Supply Chain Management Challenges

But first, let's understand what Are the Supply Chain Management Challenges?

Rapid Changing Market Demands

1. Nowadays, customer demands change at a hectic pace, which is one of the most profound reasons for the dramatic shrinkage of product life cycles. The shift in preference imposes pressure on the enterprises to keep up with the latest trends and replace available products with new ones that have innovative and advanced features.
2. This change in the environment requires designing an agile supply chain that can respond swiftly to spikes and dips in demand needs for accommodating product replacement. An efficient tracking system is a key to success here and in the absence of this, the whole supply chain would crumble.

Unforeseen Transit Delays

1. With numerous environmental factors impacting the transit, products or raw materials are not always delivered on time. Arranging delivery schedules beforehand or maintaining buffer stocks are proven ways to avoid any potential supply chain disruptions.
2. This distinct advantage can be attained only with an appropriate monitoring mechanism. Again, the goods when left unattended for long, lose their value and so despite being stored in the warehouse, businesses would not be able to make them available to their customers. This brings a negative impact on customer experience and even the profitability of the firm.

Supplier Relationship

1. Modern supply chain business requires working with multiple suppliers or vendors. Maintaining a harmonious relationship with them enables enterprises to provide high standards of service to the customers on time.
2. On the contrary, inconsistency in supplier relationships often gives rise to ineffective communication, late notification, delays or cancellation of delivery, and other underlying weaknesses of the sector that can bring loss to any supply chain business.

Benefits of ERP in supply chain management

When ERP systems are used in supply chain management, the planning, monitoring, and control are intense yet effortless. Let's find out the key advantages of ERP in supply chain businesses.

Simplify Process Monitoring and Management

1. ERP in supply chain management offers to monitor and track activities across the channels in real-time, from a single platform. This improves information sharing, boosts interdepartmental communication, and minimizes the delay in decision making. Together, rendering power to your business to act appropriately and stay competitive.

Accurate and Detailed Order Tracking

1. Every order is crucial and delivering them on time is the secret to supply chain business growth.
2. Implementing ERP software for the supply chain enables you to automatically record and store every piece of information related to orders. This allows you to perfectly track old orders that are in transit as well as keep an eye on the new ones that are yet to be processed. This meticulous detailing further aids in analyzing the customers’ needs in the future and enhances their experience.

Insightful Computation and Estimation

1. ERP systems accommodate a huge volume of real-time data, which you can use to generate insightful reports. This provides greater clarity about the operations and makes market predictions much easier.
2. Moreover, an in-depth monitoring structure also facilitates identifying the undesirable variances in the supply chain quickly and adequately addresses the problems.

Easy Handling of Supplies

1. ERP software includes advanced features to enable error-free tracking and managing inventory. This efficiency in managing supplies removes order fulfilment mistakes and reduces overhead costs, thereby increasing the turnover of the business.

Reduce order times

1. Automated sales order process available in ERP solutions, eliminates delays in order fulfilment and shipping. It also enables you to set up rules to handle credit, returns, drop shipments and so forth across multiple warehouses.

Run an efficient warehouse

1. A Warehouse Management System (WMS), lets you streamline your distribution processes. The system covers workflows across receiving and inventory management as well as the operation of tools like barcode scanners and mobile devices. The distribution business will be more profitable if the warehouses are run efficiently.

Stay on top of your supply chain

1. ERP enables you to ensure a steady supply of goods to distribute by automating and optimizing purchasing processes, purchase order management and supply chain management.

Know your true costs

1. A modern ERP suite gives you the ability to determine profitability by warehouse as well as by-product line or business unit. Reporting and data visualization tools help you spot cost overages and other drags on profitability that may elude standard financial reports.