Your customers expect fast deliveries and flawless service. You cannot consistently meet their expectations without adequate supply chain visibility. Explore what supply chain visibility is and three strategies for gleaning actionable insights into your logistics infrastructure.
What Is Supply Chain Visibility?
Supply chain visibility refers to your ability to oversee the movement of goods or materials as they travel through your logistics network. It allows you to have real-time insights into your supply chain operations and trade relationships. The ultimate goal is to identify potential issues and improve your company’s overall efficiency.
Why You Need a Visible Supply Chain
The more you know about how products and materials flow from upstream sources to downstream retailers and customers, the easier it will be to find and fix potential issues that could disrupt cash flow. Supply chain visibility will also help your business to:
- Identify and resolve bottlenecks in the supply chain
- Improve customer service by providing accurate delivery timelines
- Optimize inventory management and reduce stockouts
- Respond quickly to disruptions
- Enhance collaboration with suppliers and partners
You’ll have a tough time finding and fixing issues if your visibility ends at the first link beyond your business. The question is, how can you gain actionable insights about your trade partners and logistics pathways?
3 Techniques to Improve Supply Chain Visibility
Here are three strategies that will shed light on the flow of materials and products throughout the supply chain:
1. Implement Real-Time Tracking Technology
Real-time tracking technology allows you to monitor materials and products as they progress from the point of origin to downstream recipients. There are several tracking tools you should consider integrating into your supply chain, including:
- GPS devices
- Internet of Things (IoT) sensors
- RFID tags
These resources allow you to exercise greater control over the supply chain and adjust to disruptive forces.
For example, suppose that a shipment gets delayed due to inclement weather. If you aren’t using real-time tracking tools, your carrier may not notify you of the incident right away. In turn, you won’t be able to inform your customers, which can cause frustration and strain your relationship with them.
If you have real-time tracking technology, your logistics managers will know about the delay immediately. They can use this information to keep customers in the loop and reroute or reschedule deliveries. You can even give customers access to updated positional data so that they can check on their order status via self-service tools.
2. Use Data Analytics for Predictive Insights
Data analytics technology allows you to examine historical trends and identify potential issues. You can predict supply shortages, transportation delays, and other hurdles that might negatively impact your bottom line.
With advanced analytics tools, you can optimize your inventory levels to align with customer preferences. Let’s say a once-popular item has stopped selling as well, but a new product has caught fire with customers, and stock is running low. You could scale back your inventory of the less popular product and order more of the hot-ticket item.
3. Foster Collaboration With Suppliers and Partners
Adding some new tools to the mix will set the stage for better visibility. However, you need the support of trade partners and suppliers to expand your view beyond your link in the supply chain. Speak to your current network of partners and discuss your desire to increase end-to-end visibility.
Work with suppliers to create information pathways that will speed up the exchange of information. You could integrate your centralized platform with their technology suites to improve coordination and enhance overall supply chain performance.
When everyone is in the know, you can all collaborate to support your company’s needs. Together, you and your team could achieve mutually beneficial strategic goals.
Optimize Supply Chain Visibility With R2 Logistics
By implementing these three techniques, you can create a more transparent and efficient supply chain. The good news is that you don’t have to go it alone. A great logistics team can make your life a whole lot easier and provide you with the tools needed to maximize visibility.
R2 Logistics is a leading third-party logistics (3PL) partner that can help you take control of your supply chain. We offer technologies, support, and logistics services that complement one another while optimizing visibility and enhancing efficiency.
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