Top 5 tips for a tidy supply chain

There’s nothing worse than coming back to work after the holidays to a cluttered desk and little insight into what’s happening across your supply chain. To help make the transition into 2023 easier, here are our top 5 tips on how to tidy things up for supply chain planning success in the months ahead.

1. Make more informed predictions

The first step to a more organized supply chain is to better understand it. Steps to better understand your own could include leveraging advanced analytics through a cloud based logistics software with built-in artificial intelligence and machine learning for improved predictive abilities. By pairing these transportation management system (TMS) integration solutions and tools with a digital twin of your supply chain, leaders can explore various “what-if” scenarios to determine risks and potential impact in order to develop the TMS integration solutions well in advance of any disruption.

2. Become more flexible

2022 highlighted the need for resilience in the supply chain, and the most resilient supply chains put a strong emphasis on flexibility. To increase flexibility, shippers should consider extending their capacity network to include more options from multiple modes and carriers, especially as they look for ways to shift from intermodal to full truckload (FTL) shipments. In this way multi carrier shipping softwares can help to avoid or at least limit disruptions caused by carrier capacity shortages. 

3. Improve communication

Strengthen relationships through quick response times and accurate information on changes to ETAs and other vital details by keeping an open line of communication with all partners, drivers, and others involved in your supply chain through a connected shipping platform. And since issues often arise when away from a computer, including a mobile solution that provides the same level of insights and communication capabilities is becoming increasingly important. 

4. Extend your visibility

To keep a supply chain running smoothly — especially where safety and quality issues could result in a costly recall — visibility should go beyond basic capabilities that only focus on where a shipment is at any given time. In order to be able to track and trace the provenance of a batch of products or to predict changes in supply and demand of the raw materials used to produce them, you need true end-to-end visibility. The best of TMS software systems extends visibility across the entire supply chain from the source of raw materials through to customer delivery.

5. Leverage automation

Automation is one of the most clutter-reducing time savers available to those in the supply chain. From utilizing advanced analytics to monitor for and either resolve or provide guidance on shipment issues, to identifying load optimization opportunities to increase efficiency through automated guidance on consolidation, routing, and more, to instantly balancing price and reliability across all available carriers during procurement while eliminating the need for endless emails, spreadsheets, and phone tag, the value of automation cannot be understated. 

Looking to ditch the clutter that comes with unpredictable capacity availability, pricing volatility, and increased disruptions? It’s time to consider a cleaner warehouse management solution. Request a personalized demo today to see how the Shipwell platform’s tools can help you organize your supply chain to deliver on time, and on budget.