US businessman and investor Warren Buffet once famously claimed, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.” Supply chain compliance is essential for any retailer or manufacturer that wishes to avoid this considerable risk. Luckily, by collecting and analysing the right kind of data, companies can protect themselves and plan for the future.
DEALING WITH THE RIGHT SUPPLY CHAIN DATA
When it comes to fashion, everybody’s looking for the next big trend. Garment retailers are under pressure to deliver new designs to customers before their competition does. However, this constant supply chain innovation can complicate sourcing and production. Garment supply chains are often complex, with multiple tiers of suppliers involved.
Supply chain compliance can protect companies from disruption and minimise disastrous consequences. By monitoring standards along every step of the supply chain, companies can easily identify where problems occur and address these risks in a timely fashion.
So what sort of data should garment retailers and manufacturers be collecting? Well, essential information can include the lead times, sourcing costs and rebates due from individual orders. By monitoring these numbers, companies can identify and address any problems in their supply chain.
EVALUATING GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN COMPLIANCE
As many retailers learnt from the Rana Plaza collapse, problems created by subcontractors can be just as devastating as issues that stem from a primary supplier. The risk may be several tiers away, but it can still impact your business and bottom line. This is why it’s important to pursue secondary supply chain compliance, however complex this task may be.
Any possible source of disruption should be considered when it comes to evaluating global compliance. So how should companies approach this? Well, the more data you can collect, the easier it will be to make informed decisions.
CHALLENGES IN THE RETAIL MARKET
Data collection and analysis can help you to achieve compliance in the supply chain. However, these manual processes can eat into a company’s time and resources. On the other hand, supply chain compliance solutions exist which can monitor a wealth of information and present valuable insight in a timely manner.
Segura’s supply chain software constantly gathers information about your orders. Nominated suppliers must use our cloud platform to fulfil any orders placed by you, and we monitor every step along the supply chain to create a complete online audit trail.
Performance monitoring is made simple within our user-friendly interface. Users can choose to receive real-time alerts if unknown parties enter the supply chain, benefitting from instant support. In the long term, Segura can help companies to eradicate non-competitive suppliers, avoid dependence on a single source and strengthen working relationships with top-performing supply chain partners.
Originally Published 01/12/2015
