Warehousing and Distribution
Article | July 11, 2023
Carrier management systems have undergone much evolution thanks to the exponential development in shipping and logistics technology. Although its primary mission was to assign, control, and track shippers and carriers, the industry's post-pandemic trends have reflected a variety of new best practices.
Traditionally, many carrier management systems were manually operated and made extensive use of paper processes that didn’t provide perks like real-time data, reporting functionalities, or the visibility to make informed decisions. Today’s carrier management systems comprise these features and go even further. They offer tangible improvements and advantages that impact the bottom line. Here are three things you should look for in a carrier management solution to make sure your digital transformation goes as well as possible.
Support for a Diverse Range of Carriers
To effectively manage your carriers, it’s essential to be able to keep up with technologies used by everything from small to large carriers. The ability to support modern technologies and EDI that are routinely used by larger carriers while also offering online portals and mobile-readiness is integral. A platform that supports a diverse range of carrier sizes helps streamline processes and eliminate friction between operational groups. It also offers all carriers on the system the ability to stay in the loop and access the same data for load and freight boards to keep the freight moving.
Performance Mapping Capabilities
The ability to track performance and keep an eye on crucial metrics is an important consideration for a carrier management system. Real-time data bolsters carrier relationships and equips you with the ability to control and manage factors like load capacity, location of your fuel and fleet, and intimate teams on issues like inventory, sourcing, forecasting, and dispatching in real-time. Not only does this positively impact shippers, but carriers as well. With an overview into their own performance, carriers are empowered to course-correct and respond to sudden hurdles in time. Shippers must be able to get access to the following metrics in order to have the upper hand in rate negotiations with carriers:
On-time performance
Data accuracy
Compliance
Status update timelines
Collaboration-Friendly Platforms
A flexible solution that allows shippers to work collaboratively ensures strategic flexibility. Monitoring the performance across different modes including truckload, intermodal, and LTL as well as parcel consolidators and shippers. Today, carrier management systems and other digital solutions are able to integrate these modes and offer superior capabilities when it comes to receiving updates from all modes in real-time. When combined with cloud-based solutions, carrier management can take efficiency to a whole new level.
To Conclude
The success of your supply chain and company depends on your partnerships with your carriers, which can also have a significant impact on your ROI, particularly as the market continues to transform further towards third party partnerships. In order to foster carrier performance, carrier management should be a significant part of your strategy.
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Management
Article | June 21, 2023
Introduction
From warehouse robots to delivery drones, the supply chain is experiencing a tremendous upheaval. AI promises a totally autonomous and self-organized future supply chain. A fleet of vehicles utilizing a swarm algorithm can enhance cargo yard throughput; a trusted peer-to-peer ledger on blockchain architecture could change compliance in the sector; and wearables, mobile robotics, and machine learning technologies could speed up order fulfilment. IOT e-brokerage solutions can link shops to couriers and transporters with a click. Tomorrow's supply chain will be leaner, quicker, and self-organized. A few innovative technologies will fuel this unparalleled rate of change over the next 15 years. Here are the major technologies that are shaping the future of the logistics industry.
Logistics Technologies for the Future
Shipment Tracking Systems
Previously, customers ordered shipments, had an anticipated arrival date, and then were kept in the dark until they chose to call. Customers can now access shipping and tracking systems around-the-clock due to developments in the internet and software. This not only enhances the customer experience (cx), but it also saves the business time and money.
Internet of Things (IoT)
The IoT reduces costs and delays by minimizing hazards in the supply chain. Cabs, cargo ships, trains, etc., have sensors that link to an alarm system or dispatcher. These sensors analyze and communicate information to the crew, who learns about hidden threats. IoT isn't a new technology, but it continues to influence logistics by improving in-transit visibility and delivery.
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
RFID technology has been used for a few years to monitor inventories labor-efficiently. A product tag or sensor produces radio waves. The company processes the data. RFID tags are similar to barcodes, but their faster information transport and data processing appeal to companies and the direction of technology. Many organizations use RFID tags to track containers in warehouses.
