Today more than ever, supply chains compete with each other and not companies per se. This is terribly true in these times when many production chains are struggling to stay competitive or even just make the right products available when they are requested by customers.
At the same time, driven by the Covid-19 epidemic, a difficulty that many companies face emerges even more: the lack of visibility into the supply chain.
This shortage could finally be solved by companies thanks to the existence of advanced solutions on the market and the stress deriving from the terrible coronavirus epidemic.
Gaps in visibility lead to chasms in capacity
Right now the visibility issue is crucial because supply chain managers are having difficulty managing goods.
Transport routes have seen a decrease in capacity, air transport costs have skyrocketed and more generally the markets are different than a few months ago, as well as the workforce decreased due to illness, layoffs or teleworking.
This means that many companies are struggling to acquire enough goods to meet sudden spikes in demand, particularly in more frenetic markets such as groceries and medical devices. In these cases, companies may find themselves in the situation of having skyrocketing demand but without the products to sell to be able to maximize profit, an unpleasant situation in which poor visibility causes a lack of agility and loss of profits.
On the other hand, companies that are experiencing a decline in demand due to the pandemic, coupled with the uncertainty of demand, add the poor internal visibility of what to buy and when, what to produce first. These second companies are experiencing a period of sudden change in the market, driving production by sight, causing high waste in a period where waste must be reduced to a minimum and there is a very strong need for adaptation and resilience.
Why are there visibility issues?
Supply chains have made considerable progress in recent years in terms of visibility into demand, suppliers and inventories, but this does not necessarily translate into a single vision.
In a rapidly changing world, only those who are able to adapt to the same speed of change are able to maintain and improve their competitiveness. Spending many hours of manual work and many days to carry out onerous checks on numerous Excel spreadsheets that produce results of dubious reliability prevents companies from being competitive in today’s market.
In the recent past, the main barrier to flexibility and speed has been technological, therefore caused by the tools used in planning to schedule and schedule production. To this must be added that technological barriers were still accompanied by obstacles in terms of resistance to change by people, which today is difficult to defend given the stakes.
Building the foundations for transparent productions
To create a more transparent and effective system, it is necessary to have full control of the operations in production and the related data. They may seem obvious aspects but it is the fundamental core of planning and it is often at this level that the success of projects is determined.
Having good process rules in data management is essential to be able to take advantage of visibility tools and allow them to function properly, especially in a scenario like the one we are currently in.
Increased attention to visibility and data will bring innovation and improvements on many fronts. If the first step is to have management systems with accurate data, the acquisition and centralization of data will open many opportunities at the forecasting level. Having all this information in one place and being equipped with specific tools means being able to make decisions based on reliable data and making a leap forward in terms of predictability and accuracy (source).
Gain visibility into your supply chain
Today you can gain visibility into your production department and future scenarios thanks to a tool that works in continuous dialogue with the management system already present in the company. A tool that allows the planning department to dialogue with the purchasing and sales department by sharing information and production plans. A solution that allows you to carry out what-if analyses and simulations of future scenarios. Today, even more than usual, it is time to act and strengthen your company with tools that increase its competitiveness.
Make the best decisions based on easy-to-read, easily-created scenarios based on secure data and processes. Equip your business with a powerful, remotely usable tool that gives your business visibility into what’s happening to the supply chain, from suppliers to delivery to the customer.
Contact our experts for more information.
