5 Critical Capabilities You Need From Your Supply Chain Solutions

In 2023, managing supply chains is more complex than ever. From global political tensions to shortages and the ongoing effects of COVID, disruptions are rampant. Faced with these challenges, businesses need to ensure that they have the best tools to navigate current supply chain conditions and mitigate risk.?

From promoting visibility to providing decision support, it is vital that supply chain solutions can keep up with the electronic industry’s unique needs amid today’s rapidly evolving supply chain landscape. Here are five critical capabilities you’ll need from your supply chain management software in 2023 and beyond.?

Increased Visibility and The Ability to Collaborate

Supply chain leaders across the electronics sector are looking to increase visibility throughout the production process and promote collaboration. Today, many organizations operate in a highly siloed capacity, where departments work in isolation and lack access to direct communication with one another. Poor visibility can hurt businesses whether it occurs between stages of the supply chain (such as suppliers, OEMs, and warehouses) or between teams (such as design, engineering, and procurement).

In order to remedy this lack of transparency and collaboration, businesses need to move beyond outdated and cluttered spreadsheets, and instead embrace modern tools to break down silos. Cross-functional collaboration across teams is especially important in areas like sourcing: Aggregating and sharing data can improve decision-making by integrating supply, demand, and risk management considerations into the design process itself.?

Moreover, teams need to be on the same page and have access to insights about other stages in the production process so they can be aligned and all have a stake in their business’ big-picture goals. This approach contributes to more resilient supply chains that can withstand shortages and challenges at any stage of the product life cycle.?

Access to Real-Time Insights

In order to improve visibility and optimize efficiency, especially amid a volatile supply chain landscape, it is vital that all teams have access to the most advanced and accurate insights to guide their decision-making. Supply chain managers need a 360-degree view of the process, from predictive commodity-level insights to electronics market intelligence and intent data.?

Effective supply chain tools should offer real-time direct inventory and pricing data to help mitigate risk by anticipating lead times, demand, and pricing. This data enables businesses to make informed decisions, keep up with industry trends, and stay ahead of the competition.?

Furthermore, while increasing visibility is crucial, individual departments shouldn’t have to waste time weeding through irrelevant information. Businesses should choose supply chain solutions that can tailor and curate data, allowing teams to get a comprehensive, accurate, and up-to-date view of only the insights that are the most pertinent to their operations.?

Solutions Built for The Electronics Industry’s Complexity?

The electronics sector faces unique challenges. Therefore, it is important that organizations use supply chain tools that are purpose-built for the industry. Rather than settling for a one-size-fits-all approach, businesses benefit from implementing solutions that are designed to address electronics-specific needs.?

For example, electronics procurement is particularly complex due to the sheer number of components necessary for each product, the difficulties of coordinating suppliers located all over the world, and the need to maintain stringent quality standards. To manage this multifaceted process, businesses should seek out supply chain solutions that are equipped to address the challenges of procurement and risk management, along with the industry’s unique need for integration across the supply chain.

Full Awareness and Scope Across The Industry

When choosing supply chain solutions, it can be helpful to check if the software is owned by a distributor or other entity with conflicting interests. It is essential that businesses rely on tools that will provide balanced, accurate information, particularly when those solutions inform critical strategy and decision-making. For instance, when building a BOM or sourcing components, supply chain managers should not have to wade through potentially biased information that might influence users to make nonoptimal choices. In other words, supply chain solutions (and the makers of the software) should be solely focused on ensuring that customers get the best possible outcome.

Capacity for Analysis and Forecasting

As supply chain management has become increasingly complex, supply chain solutions have evolved considerably beyond basic number-crunching capabilities. At best, they can be used as strategic tools, implementing advanced technologies like AI to offer decision support and help guide strategic choices. In particular, it’s helpful to be able to analyze past and current conditions and use those insights to fuel forecasts.?

Businesses can gain a deeper understanding of the state of their supply chains, identify inefficiencies, predict disruptions, and anticipate shifts in demand. With the emergence of AI and machine learning, solutions can carry out this analysis automatically and communicate findings in real time, increasing efficiency, accuracy, and visibility.?

Over to You?

There are countless supply chain solutions out there, and it is important to choose tools that are optimized for your business needs. Supplyframe offers electronics industry-specific supply chain management solutions for all stages of the product life cycle.?

We help supply chain and procurement leaders achieve collaboration, visibility, and resilience in their operations by introducing detailed, forward-looking insights and real-time intelligence into their processes. Visit Supplyframe today to learn more.?