“Nearly 75% of midsize business owners say they plan to expand their businesses, and the vast majority (90%) are implementing digital strategies to better achieve that growth”.
This was a major finding of a recent Industry Week White Paper, which went on to say that “to achieve these numbers and potentially outperform competitors, manufacturers need to focus on supply chain excellence”.
The white paper identified 3 best practices for achieving this supply chain excellence:
- Automation and AI for agility
- Efficient operations for resiliency
- Increased visibility for customer centricity
Automation and AI for agility
In today’s business environment the pace of change, customer expectations, and supply chain complexity are at never-before-seen levels. And companies are looking to address these challenges in the face of growing regulations, sustainability mandates and employee shortages.
To keep up with the pace of these challenges and still grow, many companies are looking to advanced automation and AI And to do so.
Efficient operations for resiliency
Resiliency has been top of mind for companies of all sizes since the start of the pandemic in 2020. And it seems like we have had business disruption after disruption ever since. So much so that permacrisis was the Colins Dictionary word of the year for 2022.
Companies have prioritized investments in risk-resiliency strategies such as identifying alternate sourcing strategies, driving inventory optimization processes, improving visibility and collaboration with business partners, and digitizing end to end processes.
Increased visibility for customer centricity
The white paper references a recent Oxford Economics Study that highlighted that “companies are struggling to maintain the quality of their products and services while at the same time increasing the speed of interactions with customers”. The study stated that Real-time responsiveness is their top barrier to supply chain success, cited by 40% of respondents, followed by meeting customer demands on time (34%).
It is clear from the paper that the more “customer centric” a company becomes, the better they are at meeting their customers’ requirements.
It is also clear that regardless of the business challenge, increased visibility and transparency of the situation enables you to identify and even predict risks and opportunities and be in a position to respond in a timely manner.
To learn more, download the Industry Week White Paper – Three Milestones That Put Midsize Manufacturers on the Path to Supply Chain Excellence.
