Supply chain performance is imperative to a company’s success. Supply chain excellence is determined by the effectiveness and coordination of elements that move a product from supplier to customer: inventory, facilities, transportation and data.

From inventory visibility to forecasting accuracy to communication, supply chains face many obstacles, but technology advancements are helping solve today’s supply chain problems.

Below we’ve chosen three common supply chain obstacles and the technology solving them. 

The Obstacle: “We carry too much inventory and can’t seem to manage our on-shelf availability.” 

The Solution: Accurate inventory visibility is crucial to lean operations and reducing unnecessary losses. The combination of an inventory management solution and a robust CRM system will help you better manage your inventory and on-shelf availability. These solutions reduce the time it takes to perform inventory, providing enterprises with real-time visibility into the products on the shelves. 

The Obstacle: “We’d like to share production plans and forecasts and collaborate with our suppliers, but we need a more efficient, cost-effective way to do so.”

The Solution: Retail giant Wal-Mart is one of many businesses that have experienced the benefits of supply chain collaboration. Supply chain collaboration solutions allow companies to share their production plans and forecasts with suppliers in order to increase responsiveness when meeting demand requirements, no matter where they are in the world.

Collaboration platforms can improve margins, delivery times, forecast planning accuracy and can cut excess inventory. 

The Obstacle: “Our supply chain is far from optimized. Every time a machine breaks down or a project is delayed, we can’t deliver an order on time. We need a planning solution that allows us the power and flexibility to adjust an entire supply chain plan on the fly.” 

The Solution: A supply chain planning and optimization platform provides you full visibility into all aspects of your supply chain, while still allowing the human element (you) to interact between planning and platform. 

These platforms enable you to have a complete view of production capacities, raw materials and logistics. By utilizing a supply chain planning and optimization platform, your business can experience savings in a variety of areas—distribution efficiency, reduced inventory levels and leaner operations. 

As technology continues to evolve, so will challenges that supply chains face. In order to stay agile in the wake of shifting demand and market conditions, you need a trusted supply chain partner that will provide you with an all-in-one solution.

Image Credit: Lig Ynnek