5 Factors to Achieve Supply Chain Efficiency

Supply chain management is all about to and fro movement of goods and services in an efficient manner. It comprises every step that is required in the process of procuring raw materials through to the finished goods, in a way that is streamlined and provides value to the customer.

A properly management Supply chain management process allows room for better negotiating for the best rates and products the shortest time possible. In turn, this reduces inventory costs and improves the overall planning and efficiency of your operations.

Staying on top of your SCM game is crucial, but at times it proves to be quite difficult, hence we have put together 5 factors that help achieve supply chain efficiency.

1. Dependable Suppliers

There is nothing that emphasises the importance of having the right suppliers. While you choose the suppliers for your business, cost and reliability are the major factors as these serve the base for delivering the best quality for your customers. Thorough research on a strong reputation for maintaining high standards for quality, customer care, packaging, and practice ethical ways of doing business is very important while choosing suppliers for your business.

2. Invest In Employee Development

Anyone who is involved in the business of supply chain management business will vouch for an efficient and streamlined SCM. Each day brings its own problems and obstacles which involve expensive, fragile, or perishable goods & they can only be solved with the help of an efficient supply chain.

Development of staff not only includes formal curriculum training but on the job training, coaching, mentoring, rotation through multiple assignments, and training based on scenario modelling. All of this helps employees to understand not just how processes work, but also the impact of them on the business.

3. Continuous Improvement

A stable and effective Supply Chain Management is not the end, there is always room for improvement and constant monitoring and evaluation is the key to an effective SCM.

Regular Improvement and innovation ensure to accrue significant cost benefits, increases delivery speed, and helps to put out the highest standards of customer service. In a constantly changing world, continuous and regular improvement needs to be constant.

4. Leverage New Technologies

Technology in today's time plays a very important role in strengthening the SCM, for e.g. with the help technology an advanced warehouse management system can be set up which in return will work towards a streamlined SCM. Technology will allow organizations to eliminate the laborious manual work and speeds up decision making. Technology-driven SCMs play a large part in helping companies to gain competitive advantage.

5. Improve Returns Management

A solid SCM strategy has an efficient returns management system, as it is equally important to give returns the attention the same as shipping out stock. A solid returns management enables you to efficiently re-process or re-manufacture, as the case may be, in order to service customers quickly and efficiently. A satisfactory product return experience can lead to increases in a customer’s future purchases and referrals and, in turn, the profit they yield for the company.

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