Supply Chain Consulting
Is your Supply Chain agile?
Requirements of a robust supply chain
Supply Flexibilities
While it is good to forge long-term business relationships with compatible and supporting entities in the value chain, over-reliance on any one particular supplier or vendor or service provider is not a safe practice for any organisation in the long run. It is important for businesses to check the performance and capabilities of suppliers from time to time on the parameters of past, present, and possible future challenges or shocks in the supply chain. What businesses can do here is adopt and implement a well-planned supplier selection process, seek to work with more than one qualified supplier as per strategic business relevance, and conduct periodic audits on their supply chain.
Logistics Options
Logistics is a part of supply chains and deals with inventory transportation-related affairs. If logistics get stuck, the supply chain gets stuck. And logistics could come to a halt or become less effective or call for a major overhaul for many possible reasons. It could be bad weather, union strikes, regulatory factors, consumer behaviour, etc. The goal is to reduce the risk of exposure to these risks when formulating logistics strategies. Businesses should see that in the event of any possible disruption, alternative logistical solutions could be brought into action.
Storage Capabilities
The success of logistics also depends on the storage capabilities of a business enterprise. Whether the storage facilities are owned or hired, their performance is vital to support strong logistics. For example, if the required storage capacities are not well-anticipated, there is nothing the logistics or purchase department could do in the face of space unavailability in warehouses and fulfilment hubs. For a supply chain to work and aid business, planning and decisions related to storage capabilities like location, volume, variety, safety, and security becomes vital element.
Automation & Digitisation
The use of automation and digitisation tools and technologies in supply chain management aids businesses in multiple ways. It helps them redirect manpower involvement from tedious and repetitive tasks towards more relevant functions. Optimising manual involvement via automation and digitisation also reduces the exposure to mistakes, errors, and omissions.
Transparency and easy access to process information are critical in supply chains. This involves significant efforts in the form of communication and connectivity from all concerned supply chain teams and external entities. Digitisation and automation of supply chain processes make this task easier. Every bit of data and information fed into the system from all corners becomes a part of the ERP or any software ecosystem. This way the required information becomes available to all concerned process owners in almost real-time. Another benefit of digitisation of supply chain processes is the availability of business data for use in analytics.
Process Standardisation
Process standardisation is the practice of maintaining the same operational procedures for the same processes across all places of business operations. For example, two warehouses/hubs cannot maintain different QC checks and standards for the same product. There may be exceptions sometimes but as a rule, processes must not drastically vary within the same ecosystem.
Process standardisation in supply chains grants consistency and uniformity to how inventory and inventory-related data are handled within an enterprise. Some of the benefits of this are pointed out below.
- Adherence to a company’s policies and processes
- Maintenance of QA and QC standards and measures
- Ensuring proper handling, storage, and transportation
- Optimising the need for unplanned checks and control
- Timely order fulfilment
Quality Assurance & Quality Control
Both Quality Assurance and Quality Control are integral to supply chains. In the supply chain journey, goods at every stage in the supply chain journey are subject to QA and QC filters. At least, that is the ideal scenario. Implementing the required QA and QC measures at every such juncture as required is one of the hallmarks of a strong supply chain. If a particular lot of merchandise does not meet the market/client/customer expectations in terms of quality, it is the result of the absence or poor implementation of QA and QC measures in the supply chain via which that particular lot was processed.
Defined Roles and Responsibilities
When the roles and responsibilities of both teams and individuals are clearly defined and established, everyone engaged in the supply chain knows the output and performance expected of them. When there is an established and unambiguous understanding of roles and responsibilities at all levels, teamwork and inter-departmental coordination become smooth and easier. The scope of feuds is eliminated and the focus shifts to what really matters – the work.
