Consumers across a demand-driven global economy place expectations on businesses that can only be met with help from technological innovations and the internet. For you to give consumers what they want, when they want it, and how they want it, you need SCM software to manage order fulfillment.
Key Takeaways:
- With supply chain management, SCM software allows companies to gain control of complex supply chain processes with greater transparency.
- Effective supply chain management addresses each aspect of operations, from procurement through the product life cycle, logistics, and order management.
- Human errors and the inefficiencies of traditional management systems waste resources like time and money, highlighting the importance of a digital, automated processing system for SCM.
Watkyn has the expertise and reputation needed for you to confidently develop a customized software application for supply chain management. Serving a range of industries, our team of developers works closely with you to optimize your strategies and workflow to achieve your business goals.
Where Did SCM Software Come From and How Do Companies Use It Today?
Since the earliest exchanges of goods or services occurred in ancient times, supply chains have been necessary for fulfilling transactions. Over time, SCM evolved to be more sophisticated and efficient, relying on advancements in industrial machinery, transportation, currency exchange, and more to meet the growing demands of consumers.
Many industries took giant leaps toward improved efficiency with the invention of computers, but unfortunately, those working with supply chains often leave the bulk of decision-making for best practices to specialists. With the unprecedented levels of global trade and business in the modern world, taking control of your SCM provides a competitive edge and a direct impact on customer loyalty.
Software Applications
Being able to better manage your supply chain gives you an advantage in adapting to the ever-changing, volatile business environments of global trade. Technology is changing industrialization and the supply chain, with these software applications dubbed the fourth industrial revolution.
Supply chain transformations involving technology include:
- Machine learning
- Internet of Things
- Sensors
- Automation
- Data analytics
SCM software is all about leveraging technology to make the supply chain better and smarter. Customizing an SCM platform to the specific elements of your industry and operations makes it that much more efficient.
Software Advantages
Relying on a digital, smart solution for SCM has several advantages over traditional management methods. For starters, it delivers substantial cost savings, while merging the planning and execution stages of workflow and decision-making.
For example, companies relying on a plan-to-produce model must scale their production operations as they anticipate consumer demand. Doing this without any hiccups in the process takes accurate forecasting, but it is challenging to juggle the massive amount of data necessary to get the predictions right.
With an intelligent SCM software solution, you can accurately predict demand across a number of inputs and avoid waste or costly overstocks. You also free up employees to work on other high-value tasks thanks to the solution’s automation features.
What Are the Goals for SCM Applications?
A traditional view of supply chain management focuses on the goals of reducing costs and increasing efficiency. However, in addition to those needs, businesses are realizing the importance of a customer-centric approach to SCM. Whatever your other efforts and processes, the entire customer experience ultimately lives or dies in the supply chain.
Customer Loyalty
Customer loyalty is a company’s best asset. It determines your long-term success in building brand awareness, increasing revenue, and thriving in a competitive market. The key to customer loyalty is your company’s ability to quickly, accurately, and affordably fulfill consumer expectations.
Any delays or unexpected challenges with the supply of raw materials or the manufacturing process affect the end stages of logistics and product delivery. Everything about getting an order right—whether before, during, or after a customer receives the product—impacts customer loyalty.
External and Internal Coordination
There is a lot of overlap between SCM and operations management, with SCM dealing with external processes and OM having a focus on the coordination and optimization of internal processes. Both efforts work together to manage the various stages of the product life cycle.
Because of the overlap between SCM and OM functions, it’s important to have a system in place to ensure real-time data tracking, storage, and analysis. An SCM solution is a comprehensive way to address each aspect of the supply chain and its effect on internal operations.
What Are the Benefits of SCM Software?
Custom application development to address your supply chain elements is a game-changer. There are many benefits to implementing a digital solution for SCM.
Improved Efficiency
The expenses incurred along each aspect of supply chain operations vary, but at the basic level, there is a cost with every hour of activity. Since time is money, any bottlenecks in the process should give a company cause for concern. By using an SCM application, you can identify areas of concern and eliminate problems before they pop up.
You can also integrate the platform with other enterprise software for a more complete solution to your processes. Digital solutions that automate manual tasks increase organizational productivity and eliminate errors. All of this enhances operational efficiency across every department.
Better Visibility
The data tracking opportunities through SCM software give you an instant look at all of the activity going on in the supply chain. With custom dashboards, the information is in an easy-to-read presentation and delivered in real time. End-to-end visibility makes decision-making in SCM more accurate.
With a digital solution, you have a way to share data and increase collaboration between sellers, distributors, and vendors. You can isolate performance along certain supply chain stages and improve processes with detailed reporting.
Reduced Costs
Raising customer loyalty helps increase the top line of business finances, while reducing operating costs through software helps the bottom line. The right software tools can help you adjust your practices to reduce material waste and optimize inventory levels. You can also improve your financials with automated payment tracking and notifications, lowering long-term debt and debtor turnover.
Enhanced Decision Making
To keep your supply chain running smoothly and preventing negative impacts on your organization, use SCM software for analytics. Big data, gathered from each step of the process, helps solve the problems that threaten your operations.
