The foundation of any business depends on the production of high-quality goods and in the effective management and distribution of those goods and services - by keeping a hands off approach to supply chain, you risk leaving a lot of efficiencies on the table.

Statistics suggest that 79% of the organizations that have a proper and regulated supply chain management system tend to perform better. Their revenue growth within their genre of industries is higher, too. The reports also state that 30% of the leaders of supply chain management advise us to remember the importance of responding to the queries of our clients as quickly as possible, and keep it as one of our main priorities in business.

It’s therefore extremely clear that having a strong supply chain management plan is imperative. I’m certain that any business with has a big turnover of goods and services gives a lot of attention to supply chain management. This is primarily because none of us want to be stuck in a situation where we don’t have the materials ready for our products, or can’t handle the sales and shipping of our company.

Making a plan for supply chain management isn’t difficult at all, but it has to be done with precision. Since the future of supply chain technology looks pretty bright, it’s never been easier for companies to take control over their end-to-end development and production cycle and maximize their throughput. Let’s take a look at how to come up with an efficient supply chain management plan.

How to Write a Supply Chain Management Plan

The competition these days is extremely fierce, which is why we cannot afford to leave anything to chance when it comes to providing the best service to our customers. Therefore, automating our supply chain management is more of a necessity than an option. 

When we have a proper plan in place for our data logging, and data collection and analysis, it improves the overall productivity along with the turnover of our company. It also increases our chances of collaborating with reputed organizations, along with increasing our revenue and returns on investments. 

Here’s why we can create a competent supply chain management plan:

1. Connect business plans with supply chain strategies

The two elements binding our supply chain management plan together are the supply chain itself and the strategies we implement. The good thing is that even though our supply chain management strategies and supply chain management plans are two separate entities, they’re connected by the same core idea. 

This idea is that we handle several supply chains in our company in order to reduce the overall costs of operations, having an edge over our competitors, and delivering the best possible services and products to our customers. Therefore, having an effective supply chain management system means allowing it to help us overcome hurdles such as financial pressure, governmental regulations, obstacles in operations, and so on. 

2. Go through current supply chain management strategies

In order to come up with an SCM (supply chain management) plan that works, we first need to go through our current supply chain systems and strategies to figure out what’s not working, and how to make the necessary modifications. This requires looking at the whole process objectively.

An in-depth discovery is what should be first on our agenda in this regard. This entails viewing the strengths and weaknesses of our supply chain, and setting goals accordingly. The next step is to see if our approach is out of date. For example, if we’re resorting to manual data processing for recording and exchanging data, or if our system doesn’t include data automation. After this, our budget can be evaluated to see if we can bring in a more advanced and fresh system for supply chain management. 

3. Work with third-party vendors

We’re all aware of the fact that lack of communication can often be the reason why supply chains fail and crash. If there’s unclear communication between team members, third-party vendors, and strategy planners, even the best supply chain management plan can collapse.

It’s up to us to make sure that we constantly communicate with our vendors and be as honest with them as possible. Along with this, we must also create an environment where every member of our team knows exactly what the plan is, so that we can all put our heads together and break down difficult information in a format that’s easy to decipher.

4. Pick the effective solutions

There are numerous supply chain management solutions that exist, and we must choose the one that best suits our needs and requirements. Firstly, are the inventory management solutions. Whenever we’re dealing with huge quantities of inventory, manual labour can lead to errors, and also end up becoming tiresome. An inventory management solution can decrease the amount of returns and errors, and also improve the productivity and efficiency of those working with us.

Secondly, we need to have a solution for warehouse automation. Having a warehouse can be a constant source of pressure when trying to maintain a level of efficiency. Therefore, with a warehouse automation solution, stockouts can be prevented, and safety stocks can be reduced as well. It also enables us to reduce the errors that happen with data entry, improve the accuracy of orders, and keep the operations running all the time.

Lastly, solutions related to off-network mobility can prove pretty useful, too. Since almost everyone is connected to one other through technology these days, it’s only reasonable to employ those communication networks within our workforce as well, so that open conversations take place, and no one is left in the dark regarding anything related to the workings of the company.