You rely on certain suppliers and vendors to provide the raw materials or products that keep your business operations humming. A handful of those suppliers may be able to stop your business in its tracks if they are unable to deliver their critical goods. Studying your supply chain is not one of those tasks to put on the back burner. Get greater insight into your suppliers with a business management solution that can put supplier details at your fingertips.
You may have a list of suppliers that you work with on a regular basis that supply the raw materials or products that you need for your own finished products. You may also have file cabinets full of specifications, cost sheets, and delivery schedules that you can reference when planning manufacturing or distribution operations. Seems like everything may be in order, but what happens when a supplier doesn’t deliver as planned? Your production activities can be quickly halted, delaying order fulfillments, and may quickly lead to extra expenses when searching for a replacement supplier, as well as offering discounts to make up for the customer’s inconvenience.
There is usually no warning when there is a weak link in a supply chain, which is why studying your supply chain could be very beneficial. Start your supply chain investigation by gathering your supplier data and adding it to an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution. A robust ERP solution can connect your supplier data with inventory, shipment schedules, and other key data. You can identify trends in the products you need the most, supplier-by-supplier, then work with your suppliers to make sure they are able to keep up with your demand. Communicating regularly with suppliers will also strengthen your relationship. You are likely to learn when they are going to phase out an item you need or change the specifications so you can stock up, as necessary, to fulfill existing customer orders. With supplier data readily available in an ERP solution, you can quickly reach out to alternate sources when a primary supplier can’t meet your demand; hopefully, preventing a shut-down of manufacturing operations.
Don’t be taken by surprise when a supplier isn’t able to deliver the items you need for customer orders. Put supplier details at your fingertips and monitor those key metrics to keep manufacturing activities and order fulfillments on schedule. Contact Collins Computing for more information about managing a successful supply chain with ERP.
By Collins Computing, a Microsoft Dynamics GP Gold Certified Partner out of California
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