Effective supply chain management forms an essential part of your business's success. It allows you to:
- Control costs and cash flow
- Meet growing customer expectations
- Mitigate risk
- Ensure compliance
- Control quality
Unfortunately, many systems that are used for supply chain management are outdated and inefficient, making it harder for supply chain managers to deal with:
- Rising costs across the entire supply chain
- Repeated disruption to the movement of goods
- Managing pricing and profit margins alongside inflation
- Unexpected fluctuations in demand
- Industry regulations that can change without notice
- Disconnected systems that create gaps in their tech stack
- An increasing need for sustainability
But all the above challenges can be solved using a low-code process automation platform, so you can deliver results that keep your business competitive and your customers happy.
Using low-code technology to automate tasks in your supply chain helps you improve efficiency and resilience and tackle challenges. By orchestrating people, systems and processes across the supply chain, you’ll open the door to a variety of benefits.
Increased visibility
Implementing automated enterprise apps helps you get to grips with your supply chain data, giving you a view of where the bottlenecks are. It allows for improved information sharing between stakeholders, suppliers, distributors, and retailers, helping to improve the efficiency of your supply chain operations. Managing your master data is one example of that, making sure that you have a single version of the truth and that everyone is looking at the same information.
Better connections
Using process automation will eliminate silos and connect your people, processes, and technology. Right now communication and handover points are filled with gaps that make it easy for things to fall between the cracks. These improved connections lead to better consistency and efficiency across the supply chain.
Fewer errors
Disruption often leads to the introduction of manual steps that bridge the gaps when systems don’t support the changes that are needed. But these manual actions bring mistakes and delays. By using apps to put clearly governed processes in place and automate as many steps as possible you can reduce the risk of human error and the impact it can have on your organization.
Improved performance with analytics
When your supply chain processes are unified, you unlock a vast amount of data that can provide powerful insights into your operations. From sourcing to distribution, you’ll be able to see how your supply chain is performing and, more importantly, where you can make improvements to your operations. Connected insights will also help you increase forecasting accuracy and mitigate risks before they can affect your operations.
Respond to change
Modern apps are much easier to adapt than the legacy systems so many organizations depend on. Most companies are now using modern platforms to add an agile layer on top of existing systems, giving the agility of modern technology without having to rip and replace business critical systems in multi-year projects. In today’s supply chains this agility is vital. Organizations face constant changes in customer expectations, demand and regulations.
Discover more about automating supply chain operations in our Strategic Guide to Supply Chain Automation For Manufacturing & Retail ebook.
From aiding long-term planning to simplifying the returns process, automation is helping businesses to transform their supply chain management.
Adidas use Bizagi’s low-code technology to improve how they source goods from suppliers and are enjoying a 60% reduction in their operational costs. They achieved this by connecting siloed departments, centralizing supplier data, and making their platform more efficient and user-friendly. Read the full story to find out how they reduced time-to-market by two thirds.
NRF, a Dutch radiator factory, used automation to speed up the manufacturing process, halving the lead time to complete an order. This success was largely down to the complete digitization of product workflows and the elimination of manual admin tasks caused by gaps in their legacy systems.
Automation also improves the delivery phase of the supply chain. The Central American Bottling Corporation processes over 200 million transactions each year. With process automation, they are now meeting 100% of their delivery SLAs, even delivering to new customers within 24 hours.
Every supply chain is different, so the best way to fill the gaps in your supply chain is with solutions designed for your business. Using a low-code platform to create apps to meet your exact needs is a powerful and popular approach. To find out more about building apps in Bizagi that orchestrate your supply chain operations, click here.
