chain?
Modernize your supply chain, and help your business realize the following benefits:
1. Ensure data transparency
Keep sensitive business data obtained from users, manufacturers, products, and customers in a cloud-based supply chain solution with streamlined storage. Provide different levels of access to different users. With this level of transparency that doesn’t compromise security, you can facilitate accurate reporting and better data analysis that ultimately supports real-time intelligent business decision-making and planning.
2. Improve business speed and accuracy
Automating repetitive and mechanical tasks enhances the speed and accuracy of your operations. With an autonomous supply chain, you free up time and resources that you can use on higher-level objectives such as generating new income streams, long-term planning, and future-proofing your business. Your improved productivity can lead to minimizing costs optimally.
3. Better inventory management
Modernizing your supply chain means modernizing the way you handle your inventory. With improved inventory management, products remain stocked promptly, and you can generate updated reports in real-time. You avoid stock-outs and incurring huge losses because an item isn’t available when a customer orders it. You have better turnaround times, and ultimately, improved customer satisfaction.
4. Increase customer trust
Make information visible and eliminate false expectations by providing customers with pertinent information such as when a product may be available or when they can expect it to arrive. Give your customers peace of mind by letting them track their orders as they move within the supply chain in real-time.
The Supply Chain of the Future
You should focus on modernizing your supply chain for pandemic recovery and beyond. You may be hoping that the pandemic is a once-in-a-lifetime thing, but hope is not a good business strategy. You must be ready for whatever may hit in the future, preparing your supply chain for any threat and investing in digital technologies at speed. The supply chain of the future should be flexible, efficient, resilient, agile, and digitally connected to increase data transparency. If you can do this, then you can transform potential disruptions into enormous opportunities.
Profound Logic can help modernize your supply chain and make sure that your business can meet present and future demands.
