Before you commit to a supply chain visibility solution, you need to decide exactly what it is that you need from the technology platform. To help, we want to share three key considerations which will help you to drill down and find your answer.
Consider your audience
First, consider your end market. What do they need and expect from you? If all they want is a low cost product or service, supply chain visibility isn’t under too much pressure. However, if customers expect more, it’s important that you can cater to their demands.
Work out what their primary needs are. Are they most concerned about the availability of the newest and trendiest products in store, or the conditions in which they are produced? Will products be expected to last a day, a month or a decade?
Retailers in general are coming under increasing pressure to prove their ethical credentials to concerned consumers. In contrast, construction companies are expected to build houses and fit appliances that will remain in good working condition and adhere to a significant amount of regulatory oversight. These are two industries that Segura is working with closely. Both can reap huge benefits from supply chain transparency, but for very different reasons.
Consider your industry
Secondly, think about your main drivers and barriers in business, and consider what would make your supply chain more competitive. Do industry peers make more timely deliveries, produce higher quality products, or meet stricter legal, ethical and environmental regulations?
You will also need to consider what regulatory bodies require from you. Will your company be expected or even legally bound to produce items that are non-toxic, ethically sourced or environmentally responsible? If so, you need to find a way to prove your credentials.
Supply chain visibility is important for many manufacturers, particularly in the case of consumer products. If items need to be compliant with health and safety standards, there’s a lot at stake if things go wrong. For instance, baby toys and clothing may cause serious harm to a child if small parts come loose or materials have traces of toxic chemicals.
Consider your organisation
Thirdly, how can your organisation justify this investment? Work out your company’s biggest supply chain challenges by thinking about obstacles to expansion. Whether it’s lost paperwork, numbers that don’t add up or late deliveries from suppliers, consider how technology could solve these issues and improve your business processes and profits.
Try out a solution
Hopefully now you’ve worked out how supply chain visibility can benefit your business. However, it can be hard to take the next step and begin the process of deciding on the purchase of an appropriate software solution. This decision process can turn into a minefield of different considerations, from the number of user licenses, professional services costs and capital expenditure on hardware.
Our cloud-hosted platform is easy to set up, roll out and operate, so you don’t have to worry about any hardware or service costs - here at Segura they simply don’t exist.
Suppliers can self-register with minimal support, and Segura can integrate with existing EDI capabilities to feed data directly into the platform. All this helps to make our software a flexible, affordable and practical solution for any industry.