Enhanced GPS Accuracy
Almost everyone utilizes GPS on their vehicles or smartphones. These devices' accuracy has improved over time, assisting lost drivers and enhancing the supply chain. By monitoring truck locations and boosting hauls with current traffic data, GPS increases efficiency and customer satisfaction.
Closing Lines
Unprecedented times have produced unprecedented transformations that will last for generations. Changing demographics, technology improvements, and COVID-19 impacts are altering global supply networks. We must understand the driving factors and act on what we learn to adapt and rise to the situation. For the sake of our current workforce and future generations.
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Supply Chain
Article | August 17, 2023
Enhance operational efficiency by implementing industry-approved methods for multi-channel inventory management. Taking a holistic approach to control inventory helps multiple sales channels grow.
Multi-channel inventory management is a crucial aspect of the supply chain process that ensures the goods are available to customers through different sales channels. However, with growing penetration of ecommerce technologies and the increasing complexity of supply chain networks, managing inventory across multiple channels has become daunting for businesses. The ability to accurately track inventory levels, ensure stock availability across channels, and optimize fulfillment processes has become critical to achieve success in today's competitive business landscape.
Managing inventory across multiple channels require real-time visibility and tracking of inventory levels which further streamlines the complex process. Inaccurate inventory data can lead to stockouts, overstocking, and lost sales, negatively impacting the business's bottom line. To combat these challenges, businesses must implement a robust multi-channel inventory management system to track inventory across all channels, synchronize stock levels, and automate order fulfillment processes.
An inventory management system can offer businesses a consolidated view of inventory at various locations, such as warehouses, stores, and even online channels. An organized approach is crucial while managing multi-channel inventory or keeping track of moving inventory. Implementing an effective inventory management procedure, managing multi-channel inventory becomes more streamlined and simplified, as well as provides a comprehensive overview.
In addition, as businesses continue to expand their sales channels, multi-channel inventory management has become a vital component of supply chain management. By adopting best practices in multi-channel inventory management, businesses can ensure on-demand access, accurate inventory data, and seamless order fulfilment processes. Additionally, implementing the right procedures will allow organizations to observe an increase in customer satisfaction and experience significant business growth.
The article takes an in-depth look at key benefits, potential challenges, procedural considerations, and the significance of multi-channel inventory management. It delves into the impact of this approach on supply chain performance while providing valuable insights into best practices.
1. Centralize Inventory Management Process
Centralizing multi-channel inventory helps manage supply chain businesses across various channels and locations. Businesses can gain better visibility and control over their inventory processes by consolidating inventory data. However, centralizing inventory management is not without its challenges. One of the major obstacles faced by organizations is ensuring the accuracy and consistency of data across different locations and channels.
Another barrier is integrating various inventory management tools and technologies into a single system. Despite these challenges, centralizing inventory management offers significant benefits, including improved efficiency and reduced costs. In addition, businesses can leverage cloud-based inventory management software and standard operating procedures to centralize and optimize inventory management processes effectively.
2. Adopt Lean Inventory Management Approach
The lean inventory management approach is adequate for managing multi-channel inventory in supply chain businesses. This approach involves reducing excess inventory and only stocking items in demand. While implementation of the approach is complex due to the need for accurate demand forecasting and inventory tracking, it offers multiple advantages, such as reduced inventory carrying costs, improved cash flow, and increased customer satisfaction. To implement a lean inventory management approach in the supply chain business, follow these steps:
Conduct inventory analysis
Categorize items based on value and demand
Implement just-in-time (JIT) replenishment
Leverage forecasting tools
Establish cycle counting and monitoring procedures
Strive for continuous process improvement
This approach helps businesses achieve better inventory accuracy, increase operational agility, and meet customer demands across multiple channels.
