Supply Chain

 1 Managing an SMB business utilizing spreadsheets amid today's realities of 7  by 24 industry and business developments is now a competitive disadvantage.

Supply chain management related operations have moved beyond sole transactional to roles of key business outcomes enabler, product risk mitigation and competitive differentiator for servicing key market segments. Backbone information systems therefore need to support a singular view of broad business information and higher levels of either business or end-to-end supply or product value-chain chain visibility. 

Decision-making capabilities need to be grounded in the most up-to-date, real-time business information and enhanced with today’s more advanced business intelligence and data-driven decision-making capabilities.

2 SMB businesses are hardly static, and require flexibility in business processes and supporting information systems to support ever-changing business growth needs.

Today’s SMB focused, Cloud-based ERP systems provide the flexibilities for businesses to adopt needed capabilities as required, including added process support for procurement, product and inventory management, transportation, supply chain planning and risk management. 

 

3 Pharmaceutical, branded drug and consumer goods markets have broadened on a global basis to access growing emerging markets. Therefore, the supply chain now spans multiple production and supply chain services partners on a global scale. 

That implies continuous product demand and supply risk mitigation capabilities must be available to SMB businesses as well as larger businesses, at an affordable systems implementation and operating cost.

 

4 Global sourcing, production or distribution of products includes the needs for broadened regulatory compliance and stringent monitoring and control of all supply and product value-chain controls. 

This implies a need for increased automation or digitization of control mechanisms spanning the supply chain. Todays Cloud-based ERP systems increasingly provide support for such capabilities. 

 

5 With so many ongoing business and supply chain related process changes occurring on a continuous basis, it is important that supply chain or operations management teams maintain a vigilant prioritization process, integrated with various business and key customer priorities.

A Cloud-based ERP system needs the ability to effectively control and manage such priorities across the business. 

 

6 With the clock-speed of industry markets far more accelerative, traditional product demand and supply forecasting techniques based on historic data, are becoming less effective.

Integrated business planning that ties together overall business key performance objectives such as revenue and profitability needs with associated shifts in either product demand, available supply, or new customer opportunities, have become new table stakes. Planning processes need to be more forward-looking, anticipating changing product demand or supply needs, while alerting to potential bottlenecks or shortfalls. Sales and operations planning processes now involve continuous assessments of what-if impacts to business performance and need to be supported by systems that can support such needs. 

 

7 Customer service does not end after the product sale, but instead manifests itself in pre-and post-sale information and service needs. An SMB focused backbone ERP system needs the ability to capture and store such information and make it available as-needed to other applications that span business operational needs.

An SMB focused backbone ERP system needs the ability to capture and store such information and make it available as-needed to other applications that span business operational needs.

Navigator Business Solutions is the top SAP Cloud Partner for nearly a decade running. We implement SMB cloud ERP software with competence, experience, and care. 

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Top 7 Supply Chain Challenges Infographic

Supply Chain managers have their own set of challenges in the supply chain world. With the changing world, economy, and technology that is before us, supply chain managers must learn how to adapt—and then adapt quickly. Read the top 7 challenges supply chain managers see today.