7 Ways to Strengthen Assurance of Supply With Cloud Technology

A couple of weeks ago, we did a post on 5 supply chain symptoms that can really bring you down.

Now, we find the cure! If you can identify with problems related to visibility and supply flow, you’ll probably benefit from better technology and collaboration with partners.

Here’s how using a cloud-based supply chain platform can improve assurance of supply, and how to use it to gain visibility and control of your supply chain.

1. Collaborate On Order and Supplier Commitments
For a long time, companies have focused on planning as the solution to their supply chain problems. They’ve spent millions on planning and forecasting software only to be thrust into an environment where real demand sharply diverges from the expected. New, networked systems address this problem by including real-time partner data in the information available to supply chain managers.

Supply chain leaders have shifted their focus to execution and tighter integration to provide “rapid-replanning”–that is, to quickly adjust the original plan to meet actual demand. This can be done by uniting teams across procurement, material management, production management, and logistics to identify sources of risk and possible exceptions.

2. Manage Order, Receipt, and WIP Status by Exception
Before actual production, inventory must be monitored closely to identify any potential delays. New systems allow companies to have an exception-based workflow that extends into the supply base, from supply plan to work-in-process production steps.

3. Maximize Supplier Efficiency With Production Visibility
Aligning supply to demand patterns and improving factory compliance can greatly increase supply certainty. A supply chain platform that can enable agility at the supplier factory level will monitor production milestones, compliance, and packing and labeling on a single network, allowing supply chain partners to collaborate easily and make any adjustments necessary to meet demand.

4. Monitor Inventory From End to End
End-to-end visibility is essential in monitoring inventory, especially in the “black hole” that can occur when goods are in the hands of suppliers, contract manufacturers, and transportation partners within the trade network. A cloud-based solution gives companies the complete picture of supply chain inventory, by managing data on available goods, inventory receipts, and in-transit goods. This information is used to dynamically allocate inventory to meet demand, increases the likelihood of getting inventory to customers on time and in full and reduces costs related to operations, expedited freight, and inventory.

5. View Real-Time Transportation and In-Transit Data
In complex supply chains, companies have many disparate transportation systems and agreements with 3PLs and carriers across the globe at various rates. Throughout the transportation booking and execution process, visibility is crucial. A cloud-based control layer manages multiple systems and allows companies to make strategic decisions based on a single source of real-time data.

6. Replace Outdated Invoicing and Settlement Practices
Before networked systems existed that could update all parties involved in invoicing and settlement, a manual three-way matching process was crucial in settling payments for goods. Now, this time-consuming process is eliminated by automatically matching orders, invoices, and receipt of goods in the cloud, in real-time. This lowers costs and cycle times significantly while increasing payables liability internally and payment status externally.

7. Improve Supplier Stability and Relationships
Companies can use their strong credit standings to get their suppliers more favorable financing rates. This process can only be done on a platform where the supplier’s and buyer’s accounts receivable, as well as the bank, can be on the same page. In this case, the buyer issues a purchase order, the supplier delivers the goods and invoices the buyer, and upon approval the supplier is offered an early payment discount enabled by the bank. As days sales outstanding (DSO) is reduced and uncertainty decreased, the supplier becomes confident in its financial standing and ability to fill orders.