Post-pandemic supply chains should be more resilient than ever. Modernization and digital transformation will make it possible for suppliers and consumers to join forces in brand new ways. The modern supply chain blurs the line between the physical and digital worlds, eliminating the traditional boundaries of the past.
COVID-19 revealed the gaps in many existing supply chains. Businesses with less resilient supply chains sustained inventory shortages, unexpected demand changes, unoptimized productivity, and delivery delays. In some cases, these issues resulted in a damaged brand reputation that will require a considerable investment to recover. Unable to meet the “New Normal” needs, these businesses found the hard way that their supply chains are just as strong as the weakest link.
On the other hand, organizations with mature supply chains adapted quickly to the disruption and changing times. They created and implemented strategies that proceeded to make customers happy. There was transparency in their supply chains—providing manufacturers and consumers access to data in real-time.
If you are building a modernized and more resilient supply chain, there are many tools you can use to make this successful. However, if you don’t have a deep familiarity of your current supply chain and your organization’s future goals, you are risking many things. You might not optimally obtain what any tool can offer you. To help you out, here are four ways to build a resilient supply chain that ensures data transparency and reduces risks across the company.
4 Ways to Build a Supply Chain With Data Transparency and Risk Management
1. Examine your supply chain to identify risks
All supply chains come with risks, so before creating a strategy in building a resilient one, you need to pinpoint the risks. Observe the details of all the relationships within your supply chain to identify its weaknesses and bottlenecks. When you have all pertinent information, initiate improved transparency to stakeholders to strengthen your supply chain. Although the market is limited, understanding your supply chain and addressing its vulnerabilities will let you satisfy both the needs of your manufacturers and consumers.
2. Gauge risks and compare results
Determine what disruptions and how these disruptions can affect your supply chain in terms of revenue, customer satisfaction, and ecological footprint. You can use tools such as data management solutions to classify risks as low, medium, or high and provide transparency to all stakeholders as proof that your supply chain is resilient enough to adapt to any kind of change. You can extrapolate information outside of your organization and compare your results to other businesses as a way of benchmarking with industry leaders.
Gauging risks require a ton of data gathering. It is crucial to have a routine when collecting information about your supply chain, whether monthly, quarterly or annually. Following a routine allows you to have a more accurate way of measuring the resiliency of your supply chain. You can integrate this information with the right analytic tools to improve the reliability and repeatability of your correct processes.
3. Create visibility
Data collected is useless data if it isn’t visible to those who need it. The right people will know how to use the available data to identify vulnerabilities within the supply chain and make sound decisions for the business. Suppose you can create a trusted data exchange with a blockchain. In that case, that will give you an additional competitive advantage in collecting internal and external data from various sources, allowing you to create ironclad supply chain strategies. You can transform the data into bite-sized information and share it across the entire business, leading to better communication and adaptability with risks.
There are two benefits when you create data transparency—your business is always better prepared against any kind of disruption, and you will have the power to achieve sustainable goals.
With improved data transparency, you can create and test different scenarios that can help you identify how your supply chain must adjust with changes, big or small.
4. Improve reliability
With data visibility, you can continuously improve the reliability of your supply chain. It is easier for you to make decisions because you have information that will support them. You minimize risks because you have tested against any disruption and know how your supply chain should react to it. You can use new technologies like the modernization of legacy systems and AI to amplify the results—reaching for lower costs and higher customer satisfaction.
A Transparent Supply Chain is a Resilient Supply Chain
Customers demand trust and transparency when buying something from any seller, and this is a tricky business. The purchasing process passes through the intricacies of a supply chain. COVID-19 has put the vulnerabilities in the spotlight, but great business leaders take it as an opportunity to build a more resilient supply chain and thrive in the future.
To have a resilient supply chain, it will require transparency. It will require a better understanding of the relationships between the manufacturer and the customer—allowing you to be ready for disruptions, include risk management in the operation strategies, create more sustainable processes, and achieve business goals.
Using the right technology allows you to design and implement more resilient supply chains that provide better data transparency, faster response for time-to-market, improved customer satisfaction, and increased revenue. You can do this by modernizing legacy systems and using new technologies to drive more value within the supply chain.
When it comes to modernizing your supply chain, Profound Logic can help modernize your legacy systems and allow improved data transparency in a secure manner. We are the only IBM i (AS400) modernization partner with a fully integrated solution stack to help you solve today’s complex business challenges and confidently navigate the future.
Contact us today at 877-224-7768 for a free modernization consultation from one of our experts.
