Partners
Go to the QuestionnaireSince Covid, the war in Ukraine and increasing geopolitical unrest, resilient supply chain relationships are at the forefront of both government and business strategy. Digital technologies provide manufacturers the tools to make the most of this opportunity Digital solutions enable more frequent communication, customisation and flexible manufacturing. Secure platforms and digital interfaces allow data to be shared to drive continuous improvement whilst keeping intellectual property secure and managing any associated risks. The agility and adaptability of supply chains is greatly enhanced by implementing digital solutions compared to any manual processes. This module will help you understand some of these solutions and how they can help your supply chain improve. Building resilient supply chains requires the ability to form long term mutually beneficial partnerships build on trust. the module includes some tips on how to manage this effectively.
Digital Technologies enable stronger communication with customers, suppliers and service providers. As digital technologies can allow for greater customisation and flexibility, customers can be given more control and choice without slowing down your business. By utilizing an integrated end to end process, customised orders can make their way through the business from order to production to dispatch with less need for manual intervention, allowing for faster production and increased throughput for all orders, benefitting and adding value for you and your customers.
To get the full benefit of digital technology for all partners, it must be carefully integrated, as inappropriate integration can damage relationships with your customers, suppliers and service providers. Agreeing upon use of data and transfer of intellectual property avoids legal issues and intellectual breaches within the supply chain and can allow the supply chain to run more efficiently, minimizing waste in your processes.
Pause and reflect on following questions:
- How do you currently communicate with your customers, suppliers and service providers?
- What customer and supplier metrics and performance indicators do you measure and share?
- How do you collaborate with your customers, suppliers and service providers to drive continuous improvement?
Why does this matter?
As digital technologies can be closely integrated, the speed of change can greatly increase compared to manual processes. This can enable on-demand and customer-driven manufacturing. Communication and collaboration are vital to ensure intellectual property and data can be shared securely, with risks managed proactively and jointly owned.
What does good look like?
- More frequent communication
- Data sharing with customers and suppliers
- Flexible manufacturing
- Customisation
- Agreed performance metrics with customers, suppliers and service providers
- Customers have full access to relevant data
How can we improve?
Design your policies and procedures alongside your partners and use these as the basis your digital platforms. Your procedures should define how you run your business and therefore how you design your platforms. Work with your suppliers, customers and service providers to keep ahead of compliance, standards and changes in regulations.
The use of statistical forecasting to enable you to predict and respond to supply and demand will enhance your service levels. Using this as a basis to engage with your partners to "stress test" the results can improve your relationship with customers and suppliers. You can also integrate other models which consider market trends and needs.
Digitally connect with your logistics and warehouse providers to leverage their expertise and accuracy of delivery, whilst reducing cost. It will ensure seamless transfer of documentation (including customs documentation), ensure compliance throughout the process and maintain inventory accuracy between all parties. You can also use their expertise in warehouse and logistics management and shared access to systems to further integrate your businesses.
Consider how you can connect digitally with your partners to improve your processes and efficiency, for example flow of sales and purchase invoices, invoices, and accounts payable and receivable. You can manage costs by collaborating with partners and connecting digitally to consolidate orders, transport, management of Purchase Orders, invoices, on time payment etc. This approach will also drive all parties increasingly to paperless touch-free processes, where regulations allow.
If you connect digitally with your logistics providers, your business and your customers will also be able to utilise their track and trace data and enable your customers to utilise IT if desired.
You can reduce the environmental impact of your supply chain by consolidating shipments with your customers, suppliers and service providers and optimising routes and distribution networks.
Work with your partners to develop new products and services and responding to market needs together.
Data generated through your supply chain can be used to make evidence-based decisions, such as order strategy, inventory levels, warehouse locations and to support all aspects of your supply chain planning.
Consider who are your critical suppliers and how best to collaborate with them.
Consider how you design for circularity and sustainability. This could be as simple as how you manage returnable packaging through to redesigning your product offering itself.
Ensure your maintenance programmes are fully integrated within your sales and operations planning processes and that data is shared with your customers, suppliers and service providers. You may be able to coordinate major outages to minimise impact.
Explore Further
Hear how supply chain technology is bringing transparency to the denim supply chain and helping to reduce waste and drive cost efficiency.
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Hear how Flowlens helps supply chain managers in SME manufacturing to make more informed decisions about their purchasing options.
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Learn how ​Infoculture worked with Rolls Royce SMR and the Food Standards Agency to develop a concept framework and model for effective governance of UK supply chain collaboration.
Read moreYou've read about how important it is to collaborate with your customers, suppliers and service providers and connect with them using digital technology, and I hope the case studies have shown some of the new solutions out there.
Now have a look at the exercise, which first asks you to think about those opening questions –
- How do you currently communicate with your customers, suppliers and service providers?
- What customer and supplier metrics and performance indicators do you measure and share?
Consider where on the journey your business is and what the next priorities for improvement are.
Work through the exercise template, ideally with your team, and this will lead you to some actions to continue your journey towards a digital supply chain.
Interactive Exercise
Consider the current supply chain challenges and priorities for improvement in your business. Work through the exercise template, ideally with your team, and this will lead you to some actions to continue your journey towards a digital supply chain.
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