Supply Chain Resolutions for 2018

It’s a new year and a new you, but it’s also an opportunity to renew your commitment to building the best supply chain for your business.

And while you have personal resolutions to adhere to for 2018, you can do the same for your supply chain. We’ve compiled seven, popular New Year’s Resolutions for Supply Chains to help you achieve your safety and sustainability goals in the coming year.

Learn from the Past, but Be Open to Change

A small philosophical change can have a big impact on how you manage your supply chain and how you build it. New Year’s resolutions should be about using past experiences to positively affect the future.

If your supply chain is still stuck doing business the old way and unfavorable outcomes aren’t improving, then it’s time to make changes.

Reduce Supply Chain Complexity

Too many suppliers, complex designs, and processes that aren’t lean enough can make supply chains overly complex, resulting in safety issues and product recalls. More quality assurance and compliance steps can help reduce these disruptions, but reducing complexity may be the simpler and longer lasting solution.

If this means adopting leaner manufacturing operations, using simpler product designs, or consolidating suppliers through a better qualification process, then organizations should consider these options first for the greatest impact.

Write Better, Specific Contracts

Good supply chains and supply chain relationships can be achieved with structured processes and clearly defined roles and responsibilities. This begins at the contract level.

Both parties need to know exactly who will perform the work and how it will be performed so that no one is left guessing about any aspect of the relationship. If your organization doesn’t have a playbook for writing contracts, then this is the year to create one.

Embrace Transparency

In the age of the Internet and social media, it’s easy for concerned people to perform informal audits of your company’s corporate responsibility efforts. People expect their products to be safe, environmentally friendly, and ethically produced. Get ahead of those concerns by promoting everything you’re doing correctly and sharing as much sustainability data as possible with the public.

Increase Visibility

How much do you know about your suppliers? Do they meet your compliance standards for safety, insurance, financial stability, sustainability? What about your supplier’s supplier? Increasing visibility of your supply chain is the key to reducing risk in 2018.

Renew Your Focus on Sustainability

Sustainability should be at the core of every supply chain since it encompasses three important pillars of any business: worker safety, environmental protection, and increased revenue (people, planet, profits). When workers and/or the environment are harmed by your business, the reputational damage, supply chain disruption, and any resulting legal action can significantly impact our revenue.

Take Advantage of Technology

If you’re still managing your supply chain with paper and pen, or even spreadsheets, you’re doing it wrong. Supply chain management software can significantly reduce the administrative burden and cost associated with the qualification and management of contractors and suppliers.

Avetta’s supply chain management software helps businesses identify and mitigate risk within their supply chain through contractor prequalification, document management, auditing, employee-level qualification and training, insurance verification and business intelligence. Avetta’s cloud-based platform is highly customizable and adaptive for businesses of all sizes, and is used by more than 50,000 customers in over 100 countries.

Discard old ways of thinking and manual processes, and kick 2018 into high gear with automation, technology, and better control over your supply chain.

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