2022 has been a perplexing year for business so far. Between high inflation, interest rate hikes, and global uncertainty still shaking out from the pandemic, no one quite predicted we’d also be seeing such a high rate of demand at this time, meaning that supply chains are still catching up to meet customer demand.
Leaders in supply chain are cautious to believe that our current rate of demand will hold out and expect to see volatile changes as the year continues. Now more than ever, logistics providers are relying upon supply chain IT solutions to predict the market before making business decisions because of it. How can we help you do the same? We’d love to tell you.
Simplify Decision-Making
Having the capability to see your shipments is great, but it isn’t the only factor that keeps your business running. Your business needs to be able to track inventory, manufacturing lead times, demand forecasting, and more to ensure there’s product on hand when customers are ready for purchase. All of these endeavors take time, and there’s a good chance your business needs more of it. Having a supply chain with a dynamic transparency delivery platform is necessary to give your team access to the information they need that will help make decisions on when to push ahead and how to pivot as needed quickly and confidently.
Reduce Human Error
The ultimate in supply chain technology innovation is the increasing nuance that can be built into supply chain automation in 2022. In the past, it was possible to set automatic reorder points based upon good inventory management techniques like a static safety stock threshold calculated by a team of humans. But now, inventory management systems have the capability to track manufacturing lead times, customer demand forecasting, and inventory levels to automatically reorder when all of these data points align rather than waiting for a standardized inventory level to trigger a reorder.
Provide Up-to-the-Moment Data
A few years ago, having a supply chain equipped with end-to-end transparency as each product passes through travel checkpoints called nodes was the bleeding edge of supply chain technology. Access to updates on every package’s location every two to twelve hours as they move closer to the final destination was unheard of. Now, every online shopper is used to this phenomenon. And, in fact, for particularly important shipments it has grown too infrequent for updates. Enter supply chain GPS technology. Much like how an Amazon Tile can track your keys, you can now have a GPS locator added to important shipments to see where it is at any moment.
Cut Costs
Humans are expensive. Investing in technology for your supply chain is naturally going to cut costs because even if it costs $75,000 to implement, that’s less than the cost of one employee for a single year. And having dynamic technology to help with unpredictable demand forecasting can create more opportunities for revenue as well. But most of all, working with a 3PL provider means pooling your resources with many other businesses to bring all of these opportunities to yours at a fraction of the price.
We’re tired of living in these unprecedented times, but it doesn’t seem like we can expect this year to follow the patterns of years past. That’s why we’re utilizing every technological tool logistics has to offer for us and our clients. Reach out to our team if you’d like to learn more about how supply chain technology can help stabilize your business.