This is not your grandfather’s supply chain management system. Today’s industries compete in a fast-paced, fiercely competitive society. The successful business is the one that has added efficient and agile logistic management to its mobile supply chain processes.
Moving your product from Point A to Point B is an inevitable race against time, and against other vendors. How quickly and efficiently you’re able to compete in this race will—in large part—determine your company’s ability to meet the requirements of the customers and corporations who do business with you. And that, of course, will determine the solidity of your bottom line. There are many practical reasons for adding a mobile component to your supply chain. Here are four of the most important ones.
Improved Customer Service
The use of a mobile device will help you monitor your technician’s commute, and it helps your customers to more efficiently plan their schedules. There are few things more irritating to a customer than to take time off of work to wait for a package that arrives late or even worse…doesn’t show up at all. Your competitors are already delivering speed, accuracy and transparency. To stay competitive, you’ll also need complete visibility, and the ability to track deliveries in every phase of transit and document deliveries in real time.
Accurate Service and Warranty Assessments
The use of a mobile device, during a service call, will assist the technician in more accurately recording time and materials. When information related to inventory usage is documented during the service call, there is less time between completing the job and the generating of invoices for services rendered. Also, the technician is more apt to remember the parts used, so warranty costs and service invoices will be more precise. This, of course, translates into faster payments. And, when the customer signs off on the job on site, it eliminates disputes over billable hours or goods.
More Successful Service Calls
The use of GPS in service vehicles helps the driver to map out the best route, and avoid costly delays due to poor traffic conditions and detours. The success of the service call is greatly improved when the technicians are sent out with full knowledge of the availability of inventory, the exact delivery destination, and the urgency of the service call in mind. Drivers being dispatched, as needed and in real time, results in greater customer satisfaction because of quicker response to emergency service calls.
Managing Reusable Containers
Recycling reusable containers and packing materials will help you protect the environment, and run a business that is greener, more efficient, and more cost effective. With mobile devices, you’re able to track the location and condition of recyclable materials—which allows for more efficient replacement cycles. Efficient management of recyclable containers is easier on the environment and a boost to your bottom line.
John J. Coyle, of the Center for Supply Chain Research, defines logistics as “getting the right product, to the right customer, in the right quantity, in the right condition, at the right place, at the right time, and at the right cost (the 7 Rs).” Customer satisfaction is determined by how quickly and how well you’re able to satisfy that demand. Mobilizing your supply chain management system is a vital component in reaching this goal. For tips and advice on creating a seamless mobile supply chain management system, contact the professionals JIT Services. We’ll help you get your supply chain moving in the right direction.