Optimising the supply chain has been an international focus across industries during the past decade. In recent years, the term “supply chain” has been on the lips of every manufacturer, supplier, retailer – and consumer. Shelves are lacking products, prices are skyrocketing, and the challenges range from input costs and supply availability to capacity constraints and labour shortages. Everyone is reacting with a rightful sense of urgency. Companies are looking around to identify insufficiencies and inefficiencies, trying to predict what’s next and determine proactive steps to repair what’s broken.
From day to day, it’s hard to know how much progress we’ve made. But the bigger question to ponder is: How did we get here – and how do we get out? Good business, at its core, has always been about lowering costs and maximising profit. And as technology is enhanced, especially with regard to manufacturing and logistics, the thought has been, “The fewer people who touch my product and the fewer empty trucks I run, the more money I’ll save.” Companies end up taking costs out of the supply chain but removing resiliency at the same time – creating single points of failure.
SAS is a headline sponsor on RetailingAfrica.com and has published its ebook, Build supply chain agility through digitisation – 4 strategies to improve efficiencies, predictability, and the customer experience, on RetailingAfrica.com, making it available free of charge for download from the Retailing Africa LIBRARY. The four strategies include:
- Accelerate demand planning insights.
- Digitally connect factories.
- Digitally link partners across the supply chain.
- Foster sustainability by balancing profitability, people and the planet.
eBOOK: For more on Build supply chain agility through digitisation – 4 strategies to improve efficiencies, predictability, and the customer experience, read the eBook – free to download.
Main image credit: Pixabay.com.
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