• Vasu Rajagoplan , Head of supply chain and transportation at Xchanging


• 05.06.2015 01:00 am
Supply chain

How well a company manages its supply chain is reflected now more than ever in the health of its balance sheet. Today’s supply chains are complex and global. They are made up of networks of trading partners, often spread across the globe and are dependent on the efficient exchange of information for the smooth flow of goods.

Without clear visibility of supply chain activities and progress a company can waste valuable time, money and resources getting at the information it needs to make important decisions that keep its business trading. Cloud technology can meet the real-time information sharing needs of a company’s supply chain, having a positive impact on its financial health.

Today’s online consumers have the expectation that they will be able to access information on the progress of their purchase from whichever device they choose. This isn’t easy information for companies grappling with the movement of goods through the supply chain to provide. Neither is ensuring adequate stocks are available to fulfill customer orders.

Financial planning

Visibility across the supply chain helps financial planning as it provides a full picture of how production is progressing, how many orders are in the pipeline and how much stock is moving through the system. Intelligent analysis of this essential business information supports decisions that impact capital and cash flow.

Without the right technology supporting supply chain processes businesses may have poor visibility into where goods are, and will therefore find taking action to optimise their inventory difficult. Businesses stand to lose custom if they can’t meet customer demand for information on the progress of their purchases and if they can’t optimise inventory to ensure the right level of stock is in the right retail outlets.

They also shouldn’t under-estimate the opportunity they have to engage with customers if they can delight them with immediate and accurate information on the status of their purchase.

Good supply chain visibility can therefore deliver positive financial benefits to businesses, especially those with high value or perishable product lines. To get inventory management right, businesses need to embrace technology that gives them business intelligence and analytics.

Businesses connecting their trading partners and suppliers through cloud technology are able to get at the information they need, when they need it. What’s more, all participants in the supply chain are able to share information dynamically for the smoother running of operations.

Bottom line

Day-to-day cost benefits to the bottom line also result from end-to-end visibility in the supply chain. Companies can take advantage of transportation routes that provide the best value for money and consolidate shipments to be cost-effective. These cost benefits can go to profitability or underpin price reductions for customers, helping businesses to compete.

Invoicing and payments also benefit from processes supported by cloud technology solutions. With better visibility into supply chain activities it is simpler and easier for departments to match invoices to activities and to manage capital as an integral part of operations.  Removing the reliance on paper documents for things like order confirmations and product and delivery status notices eases the pain of manual-heavy processes that are cumbersome and error-prone.

When it comes to transitioning from traditional supply chain management systems to a cloud-based solution, the financial benefit is clear. By its very nature cloud isn’t dependent on infrastructure investment, minimising the impact on capital.

Cloud computing helps remedy many of the complexities involved in the smooth operations of a global supply chain by providing a deeper level of visibility into in-transit goods, real-time information sharing across the many dispersed parties along the chain and facilitating more adoption of automation, among other benefits. These things alone ease many of the main challenges of supply chain collaboration and execution, making for more streamlined and cost effective operations.