What Your SCM Data Can Do for You

The U.S. logistics industry costs over one trillion dollars each year, and taking up about 7% of the GDP for the country, it brings in more than the GDP for the entire country of Mexico. With the ability to influence many other sectors of industry, it is important for each business to maintain a smooth and efficient transfer of goods both around the country and around the world. To maximize your output and get the most from your operations, managing your data is the start of a solid supply chain strategy. Fortunately, digital advancements with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)  have made it remarkably easy to stay on top of your supply chain data and information.

Standardize the Process

Your strategy will depend heavily on how standardized your processes are. Adding an ERP system that can integrate a supply chain management feature will save you time and money, but it will increase your efficiency. Employees will have access to the same tools and resources needed to make decisions and enter information. Using a standard process across the levels of your organization minimizes miscommunication and operations that aren’t working towards a common company goal.

Automate Purchasing

With an ERP system, you can monitor your inventory levels at the push of a button. Access to real-time information about what materials or products you have on hand is beneficial for purchasing accuracy and order fulfillment. The software can track and correlate the data between supply and demand, automatically making a purchase when levels fall below a certain threshold. This preemptive assessment of needs vs products allows your employees to more efficiently close contracts and concentrate on other areas of operations. Inventory management is often crucial to limiting waste, preventing fraud or theft and avoiding mistakes with calculations. The only way the software can provide accurate reporting to make sure the physical inventory count has been meticulously maintained. Internal transparency with supply management is what keeps the data accurate, preventing financial loss.

View Data Insight

Having access to real-time reporting makes it much easier to keep tabs on the different areas of your operations. From order processing to fulfillment and delivery, your software should be able to track a GLN number and information about product exchanges. Accurate and timely data access is crucial to decision-making, and any hiccup in the process could sabotage your efficiency. Reporting can be tailored to just inventory, purchasing or production, depending on the nature of your company’s operations. However, there is no denying the need for access to accurate data.

Evaluate Vendor Performance

Your company could be losing profit through your active vendor contracts. While most vendors would notify you of a rate increase, you won’t be able to know how well a vendor is meeting your needs without an analysis of various metrics. With an ERP system, you can evaluate their cycle times and review their error rates. You can look at on-time delivery services, quality assurance issues or how many accidents have been reported. These are valuable pieces of information that can influence price negotiations.

Manage Your Costs

The most important data in supply chain management is the financials. There are many things you can’t control when it comes to the industry, and it can be difficult to foresee or assess the costs of different spots in the supply chain. When you are able to establish a centralized system that can track the expenses along different data points, you can save your company thousands of dollars. You know where your company is having to spend money and when it happens. Armed with this information, you can more accurately streamline your processes and find ways to consolidate expenses.

The size of the company matters little when it comes to the overwhelming need to monitor and analyze the data of your business operations. However, in supply chain management, data management is crucial to cost-efficiency and the accuracy of order fulfillment. The right ERP system can help management areas of accounting, inventory, reporting and tracking all with just a few clicks.