Everything we use in today’s modern world is a product of a supply chain, from the food we eat and the smartphones we use daily to the cars we drive. Every product begins its life as raw material until it gets developed further. Supply chains require proper management, which is why you and your team need to be on top of things.

If you want your business to be successful, you will need to work hard. Operate with professionalism, keep on top of processes and plan carefully. In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know, including the processes, best practices, and technologies that will help your supply chains run efficiently.

Defining Supply Chain Management?

It’s best to start with the basics. Think of it as a group of individuals working within organizations to combine their resources. These resources could then be used by one business, which has the tools to create a unique product. They can then sell this product themselves, or they can move it onto another business that will market and sell it. You can also think o supply chain management as the means to an end. Those involved will oversee each section of the supply chain from the beginning to the end. Their goal will be to ensure that it runs seamlessly.

As a business, successful supply chain and logistics management require knowledge and skills to be effective. A short online supply chain management course is one of the more efficient ways to gain a better understanding of this essential business process and boost your supply chain management skills.

The Levels Of Supply Chain Management

There are a variety of functions, processes, and activities to supply chain management that falls under one of three levels; strategic, tactical, and operational.

• Strategic: At this level, it’s all about thinking about how best to approach supply chain issues in general. This could impact the entire business rather than individual departments. These decisions can break down goals into years and months, giving the business a direction to go. They are therefore incredibly important to your organization.
• Tactical: During the tactical planning stage, decisions related to the financial side of the business, thinking about the demand from the consumers, and placing value on the entire process will be considered. The processes from the strategic level must be approached with caution.
• Operational: Think of this on a smaller more local scale of a business. Here, the supply chain’s main focus is on how the money is actually spent, and how well the supply gets from point A to point B. Without this integral part of the process, a product will not be able to move. You may need to work hard arranging production schedules as well as managing your inventory in general. You could do this yourself or hire someone else to do it. Moving raw materials from where they are found to your factory is also important, and weekly forecasting can help inform decision-making.

The Role Tools And Technology Can Play

In today’s digital world, technological advancements have benefited many businesses and individuals. When it comes to supply chain management, innovative technology can help to reduce shipping errors at all levels of the business. They can also help you or your employees monitor shipping information as well as organize inventory data.

Businesses that do not apply modern technology are businesses that will fall behind the rest. Consider some of the technology your business can use, including asset tracking, supply chain management software, and cloud computing.

• Asset Tracking: No matter what section of the supply chain you operate within, you will need to think about where the product is. This includes the moment it leaves the suppliers to when it arrives on the shelves. Instead of manually tracking each aspect of your supply chain, you can let this process be automated. This helps minimize mistakes and know where everything is at all times.
• Supply Chain Management Software: One way that this can be done is through smart software. Enterprise resource planning software can assist supply chain management through data analytics, forecasting tools, inventory management software, or customer relationship software, which are all housed under one program can make managing your supply chain easier.
• Cloud Computing: Cloud computing has become increasingly popular across multiple industries, typically because you can back up the data in case one gets lost or corrupted, helping to avoid mistakes once more. However, this is not the only benefit of cloud computing as it also has advanced analytics capabilities, multi-platform integration, enhanced data security, reduced need for in-house IT, greater adaptability through scalability, lower upfront investments, and better long-term cost management.

Supply Chain Management Best Practices

Setting up your supply chain and getting the technology in place to help it run is one thing, but how do you ensure that your supply chain is operating the way that you want it to?

• Invest In Technology: We touched on the useful tools you can implement into your supply chain earlier, but remember that you should only choose the ones that you need, to help drive down costs. Speak to your employees to find out what technology investments would better enhance their performance in terms of productivity, efficiency and improve their department or the overall business.
• Foster Positive Relationships: If you deal with your suppliers in a friendly way, then it’s likely they will be more open for working with you. The main goal of this should be to help cultivate better collaboration.
• Inventory Management Practices: Gaining more control over your inventory will give you better visibility of your inventory. This helps you to plan production accurately, as well as automate ordering, and eliminate wasteful spending. If you have too much stock, then this could be the perfect time for a sale.

Conclusion

Overall, you should look at what step in the supply chain you are currently operating in. If you know you are the one that deals with raw materials, then you can think about how you can improve this key step. You may be able to find more ways to gather these resources, or you may be able to find more buyers who would be interested in your goods.

Of course, if you are a business that is operating within the production step of the supply chain, then you will have to think about both sides of the journey. Consider the best way to gather materials, it may involve you looking to multiple providers for different parts, or even the same parts. You will then need to think about how to improve the creation process, as well as the distributing of these products once you’ve done it, including vendors.

Lastly, if you are a vendor, then you will have to find a producer of goods that can get you exactly what you want. You may have commissioned a business to do something for you, or it could have been a business that approached you with their unique product that has piqued your interest.

No matter what step you are at, you should look to improve the supply process, so that you can improve the overall business. You should aim to drive costs down, whilst seeing your profits increase.