Supply chain trends to look out for in 2021

A quick look at Supply Chain Management

Supply chain management, a discussion that requires more emphasis especially in the manufacturing industry. A robust supply chain management will ensure that the raw materials arrive on time at the production sites. Manufacturers depend heavily on the supply chain to ensure that customers receive the right quality and quantity of the products that they are offering. A well designed and managed supply chain can help your business with: 

• Boosting customer experience 
• Reducing purchasing, production, and operational cost 
• Decreasing fixed assets
• Increasing cash flow 

Now that we have accustomed you to a few of the many benefits an effective supply chain management can offer, let’s take a look at the trends that will dominate the supply chain in 2021.

2020 wreaked havoc in the life of every business across industries. But there is no industry worst hit than manufacturing. The social distancing led to a shortage of workforce, the travel restriction made supply shortage a regular thing. The supply chain of those who were conducting businesses manually has been the worst hit. But those who took the smart decision of investing in a cloud-based ERP like Acumatica weren’t so gravely affected by the hit as it was an easy transition for them. The supply chain of these businesses was streamlined for maximum efficiency and productivity.  

Make way for the omnichannel presence 

If things have gone easy in this ghastly affecting economy pandemic, it would be for the business that were operating through multiple platforms instead of just relying on their brick-and-mortar stores. Consolidating demands across various channels has helped them by bringing more business opportunities their way. This has thus streamlined the supply chain, maximizing profitability.  

No more information delays  

The importance of sharing critical business information is what the supply chain businesses learned the hard way with the pandemic. The disruption in the supply chain crippled the businesses to serve properly and deliver to their customers and further forced them to shut down. To be able to provide adequate information and delivery at the right time, businesses will thus have to adopt an IoT system that will keep them updated on the unforeseen supply chain challenges and eliminate the information delays.  

Focus on direct to customers 

Companies utilizing the supply chain will be able to directly send to their end-users, without the need of an intermediary, and maximize their profit. Furthermore, the presence of an intermediary hampers the reputation of the brand. Therefore, selling directly to the customers will give the retailers an opportunity to directly communicate with the customers. This will thus strengthen their brand presence.  

Monitored supply and demand ratio 

If your business’s supply chain management didn’t have software to hold them together in these pandemic times, then your business must have hit hard. 2021 will see companies seeking the help of software to source raw materials, reallocation of products in real-time, using historical data to forecast demand and supply ratio, choosing the right vendor and distributor.  

Do you know what can also help you efficiently manage your supply chain? 

Integration with cloud-based ERP like Acumatica. The collaborative efforts of supply chain and cloud-based ERP will thereby help your business gain better visibility into the data. Thus enabling you to take strategic decisions and maximize your profitability.  

If you plan to implement, cloud-based ERP solution like Acumatica, you can reach out to Tayana’s ERP experts, today!