A logistics supply chain with a large number of assets across a network of clients spread over various geographic locations can cause challenges when it comes to maintaining an efficient supply chain.
As industries around the world across different sectors adopt Industry 4.0 the supply chain sector is included in this shift towards transforming and optimising tasks through digital tools.
Adopting a pallet management software brings greater efficiency to a supply chain and a more sensible bottom line to many areas of business.
Supply chains are complex systems that involve multiple tasks and parties that need to interact and function synchronously to make sure shipments are in transit and not sitting idle, wasting precious time and money.
By employing a pallet and container management system – a business can eliminate manual processes, keep a close on the movement of shipment, keep a count of incoming and outgoing pallets and crates, have a single communication channel and much more.
Employing Digital softwares
Supply chain digitization is the process of employing digital tools to increase the efficiency of your analogue supply chain processes. A digital software for your logistics supply chain can also aggregate information such as internal historical sales data, point-of-sale consumer data and external data such as Google trends or competitor prices.
Supply chain digitization is achieved primarily with software — whether it’s out-of-the-box, custom-made, or a combination of both — focusing on automation and business intelligence.
Advantages
Supply chain digitization can have a profound impact on your bottom line, and it’s essential to the success of businesses in many different industries.
More than 85% of C-level executives anticipate that digitization efforts will enhance cash flow and reduce Days Sales Outstanding.
Adopting a pallet management system can prove to have powerful opportunities to transform a business.
Advantages of a digital supply chain include:
Automate
Manual tasks are without a doubt tedious, a burden and subject to higher levels of human error. By having pallet management software in place, you can reduce this burden of administrative work on your team and have your team all enter updates on a single platform.
This not only frees up their time for other tasks that may need more attention, it also allows you to keep a check on what tasks your team are updating and increases accountability.
A pallet management software helps speed up processes; for example, automated invoicing allows you to get paid faster.
Stay connected
Spreadsheets and email threads are one way to get the information you need but if you stick using spreadsheets, you will be left behind by your fellow competitors starting their digital journey.
The time spent on building an efficient spreadsheet, maintaining it and updating it when necessary can hurt your efficiency and it leaves more room for human error.
Utilizing a pallet and container management software can help you create opportunities for connecting disparate systems, enabling communication across the entire organization, and creating a single source of truth for information.
Make informed decisions
A supply chain can only afford so many delays – delays make your bottom line thinner and thinner.
Anything can go wrong at any point in any industry’s logistics supply chain and you will need to make quick decisions.
A supply chain that is supported by a pallet management software will allow you to gather and analyze massive amounts of data with far less effort and in far less time than with analogue systems.
You can use the data on your software to make an informed decision, build efficient strategies and plan for any scenario.
Incorporating a pallet management system will help you see things in real-time and can lead to bigger payoffs like improved customer experience, better sales, reduced delays and reduced waste.
Inhouse or custom?
As mentioned previously there are 2 main options for digitizing your supply chain management: you can buy or build it yourself.
There is no wrong or right option when it comes to choosing one of the two options but only pros and cons that have to be weighed from a business standpoint.
When you choose to build your own software in-house – you will have to address some of the following challenges:
- Hiring new talent such as: Product Managers, UI/UX designers and Back/Front end developers. Hiring good talent with the right kind of experience can be time consuming and tedious.
- Building the right software, there are several ways to build a good software solutions and your time will have to invest time in identifying the best software tools
- You may need custom plugins to make things work
- Software maintenance and staying updated
While in the long run you may get extremely custom software, you will initially have to spend a lot of time and money to get there, software tools and solutions cannot be built overnight.
For out-of-the-box software solutions, some of the challenges include:
- Identifying a software that will integrate with your existing systems
- Finding the right ready-made solution that meets your exact needs
Ready-made solutions are not getting built to be more custom and are able to solve more industry-specific challenges.
By opting for a ready-made solution, you can enter your business into the realm of digital transformation and save a lot of time and money by employing a software that will make your logistics supply chain more efficient
Transparency in a logistics supply chain is the ultimate goal when it comes to being able to identify a problem holding up a supply chain.
In a system with end-to-end transparency, every member of every step along the supply chain network will have access to all data. Using a pallet management system will enable improved visibility and provide real-time insights into the supply chain, giving you better control of the supply chain.
The Covid-19 pandemic presented numerous challenges to various businesses and countless supply chains were crippled due to outdated manual systems. Traceability falls apart as soon your pallets and crates leave your warehouse.
Conforming to social distancing measures and also carrying out necessary tasks to prevent disruptions in a supply chain can be difficult.
Using a digital approach like a pallet management system can eliminate the need for face-to-face interactions, improving business both during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
