Blog >
The phrase ‘bullwhip effect’ describes the fluctuations in inventory levels due to rapid customer demand changes. Uncertainty is a common condition for businesses participating in a global supply chain.
No one could have predicted how the past year and a half would affect supply chains. Still, businesses can increase their supply chain management resiliency to prepare for future global events that will affect the economy.
If you rely on a global supply chain, these four things will improve your supply chain management resiliency and lead to supply chain recovery.
Process automation is about using technology to change how you do things. For example, you can use automation to replace error-prone, time-consuming manual processes like re-keying data. Using automation minimizes costs, increases efficiency, and streamlines operations.
Product traceability increases your control over your inventory. With it, you can track your products as they move through the supply chain. Product traceability captures detailed information about your inventory using methods like case and crate labeling at a warehouse pallet level. Bin location labels enable easy location of stock within your warehouse, and GTIN labels identify trade items at any stage in your supply chain.
Product traceability is especially helpful for pharmaceutical, medical device, and food and beverage companies.
As demand shifts, transparent inventory control and distribution are critical. You must manage your inventory to prevent inefficiencies from non-integrated software or data residing in multiple locations.
Businesses that manage their inventory with various costing models and maintain accurate item master data are better positioned to focus on strategic business decisions and respond to new opportunities. Quality customer service has never been more critical, and improved inventory accuracy means there won’t be stock-outs or unfulfilled orders to affect customer satisfaction.
Becoming more resilient requires adopting multiple tools to support critical processes. But not just any tools – you must be able to integrate them. Integrating your systems (e.g., your inventory management system and manufacturing or shipping solution) ensures everyone will always have accurate, real-time data for making business decisions. An integration platform as a service (iPaaS) – integration technology that offers flexibility without sacrificing functionality – could help.
Businesses in global supply chains will continue to face uncertainty as we return to a new normal. The optimal approach is to become a more resilient enterprise that’s prepared to weather any storm.
As part of the Vision33 Virtual Customer Days event, we’ve recorded a presentation featuring our Senior Consultant, Harry Jarvis, discussing how to accelerate your supply chain resiliency to keep up with ever-changing demand.
Watch the video to learn about more factors that will increase your business's resiliency and an enterprise technology demo that can get your business where it needs to be.
