It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day challenges of managing a complex supply chain, and it’s also easy to feel overwhelmed by global supply chain disruptions. That’s why it’s important to periodically take a step back and look at the big picture of where things stand right now.
A great tool that you can utilize is a SWOT Analysis reviewing the current strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in the supply chain.
Take a look at our supply chain outlook to help you make informed decisions about how your company can grow capabilities, realize improvements, and capitalize on opportunities.
Supply Chain Outlook: Let’s Build a More Resilient Supply Chain
Ready to get strategic? Let’s dive into the current state of the supply chain to help strengthen your operation.
Supply Chain Strength
One of the primary strengths of the supply chain is the availability of software tools to help monitor and track activity in the supply chain.
There is no shortage of software that creates efficiencies, accountability, and metrics to help companies maintain the status quo. These tools also allow for continuous improvement to improve processes and support people.
The challenge is identifying which software tools are the right fit for your company! We talk to companies all the time who feel like they are not using their ERP system to its fullest capabilities or are still dependent on manual processes because there are too many tools to keep up with.
If your team is overwhelmed by tools, then we believe one of the best things you can do is to simplify supply chain management. We can help in that area through our CloudLogix platform, which was built to serve as a central hub to connect and streamline your supply chain.
Supply Chain Weakness
It’s easy to rely on software tools when the waters are calm. But, the real test of strength comes when the waters are rough. Although many companies claim to have resilient supply chains, recent supply chain events have proven that unplanned disruptions can hurt even the strongest companies.
As mentioned before, there are many capable tools to support an efficient supply chain. But, not every supply chain is built to navigate today’s variables and unforeseen events.
What often happens during a crisis? Tools and processes are ignored, and decisions are made in panic mode, which causes a ripple effect with lingering fallout. This is very difficult to correct and clean up once the crisis has passed.
For companies to turn this weakness into a strength, it’s important to achieve buy-in throughout the company about the processes that should be followed and the tools that should be utilized in each situation.
Supply Chain Opportunity
We believe the first and primary opportunity for companies to realize improvements is to move systems away from on-premise hosting. Some companies have already made this move, which has enabled them to realize improvements and execute on the improvements.
Moving to cloud-based solutions is the first step to ensuring that software providers can provide your company with the latest updates quickly and easily. This way, you can always be sure that you’re up to date on the latest features so that your people can continue to utilize tools and follow processes during standard and abnormal situations.
By moving to the cloud, you can set up contingency plans in your internal processes. You’ll have the flexibility to adapt so that if there is a crisis event, you have a playbook to prevent decisions from going completely rogue.
Supply Chain Threat
Unfortunately, the COVID-19 disruption was just the start of supply chain disruptions in this era. In our supply chain outlook, we expect that unforeseen events will continue to affect companies, such as the long-term ramifications of the pandemic, weather events, port issues, and war.
Before the pandemic, it seemed like these larger issues were sporadic and lasted only a short while. Now, they are coming in waves and have become part of the new reality. This is why companies need to improve their use of tools and optimize processes to help navigate large-scale challenges.
Companies cannot just focus on outward threats, though. It’s important to also look inward. One of the local threats we have observed is complacency and rigidity within companies involved in the supply chain. Now is not the time to hold onto past ways of doing things; it’s time to look for areas of improvement!
How CloudLogix Can Support Your Supply Chain
Our team has been in your shoes before. We understand the challenges of supply chain management. Our experts can take a deep dive into your operation to see where you can implement change:
- We can help you identify vulnerabilities.
- We can look for areas of improvement with tools and processes.
- We will drive toward making your logistics operation as efficient as it can possibly be!
Plus, with our flexible, cloud-based tools, we will provide you with the latest features to manage your supply chain. We based these features on feedback from our customers and leading industry sources to make sure you have access to the best support for your needs.
When you work with CloudLogix, you will gain access to the visibility and automation you need to be ready for anything so that you can react accordingly.
We are a true partner who is ready to serve alongside you. We will continually deploy the tools you need and make changes as necessary to help you navigate the supply chain’s toughest challenges – even those we haven’t even come across yet.
Get started today by scheduling a consultation with our team. Let’s talk more about our supply chain outlook for your operation!
