Friday 10 December 2021
Your supply chain has a direct impact on the success of your business, and so managing it properly is essential. This may seem like an overwhelming task; often supply chains are made up of many small processes that need to work together to be effective.
Automating some or all of these activities through the use of innovative technology can make supply chain management much more straightforward, and can offer your business a wealth of benefits.
1. It can make processes more visible
Many businesses find that the systems and applications used within their supply chain have been implemented separately over time, rather than being designed to work smoothly together. As these different technologies were introduced one by one to increase efficiency, they may have also led to the creation of silos and gaps, restricting the sharing of information and making it difficult to follow a process end-to-end.
Automating your supply chain can give you the ability to connect all systems and applications to a central dashboard where you can access all of the information they provide, in one place.
This reduces the risk of losing or overlooking important data, and makes the processes within the overall supply chain more visible. It also offers your employees the ability to better serve your customers, as they can view all the information they need about an account or query very quickly.
2. It helps you to keep up with the market
Connecting different systems within your supply chain through automation also allows you to respond to any external challenges swiftly and efficiently.
This can be reassuring, especially in today’s market, where unexpected developments can require you to implement changes to the way your business operates at pace. Automation can provide you this flexibility, allowing your business to adapt to the changing marketplace and maintain a competitive edge.
3. It increases accuracy
Utilising manual, repetitive processes within a supply chain can often lead to human error. This may result in incorrect information being recorded, the need for extra time to be allocated to resolve problems, and the risk of potential delays for customers.
Automating these kinds of processes within your supply chain will reduce human error and can improve accuracy within other aspects, such as inventory management and invoicing, contributing to enhanced overall efficiency, profitability, and customer satisfaction.
4. It allows you to prioritise staff time
As discussed above, key processes within a supply chain can be repetitive and time-consuming. Automating these simple tasks, such as recording and processing orders, receipts and invoices, will reduce the time employees need to spend carrying these out, and allow this to be re-prioritised according to your overall business strategy.
This could mean allocating more time for staff to analyse data and identify trends, develop informed market forecasts, or build and strengthen client relationships to secure future business. It can also provide more time for employees to share their ideas for enhancing ways of working, empowering them to shape the future of the business and contributing to staff engagement.
5. It supports you to meet and exceed customer expectations
As digital technology evolves and customers are offered enhanced experiences in many aspects of their lives, their expectations for these to be delivered consistently grow. Many customers now expect fast deliveries, 24/7 customer service and the ability to return or change their order if necessary.
Automation can help your business offer this kind of experience, as well as provide your customers with the opportunity to track their order or sign up for real-time updates, not just meeting their expectations but exceeding them. This will help to secure loyal customers and strengthen your ability to attract new ones, while increasing profitability.
Automating your supply chain can help your business to deliver a reliable service that contributes to increased customer satisfaction and supports you to secure future business. To discover more about how Solweb can work with you to automate your supply chain, contact us using the form below - we can’t wait to hear from you!