By using software, you can make informed decisions about raw material procurement or production scheduling. You can forecast demand based on market or consumer trends. With demand planning based on real-time data, you are able to react more quickly when the unexpected occurs.
Less Compliance Risk
A number of compliance procedures and protocols influence supply chain activities. Some examples include:
- Differing environment sustainability standards by region
- Quality specifications and standards by geographic export or import
- Appropriate documentation for cross-border shipments
Falling out of compliance presents serious financial and legal consequences. With software assistance, managers can plan for compliance requirements and automate certain regulatory or legal documentation to reduce risks. It also avoids errors related to human oversight.
Risk Mitigation
Mapping out operations in SCM software helps you track the market, political, and economic risks your business faces. Using the platform’s analytic capabilities, you can determine the nature of exposure in certain areas of operations based on certain risk factors.
With these kinds of insights, you can do more than just respond promptly to exposures. You can develop proactive risk management strategies that can reduce operational disruptions and continue operations quickly by adapting to them.
What Are the Essential Features of Supply Chain Software?
When it comes to software, you have a few options. You can purchase an off-the-shelf solution mass-produced to meet a range of common business needs, or you can invest in a custom application for your business’s specific needs. While a personalized solution presents several benefits, any SCM platform should contain features that are both strategic and functional.
Inventory Management
Effectively manage your inventory to create a smooth supply chain. Effective management includes storing the right quantities of raw materials or supplies, finished products, or spare parts at the right time.
Optimized inventory levels mean never worrying about understocking or overstocking. Real-time reporting data shows where the inventory is at any moment, making it easy to make operating decisions that are a precise and wise use of resources. Your software should help with tracking throughout the following stages of inventory processing:
- Purchasing and reordering
- Production
- Storage
- Sales
- Reporting
Having accurate information throughout each stage helps you stay on track with ordering and keeping things running smoothly.
Logistics and Transportation
Tools dealing with logistics and transportation guide your company in finding the most efficient, cost-effective transport of materials and final products. With software support, you can better manage changes in state and federal regulations or rising fuel costs. Key toolsinclude appointment scheduling, dispatch management, and yard management.
Order and Billing
An SCM software solution should provide a centralized order and billing platform. Orders are the fundamental way your company generates profits, making automated assistance for things like order processing, invoicing, and payment collection a no-brainer.
Customizing a platform lets you configure or integrate with existing order management applications for a comprehensive solution.
Supplier Collaboration
You can improve how smoothly you transition between different phases of the supply chain by improving your options for supplier collaboration. Digital tools provide real-time collaboration opportunities regardless of location, ensuring that key players like customers, employees, and suppliers are all aware of issues or problems as they occur.
A self-service portal can provide suppliers with a way to submit requests or access relevant information. Collaborative tools make it easy to exchange contracts or access specific documents. You can manage scheduling and coordinating workflow across separate departments or parties.
Warehouse Management
If you have fulfillment services, warehouse management tools give you the ability to optimize your stock and increase the accuracy and efficiency of processing orders. Some of the functions a warehouse management segment addresses are:
- Receiving
- Returns
- Cross-docking
- Replenishment
While there are standalone warehouse management systems on the market, integrating your existing solution or customizing a feature within your SCM software brings greater efficiency and accuracy.
Cloud-Based Hosting
With cloud-based technology, access to real-time information is never a problem. From an operational perspective, this tech means you have up-to-date reporting and analytics for all of your resources, whether that’s things like carrier rates or a list of embargoed countries.
Additionally, cloud-based services provide more convenient scalability than an on-site hosted platform. Organizations have the flexibility to quickly re-configure certain aspects of the solution to address evolving supply chain needs.
What Should You Consider With a Custom Solution?
Now that you understand how beneficial a software platform is to supply chain management, you can start deciding on the best option for your business. While there may be reasons to purchase an off-the-shelf platform, for the long-term goals of your company you should consider a custom software solution.
By working with a team of developers who know the big picture of your operations and the impact the supply chain has on them, you can create a highly functional software platform designed for maximum efficiency. There are a few things to address with your developer.
Configurability
Your supply chain is not the same as your competitors’ or other businesses working in different industries. Your final product needs to fit your specific requirements. Configuring the platform means the ability to turn certain features off or on depending on the situation, create custom user views or access, and have compatibility with key features of other platforms you currently use.
Advanced Capabilities
Making the investment in a custom solution should provide your business with more than just the standard features found with an OTS program. With advanced capabilities, you can connect with different data points along the supply chain and develop new opportunities for strategic planning and decision-making.
A full-scale solution should take the following into account:
- Demand planning
- Supply planning
- Inventory management
- Sales and operations planning
- Production planning
An effective SCM software will let you view and connect to each area of the supply chain.
Where Should You Turn for SCM Software?
Your search for effective, cost-efficient SCM software stops with Watkyn. As a custom software solutions provider, our developers will work closely with your team to develop a platform that meets your unique needs and advances your business goals. Contact us to find out more.