3. Utilize ABC Inventory Analysis
ABC inventory analysis is a widely used best practice for multi-channel inventory management in the supply chain. This method categorizes inventory based on its level of importance to the business. ABC inventory analysis categorizes goods into A, B, and C categories based on their impact on overall inventory cost. Category A consists of the most valuable products, category B includes items that fall in between, and category C covers small transactions that are vital for overall profit but have less individual impact. Supply chain businesses can prioritize their resources and make informed decisions by focusing on high-value inventory.
However, implementing this method can be challenging, especially when dealing with extensive inventory data. To successfully address challenges associated with implementing ABC inventory analysis for multi-channel inventory management, businesses must focus on accurate data classification, utilization of advanced analytics tools, and fostering effective team collaboration.
4. Optimize Order Management Process
Optimizing order management involves automating and streamlining order fulfilment for efficient and accurate processing across sales channels. The process ensures optimal inventory control, minimizes fulfilment time, and enhances customer satisfaction, providing a competitive advantage. Aligning inventory levels with actual demand prevents overstocking and reduces holding costs. Additionally, businesses can efficiently allocate inventory from various sources to fulfil orders, reducing the need for excess storage and transportation. The optimization is achieved by adopting automation, system integration, and data analysis. In addition, comprehensive multi-channel order management system offers multiple benefits, including native e-commerce integrations, flexible order fulfilment options, multi-location inventory management, integrated POS capabilities, data-driven inventory planning, and workflow automation, among others.
5. Integrate Sales Channels
Integrating sales channels provides businesses with a unified view of inventory, sales, and customer data, enabling informed decision-making based on real-time information. It helps accurately track products across channels as well as adjust inventory levels based on individual selling rates. The process involves synchronizing channels through a centralized system, ensuring seamless data flow and consistent product information. It includes setting up API integrations, mapping inventory, and conducting thorough testing for smooth order processing. To implement the integration, businesses must utilize technology solutions like inventory management software and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. Additionally, it establishes clear communication channels among teams managing different sales channels.
6. Set Cross-Channel Metrics
Cross-channel metrics measure and analyze each sales channel's performance, including online & offline sales, and identify areas for improvement. To set cross-channel metrics for multi-channel inventory, businesses must identify relevant metrics, establish benchmarks, and regularly monitor and evaluate performance. Implementing cross-channel metrics allows businesses to make data-driven decisions based on actual performance rather than relying on assumptions or incomplete data. In addition, supply chain businesses can leverage technology solutions, such as cloud-based inventory management software, to manage and consolidate their data sources effectively. Enforcing cross-channel metrics in multi-channel inventory management helps overcome several challenges, such as lack of visibility across sales channels, difficulty in identifying slow-moving products, and inefficiencies in resource allocation.
7. Automate Supply chain
Automating the supply chain and implementing advanced software systems helps businesses to optimize supply chain processes. Automation reduces manual errors, enhances efficiency, and improves overall productivity. It enables real-time inventory tracking, seamless order processing, and accurate demand forecasting. Businesses can easily overcome manual inefficiencies, bottlenecks, and data discrepancies by automating the supply chain process. The process includes integration of automation tools like inventory management software, order management systems, and warehouse management systems. The systems integrate with sales channels, suppliers, and logistics partners to automate order processing, inventory tracking, and shipment management tasks. Ultimately, businesses achieve better inventory control, faster order fulfilment, and increased customer satisfaction by automating supply chain operations.
Final Thoughts
As the supply chain market evolves, businesses must adopt innovative approaches for multi-channel inventory management. Incorporating additional sales channels into conventional brick-and-mortar operations presents a valuable opportunity to expand customer reach, boost sales, and enhance the overall customer experience. To effectively implement multi-channel sales and inventory management within a retail organization, acquiring a robust retail management system capable of efficiently monitoring inventory levels and facilitating business growth becomes essential. The adoption of an effective system can assist businesses to ensure seamless inventory control and propel sustained success in the competitive market.
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Supply Chain
Article | November 11, 2022
The complexity of today’s supply chain has resulted in a highly fragmented supply chain ecosystem. Whether it is a global pandemic or an ongoing war, streamlining the moving parts in the supply chain management system is an immense feat in the current climate. The resulting shortage of materials, disruption of transportation, and delays have complicated the supply chain even further. Add to it the expectation to minimize expenses, optimize inventory, and enable quality and customer expectations, and stakeholders at every level of the supply chain are inundated with challenges.
