• Has managing the supply chain become taxing?
• Too many issues with your current supply chain strategy?
• Are you in over your head with managing logistics and supply chain?

You need to revamp your supply chain management strategy.

There are several supply chain management certification courses online that can help you curate the ideal supply chain management strategy. However, before you enrol for one, you need to understand things you must keep in mind while devising a supply chain strategy.

With that in mind, let’s see how to formulate a robust supply chain management strategy. But before that, let’s look at the ramifications of having a bad one.

Problems With Ineffectively Managed Supply Chains

Developing a supply chain management strategy is complex, tedious, and time-consuming. However, it directly impacts your company’s bottom line. So, what happens if you don’t manage your supply chain? It will lead to:-

• Insufficient resources (inventory), which means the inability to meet customer needs
• Unused resources, which means excess and costly inventory wasted
• Stress and conflict among personnel trying to do more with less
• Inferior quality of products or services
• Products or services for which there is little customer demand
• Decreased amounts of customers
• Decreased sales and profits

Now let’s look at the benefits of formulating a good one.

Benefits of Curating a Robust Supply Chain Management Strategy

The importance of supply chain management can be clearly determined by the below-mentioned benefits it offers:-

• More streamlined operations, increased efficiency, resulting in decreased operational costs.
• Improved understanding of customers’ needs, resulting in increased demand for products or services.
• Increased focus on the customers rather than on the organisation, resulting in improved customer service.
• Faster product procurement, development and production, resulting in increased volume of products and services.
• Increased sales and decreased expenses, which clearly means more profitability for businesses.

How to Curate a Supply Chain Strategy That Will Work?

1. Understand the Supply Chain Goals

Before you start creating your supply chain strategy, you need to understand the goals and results the organisation aims to achieve. Typically, the supply chain goals include:-

• Maintaining on-time delivery to customers
• Managing working capital and inventory targets
• Improving supplier on-time delivery
• Improving ERP planning parameters to achieve on-time delivery performance
• Reducing the lead time of products you are selling
• Reducing the total logistical cost from last year

2. Analyse Your Current Supply Chain Strategy

Once you have these supply chain goals in place, you must analyse your current supply chain strategy.

• How well does your current strategy stand on the scale of what you are aiming to achieve?
• What are the problems with your current supply chain strategy?
• Where does it lack?
• How to make adjustments?

These are just some of the basic questions you must look towards answering. However, conducting this type of analysis is often challenging. You may want to seek expert guidance from online supply chain management certification courses. These courses can help you understand the A-Z of supply chain management, enabling you to formulate a robust strategy.

But more on that later, let’s continue looking at the next step in formulating an effective supply chain strategy.

3. Determine the Tactics & Initiatives to Achieve Goals

Now you’ve determined the goals your organisation needs to achieve and the problems with your current strategy. The next step is to determine the tactics in general to achieve your short term supply chain goals. These goals also contribute towards your long term strategy, so make sure to be careful while choosing the tactics or solutions you choose to implement.

Typical tactics and initiatives could include:-

• Developing individual personal development plan for each supply chain employee
• Developing advance project management skills
• Conducting ABC analysis for all suppliers and third-party vendors
• Implementing Direct Line Feed for high running manufacturing cells
• Delivering Cost Out Projects to determine freight and warehouse spending

You can also choose to leverage solutions like:-

• Inventory Management Solutions
• Warehouse Automation Solutions
• Off-Network Mobility Solutions

For hands-on practical knowledge in supply chain management tools and techniques, consider enrolling in the supply chain risk management IIMK program offered on the Talentedge platform. The supply chain risk management IIMK program can help you understand the working and application of these tactics and solutions.

4. Prepare an Outline Supply Chain Strategy

Strategy formulation is all about shaping the future, and it is the human attempt to achieve desirable ends with available means.

There are several stages of a supply chain management strategy. However, it is always a good idea to go back to the basics. After all, it all about the fundamentals. Below is a sample of what a conventional supply chain strategy should look like:-

• Make sure every employee has undergone deployment of material handling and safety culture training. (Safety is the priority)
• Drive consignment inventory or vendor inventory management program with key strategic suppliers.
• Develop and implement a supplier development strategy to track & improve supplier performance through scorecards, reviews, and action plans.
• Put plans in place to reduce total lead time and possibly reduce total supply chain cost.
• Introduce supplier self-assessment programs to help them understand and stay on top of the organisation’s inventory needs.
• Create robust SOP’s with emphasis on capacity planning & supply management

5. Combine Everything

Once you are clear on the goals, who your customers are, and the results you are aiming to achieve, you need to decide how you will make it happen. Sounds obvious, right? But is it really that straightforward?

To begin with, you need to put all elements in one place, gather your team, and agree on short term and long term actions in line with the goals of stakeholders or owners.

Pulsing these actions effectively and systematically takes a lot of work. So seek expert guidance from supply chain management certification courses. These courses can help you focus on areas of the supply chain that require the most attention.

Bottom Line: Don’t Let it Hit the Bottom Line

Managing a supply chain may seem overwhelming and taxing, but it is critical to your organisation’s survival. If you need to study supply chain management, consider enrolling for credible supply chain management certification courses.

One such online course that professionals rely on is the supply chain risk management IIMK program. The comprehensive curriculum, case studies, and unique pedagogy make this course the best in its class.

More Information:

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