You're in charge of your company's supply chain. How can you make sure it's running at peak efficiency?

One of the most important aspects of my entire business life was to always respect my customers, colleagues, superiors and staff that reported to me. Three pillars that must never change in my business career are: 1. Honesty 2. Integrity 3. Respect. What drives me is a critical sense of urgency when it comes to deliver to all customers, exactly what they require, and in the shortest possible time. One of my personal achievements that I am very thankful and humbled about is the fact that I have won an International Skills Olympics for customer care, between 13 Countries. Another important character trait is that I don't lie to my customers, which already proved to deliver the best possible customer service you can image. It will show!!

To optimize the supply chain's efficiency, I focus on strategic vendor management, streamlined logistics, data-driven forecasting, and continuous process improvement. Regular performance evaluations and technology integration also play crucial roles.

I would like to access the current situation of Supplier Relationship Management, Demand Forecasting status, Inventory Optimization status, Logistics Optimization, Technology Integration, Continuous Improvement, Risk Management, Sustainability, Employee Training and Development, and Performance Metrics and KPIs

One thing i have found greateful the 3 principles of inventory control method, which pull startegy, push strategy and Just in time model. Will analyse the situation and work according to that.

In my experience control software is a potential solution, but you need to understand why you want one in the first place. A piece of software may bring you more visibility but if your organisation has poor processes then that software will only provide you with information that continues to support those poor processes. There is a lot of work to be done in advance of any implementation, fix that first!

In my experience critical things to look out for when implementing an Inventory Control Software are features that manage your specific product attributes like customer product code, product alias, UN-code, dangerous goods multiplier and chemical name. Work with your implementor to assign unique identifiers with customer product code for streamline order processing. Use product alias to accommodate international markets with different naming conventions. Ensure compliance with Hazmat handling through UN-Code and DG multipliers features, and chemical name attribute, if you are in the chemical sector. This features contribute to accurate records, regulatory compliance and overall efficiency in your supply chain.

As a supply chain consultant, I have seen clients struggling to manage supply chain tradeoffs (dependent/conflicting KPIs). For example, high service vs high cost/capital (inventory). 7/10 companies follow standard replenishment policies. They source (replenish), store and move items (high, low volume and non-moving) exactly in the same way. So it is critical to classify products into segments (based on category, volume, sourcing and distribution similarities) and test different sourcing and distribution scenarios (onshore/offshore/VMI) for each segment/family and decide based on Total Cost of Ownership for each scenario. TCO is critical to optimize your sourcing and distribution decisions.

Agree with Dan, a culture of continuous improvement is key. In fact, go as far as getting a continuous improvement team in your organisation to support this. Pick off the low hanging fruit and easy implementers first and build up credibility. If you do this successfully the investment/CAPEX to implement these principles will become an easier discussion to have with your stakeholders.

A culture of continuous improvement is critical for peak efficiency in your supply chain. I’m a big believer of a “Data Driven” approach to Lean and Agile improvements. By leveraging KPI Dashboards on a Supply Chain Control Tower, a supply chain leader will have a good picture of your supply chain, to zoom in and fine tune bottlenecks and eliminate redundancy to achieve optimisation in the supply chain. You also can implement Lean and Agile strategies such 5S methodology for organised workspace and value stream mapping for process analysis. By leveraging the right tools and more importantly, inculcating the right culture, you will be able to optimise your supply chain for operational excellence.

Cutting cost and minimise the frequency cycle of spare parts procurement, capital equipment procurement imports to avoid and adapt made in India concept and imbibe/explore to new technological era to scale up growth engine

In addition, you should address some of the balanced KPIs to monitor and manage the improvements as an example - Order fill rate / order cycle time to reflect customer needs - Working capital inventories percentage / Cash to Cash cycle to monitor cash management - Gross Profit / EBITDA percentage or per units - global efficiency / productivity per employee to measure impact on process improvements

You need to maintain a real time visibility into all the supply chain processes to identify and address issues promptly. To do this, you will implement integrated supply chain management systems that connect various stages of the supply chain processes. You may also want to use a cloud-based platforms for data storage and processing, enabling real-time access to information from anywhere and by everyone. Create platforms for suppliers, manufacturers, and distributors to share real-time information and updates. A good way to do this is set-up a collaborative WhatsApp platform. Implement automated reporting tools that generate real-time performance metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) such as a dashboard.

One major factor to make your supply chain run at peak efficiency is visibility. Achieving visibility across the entire supply chain provides real-time insights into inventory levels, order statuses, production processes, and transportation movements. The ability to see and understand each step of the supply chain in real-time enables proactive decision-making, reduces uncertainties, and ensures peak efficiency.

To optimize the supply chain, focus on inventory management, streamline processes, use data analytics for demand forecasting, establish strong supplier relationships, and invest in technology for real-time tracking and communication. Regularly assess performance metrics to identify areas for improvement and adapt strategies accordingly.