November 21, 2022
Supply Chain -
Why choosing the right supply chain management company is critical for businesses | OneLink Holdings
When it comes to the success of your business, it’s crucial to have a reliable and efficient supply chain. Managing a supply chain can be difficult, especially if you’re not experienced in the process. It can be tough to find a good supplier, and it’s even harder to make sure that your products are being made to the highest quality standards. Plus, there’s the added stress of shipping and logistics. Here’s why you need a supply chain management company!
Key Elements
Whether you run a small business or a large corporation, supply chain management is essential to your success. In short, supply chain management is the process of overseeing and coordinating all the activities that go into providing goods or services to customers. This includes everything from the raw materials used to create products to the finished products themselves to the distribution channels through which they are sold. There are 5 key elements that goes in an effective supply chain management program:
- Planning– Measuring supply with customer and manufacturing demands
- Sourcing Raw Materials– sourcing and working with multiple vendors to supply the raw materials needed during the manufacturing process
- Manufacturing- Process of transforming the raw materials to the desired product, including audits of quality control
- Delivery- Using freight and logistic services to ensure both timely and safe delivery of products, at the best price
- Returns- Ability to offer support for the business in case of defective products, expired products, or non-conforming goods
By managing the flow of materials, information and funds along the supply chain, businesses can increase efficiency, reduce costs and improve customer satisfaction.
Here are the reasons why your business needs supply chain management:
Cost Savings
A well-run supply chain can save your business a lot of money. By streamlining operations and eliminating waste, you can reduce your production costs and sell your products or services at a lower price than your competitors. In addition, good supply chain management can help you negotiate better deals with suppliers and reduce inventory costs by ensuring that goods are delivered on time and in the right quantities. Understanding of your sales forecast will allow you to better understand your future purchasing requirements.
Improve Efficiency
Efficient supply chains are critical for businesses that need to move quickly in order to stay ahead of the competition. By carefully managing all aspects of the supply chain, businesses can cut down on delivery times, reduce mistakes and errors, and respond more quickly to customer demands.
Inventory Management
A supply chain management team will oversee inventory, which will prevent any issues such as missed inventory orders and late arrival of stock. They will be able to get orders produced and to the customer as quickly as possible, preventing errors that may occur if the business is to miss low stock levels. By closely monitoring inventory levels over a period of time, they can predict how much stock the business may need at certain periods during the year. They will understand peak times for the business and be able to increase stock orders based on this increased customer demand. A successful supply chain management company will outline the businesses’ demand planning and demand forecasting when looking at inventory levels. Demand planning is short-term; with the focus on immediate or near-term needs rather than predicting long term trends, making it more reactive. Demand forecasting looks at long term trends, using historical data and identifying patterns to predict future demand, making it more strategic.
Risk Management
There are many potential risks involved in running a business, but effective supply chain management can help mitigate some of these risks. For example, by diversifying your supplier base, you can reduce the risk of disruptions to your operations if one supplier has problems meeting demand or faces other issues. In addition, thorough planning can help you avoid stockouts and other problems that could jeopardize your business’s reputation with customers. Quality control is a big risk to manage without the support of a supply chain management team, as needing to send employees to do regular audits of vendors and raw materials can be costly and time consuming. By having the management team conduct factory inspections on behalf of the business, they can ensure a consistent level of product quality.
There are many reasons why businesses need supply chain management, but the most important ones are saving money, improving efficiency, inventory management and managing risk. If you want your business to be successful, you can’t afford to overlook the importance of having an effective supply chain management strategy created with a trusted management company.
OneLink Holdings understands the complex nature of supply chain management; that’s why we offer a comprehensive suite of supply chain management services that will take your product from sourcing to shipping. We have the experience and expertise to manage every step of the process, so you can relax and focus on running your business. Contact us today to learn more about our supply chain management services.
Written By
One Link Holding team
With our experience it puts us in a very unique position in being able to take your business from idea to reality, or if you’re part of the way there we can help with a number of individual areas in your business.
