There is no industry that was not shaken by the pandemic. From education to healthcare, the vulnerabilities and risks of all industries were exposed, with examples like temporary trade restrictions and shortages of pharmaceuticals, critical medical supplies, and other products. The weaknesses of production strategies and supply chains of nearly all industries were highlighted.
When consumers wanted products urgently, companies could hardly fulfill orders. This did not point to the importance of supply chains but to the fact that most companies weren’t set to handle interconnectivity in such adversely impacted environments.
This is why, it is very important that you understand the importance of adopting digital supply chain solutions, regardless of the industry, especially post the pandemic era.
Key Points –
– Recognize the shift: Whether it’s in your consumer’s behavior, business operations & technologies, ecosystems, or workforce, you need to be sure about what’s changing.
– Evaluate your readiness: When times are changing, you don’t want to be stuck in a situation where you don’t understand what to do. This is why make sure you keep evaluating your team and processes to ensure agility.
– Sustainability and Growth: All leaders must push their organizations to thrive towards sustainability and growth.
The Expectation of SCM to Evolve
During COVID-19, essential commodities were more in demand than the others, but we’re soon going to touch back to normal, meaning a time when demand for all products will probably rise. And even if doesn’t, you’ll definitely want to make sure that you’re prepared for all kinds of demands with precise forecasts and plans.
Procurement and Manufacturing
You will definitely not want to rely on a limited set of suppliers or single geography for your procurement needs. Similarly, manufacturers will continue to expect sudden spikes in supply and demand where they’ll need real-time insights into inventory levels and outputs across their plants in order to deal with changes in cost-effective manners.
Shipment and Logistics
Tracking shipments digitally will become even more important because a single shipment is bound to produce over 200 communication documents. And that is a problem because documentation alone makes up 1/5th of the total cost of transportation. Improved predictability around the delivery of products is also possible with IoT which is going to be the prime focus for many logistic companies.
Distribution and Retail
Sensing demand is not only a problem for manufacturers but also distribution warehouses and retail stores. That’s right, no one wants a situation for stock-outs or excessive inventory. So, to improve visibility, blockchain networks could be preferred. Similarly, real-time updates of purchases can be captured by integrating network nodes with POS and online systems of participating stakeholders to ensure that demand variations can be anticipated faster and accurately.
But, while the attention to adopt digital supply chain solutions quickly seems so important, the more relevant catch is to assess how you can optimize this shift to attain interconnectivity in your operations. This is what will truly lead you to achieve a greater value for your business. And that’s where Supplymint helps you..
Conclusion: Digitizing supply chain management demonstrates the power of interconnectivity and digital supply networks that enable organizations to anticipate, sense, and respond to unexpected changes in a precedented manner.
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