Before the pandemic, flexibility in the supply chain was a luxury, a differentiator. Now we realize that it may be the key between survival and failure. While we are not anticipating another event of magnitude and speed with COVID, which impacted supply chains, it can be expected that our industries will continue to revolutionize. With the right technology such as Dynamics 365 for Supply Chain, you can present yourself as a new competitor or business model, the most important thing will be to have the flexibility to navigate unknown seas.
The pandemic has undoubtedly been an event that has transformed the world. Its drastic arrival, the uncertainty it generated, and the continued speculation about what a new normal will has had us guessing the direction in which we should continue as companies. More than anything, the crisis evidenced our ability to react quickly. Those businesses that were prepared and could adapt succeeded, those who did not face the harsh reality: they are not flexible. There are various challenges that the supply chain comes across such as:
Cost Management: Costing plays a vital role in supply chain management, especially in the current era where the cost of energy, raw material, and labor has increased due to economic constraints. If the cost is not properly done, it gets hard to keep up with continuous production and providing customers with excellent quality products at affordable rates.
Unforeseen Delays: It might be easier to procure materials and products than delivering them. As one of the major and most common issues in supply chain management, you are most likely to face delayed deliveries which are going to impact your business in one way or another. You may even up deteriorate your market reputation or even worse, your customers might hop on to your competitors in search of better services.
Improper Forecasting Techniques: You cannot expect a calculator and speculation to be a comprehensive demand forecasting toolset. If you are still holding up to these stale and outdated methods, you are much likely to encounter losses. There is an urgent need to adopt a solution that offers smart and reliable tools to make demand forecasts.
Inventory Management: Lack of visibility of your inventory and being unaware of your inventory levels can cause serious obstacles. Even with the technology available, many businesses are still following outdated inventory management which often provides inaccurate data.
Beef Up Your Supply Chain with Microsoft Dynamics 365
In current scenarios, the best way to upgrade your supply chain management is to adopt a unified Supply Chain ERP Software such as Dynamics 365 for Supply Chain, it has all the flexibility and agility you need to get rid of these issues within the same environment. It is recommended to upgrade your current ERP to the cloud and reap maximum benefits. You can upgrade your Supply chain with the help of the following measures:
Get Real-Time Visibility
Visibility is as important for your business as profit. Having a disrupted information flow from one of the supply chains to another can lead to chaotic outcomes such as poor customer services, excessive investment in inventory, revenue loss, and so on. This is also known as the “bullwhip effect.” Having better data matching the actual demand and supply can reduce the bullwhip effects to a great extent. This works for both internal and external company effects.
D365 for Supply Chain is a suitable supply chain software that can extract real-time data and present it in the shape of graphical dashboards for a better simple interpretation.
Adopt Smart Inventory Management
Managing inventory is one of the most crucial tasks of all time. Adopting advanced inventory management technology can eliminate the risk of storing excess inventory, obsolescence and enhance flexibility and responsiveness. Microsoft Dynamics 365 for the supply chain offers a set of tools and data for effective inventory management. You can have first-hand smooth and effective inventory control.
Make Replenishment Strategies
Inventory replenishment is also known as stock replenishment, which refers to moving the inventory from reserve storage to primary storage and then to picking sites. Keep in mind that replenishment might refer to both raw materials as well as the product. Adopt suitable inventory replenishment methods and keep up with the balanced inventory level which is crucial to provide customer satisfaction. Get an appropriate ERP for the supply chain to make replenishment strategies. Preferably pick a unified solution to save yourself from excessive costs and technical complications.
Plan and Forecast Demand
Consider real or projected customer requirements and distribution networks to plan and forecast demands. Adopt forecasting techniques suitable for each classified product. Associate sales and operational planning to assess future demands. Spot customer demand driving factors such as promotions, discounts, product mix, etc. to strengthen future demands. Compare the actual results with the forecast to make necessary adjustments. Also, share the statistics on demand with the supplier and customers.
Optimize Inventory Management
Upgrading to a smart technology such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 to optimize inventory management, on ground level, inventory management seeks answers to three simple questions, what needs to be stocked, its quantity band, when does it needs to be ordered. Upgrading to such technology you can get better insights into your inventory using the actionable intelligence from the previous sales, supply chain, and purchasing data.
Improve Product Quality
With an increase in product complexity and the emergence of product variations, the supply chain is influenced globally. With Microsoft Dynamics 365 you can get better control and visibility into the lifecycle and evolution of the product. Automate the product release and acceptance operations and make the right people are at the right place to take orders and make modifications.
Conclusion
Being a massive operational task, supply chain management is prone to multiple challenges. However, there are suitable solutions available in the markets such as Dynamics 365 for Supply Chain. We recommend choosing a well-experienced partner such as Trident Information Systems, one of the oldest and most renowned Supply Chain ERP Software Companies. We have been serving multiple businesses for the past 2 decades. For further queries contact us.
