Supply chain is the circulatory system of any kind of business. It is the process by which time, labor and materials are transformed into a finished and market-ready product. It is complex, but when properly strategized and operated, it can result in lower costs and a faster production cycle.
A list of interview questions to help you start building your dream supply chain career is provided in this video
Retail success depends on client satisfaction, so it makes sense that success in the supply chain is also closely linked to happy customers.
Here are four customer-centric supply chain secrets that will help drive sales by keeping your customers at the top of their minds.
1. Always Deliver on-time
Customers always want their products delivered on-time and easily. This is why Amazon’s announcement of a one-day delivery earlier this year was well appreciated by its customers.
Customer loyalty is founded on confidence. One missed delivery can undermine that trust and cost you a good customer. customers than to retain existing ones. But, it is much more expensive to gain new customers than to retain existing ones.
In order to build and maintain trust and encourage repeat business, it is vital to fulfil that promise and the expectations you have set with your clients when it comes to your delivery promise.
Here are five ways businesses maximize on-time delivery and reliably meet their customers’ delivery promises:
1. Diversity in delivery options
2. Proactive order management and recovery
3. Capacity forecast sharing with carriers
4. Carrier allocation management
5. Online appointment scheduling
2. Using technology to increase visibility and track inventory
In order to automate warehouse operations and ultimately fulfil today’s customer needs, technology is necessary. Beyond automation, warehouse management systems (WMS) have advantages.
A WMS speeds up procedures and makes a warehouse less vulnerable to mistakes, but it also provides greater insight into the management of the facility. And the secret to customer loyalty is increasing visibility across the supply chain.
The time between placing an order online and receiving the delivery was a black box for customers many years ago. Now, to give visibility into order status, it’s close table stakes. Coupled with the WMS, order tracking systems establish clarity and enhance customer loyalty and provide companies with key data.
3. Increase the speed of distribution with on-demand fulfilment
On-demand fulfilment helps companies add to and scale their distribution networks, whether it is for peak seasons, temporary promotions, entering a new market, or ongoing operations. In doing so, delivery centres are closer to end consumers, reducing the last mile of transport and improving customer satisfaction with shorter delivery times.
4. Fulfill client demand with an agile inventory plan
Inventory management is a constant challenge, but a vital shift in how inventory is managed is motivated by today’s customers. Meeting customer requirements for quick, inexpensive distribution means getting stock closer to your end users, yes, but the results are a warehousing and fulfilment centre network that is more dispersed. And that needs more variation in how to assign inventory.
But, there isn’t a better option. It does not inspire consumer loyalty to skip the delivery dates you have promised or have out-of-stocks. Retailers are still trying to find an optimum balance between surplus inventory and out-of-stock inventory situations. Agility enables supply chain participants to work together, not based on weekly, monthly, or annual projections, to deliver the amount of product required daily.
Apple constantly focuses on innovation and making quality products using new technologies. Be it iPhone, MacBook, iPad, or Watch, Apple supplies goods that are not seasonal and have a life cycle of more than 12 months.
Let us look at some of the top 10 reasons on what makes Apple’s Supply Chain the best in the world.
Convoy is a digital freight network App started by Dan Lewis in 2015. Convoy reduces overall costs for shippers, providing asset-like reliability and performance. Convoy enhances efficiency by providing open access to real-time data insights that allow shippers to enhance their operations.
Convoy also maximizes income for carriers by keeping their trucks fully loaded on the roads and provides them with flexibility to run without much hassle.
Convoy has helped to eliminate 72 Million Metric Tons of Carbon Emissions. Prior to starting Convoy, Lewis used to work for Amazon, Google and Microsoft.
Convoy’s CEO and Co-founder Dan Lewis says “I’d had some really bad ideas”. “This one, every time I shared it with someone from the industry, they were excited about it and felt like it was necessary.”
Lewis used to visit shippers and truck stops in order to learn about the industry and to generate feedback on Convoy’s business plan. He remembered going to the shipper’s office for the first time, so anxious that all he could do was ask to use the toilet.
But Lewis noticed the industry needs lot of changes when he spoke with drivers and shippers about his ideas. And this is how He perfected Convoy in to becoming a great App as we see it today.
But within 4 years, Convoy is one of Washington’s top unicorns, valued at more than $1 billion. Convoy is funded by high-profile investors such as Jeff Bezos, Reid Hoffman, Bill Gates and U2’s Bono. Convoy’s competitors are C.H. Robinson, the largest freight broker in USA.
Convoy also competes with Uber Freight, a relatively new entrant in the market.
Convoy claims that its latest milestone in automated pricing will help it work more effectively and will result in lower prices for shippers and trucks for carriers. The technical breakthrough comes just one month after Convoy ‘s new $400 million funding round at a valuation of $2.7 billion.
“We’ve been working for the past four years on improving our pricing models. And as we’ve been building more and more density we have more and more data for us to train our models” said Ziad Ismail, Chief Product Officer of Convoy. “We’ve also gotten more drivers to use our app. The combination of those two things have led us to 100-percent automated pricing in Convoy’s top markets.”
By using Convoy, Truckers gain more as they have more loading options, better routes, and less “empty mile” journeys. Convoy aims to maximize capacity and minimize costs for shippers with more truckers on its platform. Automated brokering provides added advantages to both sides of the marketplace.
Convoy has become the most powerful digital freight network App, using machine learning and automation to link shippers and carriers to transfer millions of truckloads, saving shipper money, growing carrier earnings, and reducing carbon waste as well.
Every aspect of industry, including supply chains, has been affected by COVID-19. Supply chain financing will assist companies struggling to meet their payments during this unpredictable phase.
Many companies have undergone a dramatic disruption in cash flow, still recovering from the impact of this Great Recession. When goods and materials remained idle in shipping containers or warehouses, payments became unpredictable.
Matt Lekstutis, global practice leader of supply chain at Tata Consultancy Services says “Supply chain finance can bring stability and flexibility to these supply chains by bringing the lowest cost of capital to where it is needed most in the supply chain to shift focus from survival to improving efficiency, innovation and investment in new products”.
Finance in the supply chain allows consumers and manufacturers to get more consistency in their payments. Sebastiaan Wissink, a consultant at the Dutch consultancy firm Capital Chains, said that buyers and suppliers need liquidity in the supply chain, particularly now.
What is meant by supply chain finance?
The aim of supply chain finance is to minimize costs for both the buyer and the seller. Usually, it needs a cloud-based platform that both the consumer and supplier have access to.
The video given below explains in detail on what are the four benefits of Supply Chain Finance.