This is where using advanced analytics in supply chain can be a game changer for many manufacturers. It can help them gain a deeper insight into their operations and how the supply chain is moving.
How Supply Chain Analytics Enriches Supply Chain Management
A 360-degree view of the supply chain is crucial for supply chain leaders. A lack of insight can cause costly delays and avoidable disruptions. Obtaining complete visibility in supply chain management, on the other hand, can be difficult. The immense volume of data that many organizations have to deal with makes it difficult to gain proper insight.
Supply chain analytics tools help in gaining a better sense of the aggregated data from different parts of the supply chain, such as procurement, ERP in supply chain management, warehousing management, shipping and logistics management, and many more. The more accurate the data is, the simpler it is to use advanced supply chain management analytics to forecast, predict, and plan better in order to maximize the supply chain’s capabilities.
Optimizing the Supply Chain: 3 Ways to Do so with Analytics
With the range of analytics applications in supply chain in use today, manufacturers have the opportunity to completely transform how to view, manage and strategize. Here are five data analytics supply chain tools to consider in the pursuit of optimization.
Demand Forecasting
Inventory management is at the heart of supply chain optimization. Not calibrating the inventory stock based on demand and supply for bestselling products and those that don’t move fast can cause either an overstocking or understocking problem. Either way, forecasting the right balance is difficult to achieve, but data analytics can make it simpler. The lack of the right products in stock can heavily impact the bottom line. According to a survey by Logility, 36% of supply chain experts consider inventory optimization the primary reason for adopting analytics. An integrated mapping of retail sales, inventory levels, and the flow of goods will lead to accurate demand forecasting.
This data can empower organizations to:
Strategize sales promotions
Define product pricing
Maximize budgets
Predict accurate inventory levels
Inventory management has a cascading effect on the supply chain, and advanced demand forecasting has helped many organizations achieve an optimum level of inventory for the right products.
Predictive Warehousing Maintenance
Machine Learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT) have been emerging technologies on the supply chain management landscape. By using a mix of these technologies, it is possible for manufacturers to deploy predictive maintenance in warehousing. Predictive maintenance is the process of assessing data generated from the past and in real-time to determine patterns and identify equipment failure and maintenance schedule before a breakdown occurs.
This helps manufacturers to:
Avoid heavy repair costs
Plan spare part supply
Slash downtime from equipment failure
Eliminate production delays
In addition to reducing production bottlenecks, predictive maintenance gives businesses the ability to manage their equipment and optimize their shelf-life.
Warehousing Efficiency
At the warehouse phase of the supply chain, analytics can help manage the supply chain in more than just one way. The warehouse workflow is just as crucial, as it facilitates a clear view of the condition of goods as well as the optimization of the warehouse space. In addition to warehouse space maximization, quality control is another challenge that warehousing management addresses.
Supply chain analytics can enhance warehousing efficiency by:
Ensuring the correct storage of goods based on their weight, fragility, and perishability
Aligning with resource management like equipment, vehicles
Identifying disruptions to storage before they occur
One of the advantages of supply chain analytics is getting a deep insight into the warehouse’s operation so manufacturers can identify gaps and take steps to make it more efficient.
Transportation Tracking
Real-time analytics of transportation and logistics is a crucial piece in the puzzle of supply chain management. For example, the data generated in relation to fuel consumption, weather conditions, and even traffic patterns can help organizations boost their logistics and carrier management.
It can help them to:
Schedule deliveries
Determine better routes
Evaluate current routes
Strategize their shipping schedule
To Wrap it Up
To put it simply, a deep insight into the supply chain, inventory management, and warehouse operations is a great way to ensure the supply chain is on track. Effective supply chain management software is an asset for an organization when it is able to leverage the insights and make well-informed strategies to further optimize the supply chain.
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