Almost all businesses get their supply from other distributors and then supply their retailers with their products or materials. If this is the type of business you’re running, you’re likely concerned with how the supply chain of your business is functioning. When you have problems with supply chain, the entire efficiency of your business can suffer. Luckily, there are some things you can do that can help streamline the supply chain management of your business and make everything run much smoother. To show you how, here are three ways to improve the supply chain efficiency of your business.
Create A Distribution Strategy
To find success with a functioning supply chain, you first have to have a strategy for how your orders and products will progress from distributors to retailers. Without a thoughtful and detailed strategy, things are bound to fall through the cracks or become less efficient. According to Zoe Meeken, a contributor to Business.org, a good strategy will include all areas of the supply chain, including warehouses, production, retailers and more. Additionally, the strategies for these areas should all be working toward a common goal, like having a timely delivery.
Look Beyond Yourself
While working on the supply chain problems or issues within your own company is important, it’s also important to look beyond what your own company is doing and assess the efficiency of the other businesses you work with. According to Becky Morgan, a contributor to IndustryWeek.com, if the efficiency of your suppliers, distributors, or retailers isn’t what it should be, this can hurt your own efficiency as well. Knowing this, it’s important that you should always be aware of how the supply chain efficiency of the businesses you’re working with is going. If it’s not up to par, you may want to consider working with a company with better efficiency.
Make Sure Marketing and Supply Chain Managers Communicate
One of the most problematic areas you can run into with regards to supply chain management and its efficiency is when there’s miscommunication between departments. For example, Jennifer Lonoff Schiff, a contributor to CIO.com, states that if marketing is doing a big promotional push but supply chain isn’t aware of this plan, there can be big hold ups for getting the marketing push off the ground and fulfilling a larger amount of orders. For reasons like this, it’s vital that any department that works with retailing or distribution be in constant communication with the supply chain managers.
If your business has had problems with getting shipments in on time or out on time, you may want to consider how using the tips mentioned above could improve the efficiency of your supply chain.