A recent article published by the Jigsaw Group, an organization that focuses on business improvement and supply chain technologies, lists the Top 10 Shocking Supply Chain Statistics. If your role is in supply chain management, you may not find these stats shocking, but you may be surprised at how simple the solutions are.
One statistic we found to be illustrative of the supply chain challenges we help to solve is that one-third of supply chain leaders are unaware of how their suppliers are performing. Moreover, half of them state that this lack of knowledge is due to inadequate software tools and time! The article cites that, according to Forbes, “although 94% of supply chain leaders say digital transformation will fundamentally alter supply chain management, just one in four respondents had a digital procurement strategy in place.” The article goes on to say that 66% of supply chain leaders believe advanced analytics are critically important to their supply chains.
The article also compares what it refers to as supply chain “leaders” (high performing supply chains) versus “followers” (low performing ones). The leaders in this space – those with high performing supply chains (high productivity, throughput, quality, safety, on-time-delivery, etc.) will also be the leaders in revenue growth, EBIT (Earnings Before Interests & Taxes) Margin, and they will actively recruit supply chain professionals with analytics experience.
Finally, according to The Hackett Group, 44% of supply chain leaders are enhancing their Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems’ functionality and integration to gain greater enterprise and supply chain-wide visibility. Respondents are relying on legacy ERP systems as their main systems of record for managing supply chain operations and integrating advanced supply chain analytics to gain end-to-end supply network visibility.
With all that as a backdrop – lack of software tools, lack of time, importance of analytics, supply chain visibility, and relying on legacy system – what should today’s supply chain executive/leader do to provide the “breakthrough” needed within his/her operation? Believe it or not, the answer is simple. Provide visibility into as near real-time performance as possible to the employees who are responsible for getting the job done day-after-day, week-after-week. The answer is not new technology, like voice picking or labor management software. It can be as simple as several strategically located digital “scoreboards” throughout the facility showing the daily goal along with up-to-the-minute performance, and the “GAP remaining” – what needs to be done to finish the shift strong and on-target.
ImageNet Consulting can help you incorporate a visual productivity solution (like employee-engaging scoreboards) into your supply chain space – whether it is on the manufacturing floor or in your distribution center.
Contact ImageNet Consulting to set up a custom demonstration of these productivity improving solutions and learn how easy they are to implement within your Supply Chain. Why operate and manage your business using day-old or week-old reports from your legacy systems when you can capture that same data in real-time for immediate results and decision making. We love to say we help you put the right information in the right place at the right time. Then, you can make the right decisions that impact your company’s bottom line.