With new innovations in the market, companies are using increasingly technological strategies in their supply chain. The concept of the collaborative supply chain is growing and opening ways for companies to position themselves in the market with the essential needs to serve consumers.
Integrated supply chain represents the new era of innovation in retail and industry, this is because the way of treating processes have changed, the focus of business is on achieving agility in its operation, having an increasingly strategic and organized supply chain with automated and integrated processes.
In this article we clarify some doubts about the supply chain, in addition to presenting how the market scenario has become more competitive after companies invest in technology for their supply management.
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What is Supply Chain
The supply chain is associated with the flow of activities of its processes and products, thus involving in this flow suppliers, customers, carriers and other partners that are inserted in its strategic flow. Unraveling their roles, each one does their part in this concept and some attribute the beginning of the chain to the supplier, but there are “steps” for the path of the products.
When applying the concept the attention must be paid to the raw material, the beginning of a more efficient supply chain will depend directly on your product management, where you identify the needs of customers to start carrying out the productions of your product. That is, targeting your chain and how the customer behaves, you will have an even more agile process from the concept.
It can also be confused with logistics management for some companies, the supply chain involves all processes such as: purchasing, storage at the supplier, receiving, shipping to retail, distribution to shopkeepers and etc. Different from logistics that in turn acts in the movement of materials, storage and distribution.
How did the concept move to Supply Chain 4.0?
The market has become increasingly competitive, especially now with the advancement of technology in all sectors, with the mission of creating an increasingly efficient demand, aiming at a larger production and more time for companies to streamline their stages in production. Associated with this, the need for the customer to have a personalized experience to be met was created, so companies felt on the mission of improving their processes to the market demand.
With these requirements, innovation took over, thus having the concept of Supply Chain 4.0. This time maximizing operations with the wave of digitalization, allowing companies to integrate and automate supply management processes in software. The concept already aimed to have a connection with all those who are part of the process, but innovation applied this to digitalization, enabling the control of its processes.
A survey by Oxford Economics, commissioned by SAP, found that nearly 50 percent of companies say they have already started implementing smart technologies in their supply chains to make their operation efficient and meet customer demands. And 27% are testing some features to boost their business. Thus, exploring the concept of Supply Chain 4.0 creating a more technological management.
What is part of Supply Chain 4.0?
There are several features within the supply chain 4.0, from smart factories to automated robots, aiding in the advancement of operations. Intelligent software like Kikker drives efficiency and profitability by providing predictability, visibility, inventory reserve, process automation, and decision-making synchronized with the operation, all automatically.
Smart supply management software like Kikker plays a key role in the supply chain 4.0 revolution with its innovative solutions, the platform is transforming retail and industry, driving efficiency, agility and collaboration across the supply chain. With its innovative approach, Kikker facilitates the integration of data and processes, enabling a fluid exchange of information between supply chain participants.
Kikker has the characteristics of supply chain 4.0, with the use of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Big Data Analytics, thus making a supply operation increasingly innovative and most importantly, planner, working with data simultaneously, improving its end-to-end process.
Advantages of Supply Chain 4.0
The use of the tools provide an efficient management with numerous advantages, such as reduction of operating costs, reduction of the number of lost sales, optimization of the inventory, making it even more efficient. We can highlight other strategic steps to ensure advantages ahead of the competition, such as:
Service
Improve the customer experience, using all the data available at the points of sale and all the market information, so you can offer a suitable product, according to what the customer expects, taking advantage of the personalization of the relationship with the customer.
Supply Chain Costs
With a thorough analysis of your logistics data, you can act to reduce the number of points traveled by the inputs and the kilometers driven, through the optimization of the routes. This implies the constant search for the maintenance of the level of service required by the client.
Supply Chain Planning
The manual execution of planning activities usually consumes a considerable amount of time. With intelligent sourcing software, it is possible to automate about 80% of the entire planning process on average, which results in greater agility and improved quality.
Stocks
The function of inventories is to mitigate fluctuations between demand and supply. The introduction of innovative planning algorithms has a substantial impact on reducing uncertainty (forecast errors), thereby eliminating the need for safety stock. In addition, the optimization of batch production and the improvement of material logistics contribute to the reduction of the time required for stock replenishment.
To get results and be ready for the market with the supply chain 4.0, it is important to bet on an intelligent software capable of delivering complete solutions for all phases of the supply chain. Use data to your advantage and technology, enabling the automation of processes at different links in the supply chain, whether in retail or industry.
Count on Kikker to ensure your steps to innovation, reducing your costs and creating an increasingly intelligent workflow. Talk to our team of consultants and ask for a demonstration of the supply management software that will get your company out of the red.
