Supply chain processes tend to be cross-functional which introduces the risk of poor communication and people in different teams or departments working to meet conflicting KPIs and objectives. Using a structured process such as Integrated Business Planning (IBP) can help avoid this and we can help you implement this through process review, education and training and implementation support.
But in smaller businesses and even without going to the extent of a full IBP implementation, it is well worth reviewing your business processes to identify inefficiencies and points of friction. As well as using up people’s valuable time, causing frustration and holding the process up, these are often where the greatest risk of errors occurs, which can impact service and cost. Focusing on the failure points, putting in place actions to reduce or eliminate barriers, and streamlining your processes can yield significant benefits.
Reviewing the systems used and their inputs and outputs can also yield significant savings, whether these are basic using off the shelf office tools, through bespoke forecasting, planning or CRM tools, to full blown ERP, depending on the scale and complexity of the business. Having been involved with specifying, implementing and developing all of these, Supply Chain Scotland can help you identify and introduce suitable tools to support your process.
We’d love to have a discussion with you about where the points of pain are in your systems and processes, and how we could help reduce or eliminate them. It’s not necessarily a big undertaking, and it can often deliver worthwhile results quickly.