Why supply chain management fails? (Operational Reasons)
Mistakes in the selection of suppliers
Being associated with a supplier who does not align with business requirements is something to be avoided. There are many reasons why a supplier may not be a match for a business. It could be on the grounds of quality, logistics, financial, legal, and a host of other reasons. This makes it quintessential that the right considerations are taken into account at the time of the selection of suppliers and vendors.Absence of defined processes
One of the biggest reasons behind failing supply chains is the absence of well-defined processes for the execution of supply chain operations. Having defined processes in the form of supply chain SOPs make it easier for businesses to accurately implement their supply chain strategies. It also provides the foundation for supply chain automation and standardisation. Many businesses realise the importance of being process-oriented and having SOPs for supply chain operations when they begin considering process automation or when they see their supply chains not yielding the desired output.Misfit automation and software
Many businesses continue working with misfit automation tools or software platforms for supply chain management and leaving the corrective adjustments as the work of the concerned process owners or the job holders. If a technological product does not accurately help a business enterprise achieve its operational standards, it defeats the purpose of automation. The purpose of automation is to speed up operations, make coordination easier, enhance operational accuracy, etc. If humans have to get involved in unplanned ways, it will narrow down the other benefits offered by the use of automation.ALack of clarity in job definitions
Maintaining clarity in job definitions, roles, and responsibilities is as important in supply chain management as it is for any other business function. Failure to do so has many undesirable consequences on supply chains:- Hampered operations
- Overlapping of duties and responsibilities
- Failure of reporting mechanism
- Presence of unnecessary and avoidable meetings and discussions
- Poor process information sharing
- Missing out on timelines
- Non-adherence to QA and QC measures
Lack of Process Documentation
When processes are not well drafted or documented, there will always be ambiguity about process execution and other procedural details. This can lead to spending additional resources for getting things done. The absence of process documentation or having poorly documented processes also has several adverse consequences on supply chains.- Forgetting procedural details
- Faults or variations in process output
- Missing out on logistical and delivery timelines
- More manual supervision in the absence of any procedural guide map
- Extended working shifts, more labour costs
Lack of Process Standardisation
Having different processes for the same business activity or function proves to be chaotic for businesses. It is not comforting for employees and key partners in the supply chain to have to execute a task or deal with a company in different ways for the same task. It also affects the shopping journey of customers and the experience delivered to them. Such variations hamper the efforts of building a unified and consistent brand perception. And this happens because of poor operations planning and more specifically – the lack of process standardisation.How BPX can help
We are BPX and we specialise in business process management solutions. In supply chain consulting, we provide planning and implementation support to our clients in developing and customising their supply chain processes. The objective is to incorporate improvised business and operational requirements in the processes under consideration. We engage qualified and experienced supply chain process consultants in our projects. Here is a quick glimpse of what we do and how we do it.
Assessment of the Existing Process Capabilities
The present supply chain processes capabilities are identified, mapped, and defined. In doing so, the first objective is to optimise the need for change. The second is making it easier to spot the areas of process improvisations. The process resource requirements are detailed. Before heading for process improvisations and adjustments, it is important to assess the operational procedures in their prevailing state.
Identifying and Defining the New Process Objectives
At this stage, we define the new or improvised process objectives of the to-be processes. A thorough analysis of the strategic supply chain requirements is conducted to identify and define the new process and operational requirements and standards.
Process Gap Analysis & Development of To-Be Processes
In process gap analysis, our team carries out a detailed analysis of the deviations that exist between the present business practices and processes as against the new process objectives and requirements identified in the previous stage.
In the next step, we develop the new process maps or the to-be processes using Standard Operating processes (SOPs). The information and insights gained from process gap analysis are vital here.
Developing and implementing SOPs is one of our core competencies. We design SOPs for supply chain operations and also provide implementation support.
Automation and Digitisation Support
Here, we assist our clients in identifying and deploying best-fit supply chain automation and digitalization solutions. Here, our team of SCM consultants examines the new processes on the parameters of technology and presents the most suitable solutions for automation and digitisation. The knowledge and skill requirements to use these software/automation platforms are also described.
To know more about our supply chain management consulting services and how we can help your business with supply chain management, please visit our website and drop us a message. One of our business process consultants shall get back to you.
Warehouse Healthometer
Start Free Assessment
FAQs
- Supply Suppleness
- Logistics Options
- Storage Capabilities
- Automation & Digitisation
- Process Standardisation
- Quality Assurance & Quality Control
- Defined Roles and Responsibilities
- Mistakes in the selection of suppliers
- Absence of defined processes
- Misfit automation and software
- Lack of clarity in job definitions
- Lack of Process Documentation
- Lack of Process Standardisation