In a recent Bizagi study, 67% of respondents from the manufacturing sector said they had been frustrated by the amount of manual work involved in their job. 1 in 3 respondents said that manual tasks took up more than 50% of their time. That’s a lot of time that could be spent on more valuable actions.
These manual tasks are making it hard to deliver not only efficiency across the supply chain, but also makes change more difficult to deliver. And if the past few years have taught us anything, it’s that organizations need to be prepared for change.
Process automation can ensure that the systems supporting your supply chain, either within your own organization or connecting with others, are orchestrated and efficient enough to power through periods of uncertainty.
Nearly 75% of manufacturing and distribution executives say that Microsoft Excel contributes to their sales and operations planning processes (S&OP) according to a survey by Supply Chain Dive's studioID and West Monroe.
With all this information locked up in spreadsheets, it can be hard for your organization to reach its full operational potential. Excel Macros can help up to a point, but information still has to be emailed from person to person, which can result in important notifications getting held up in inboxes, and ultimately slowing down operations. Not to mention, when data is being entered into multiple spreadsheets at once, it’s hard to know which is the most up-to-date version. Automating data uploads into a central platform allows visibility across the process and eliminates the chance of information getting lost when being passed from person to person.
Unilever International transformed its customer shipping information maintenance process, which manages complex documents adhering to the shipping policies of various countries. Previously, Excel documents were completed and shared over email, meaning there was no visibility and control over the process.
Now shipping documents are managed on single platform for full visibility and control. Over 170 fields are imported from Excel and displayed in an easy-to-use tabbed format in Bizagi. The established processes mean that required approvals are made, with adherence to shipping policies automated within the workflow. Over 1,900 cases were submitted in the first seven months of use, with 87% of cases completed within a month of submission. Previously, cases would have taken up to two months to complete. Automated follow-up reminders have been put in place to avoid manual chasing and potential delays.
Learn about Bizagi Automation in action across the supply chain, from vendor management to logistics & distribution
In the face of stranded goods, the closure of manufacturing facilities and other unforeseen complications, organizations now need a lot more elasticity in supply chains. In fact, 94% of Fortune 1000 companies saw supply chain disruptions as a result of the coronavirus, and Gartner found that 70% of supply chain leaders have been constantly responding to disruptions since 2019.
Operational agility to adapt to both internal and external factors is integral to keeping supply chains moving. When tasks are performed manually, rather than automated, it takes longer to implement change. When all processes are incorporated into a single, automated workflow, it’s easier to assess the bottlenecks and correct them. An added bonus is that this can be done without adding additional resources. Your processes can be adapted by the users and quickly respond to impending challenges.
In the face of delivery delays and material shortages, the first place many organizations are looking to become more agile is in the sourcing of goods and services. That means adding new suppliers to reduce single source dependencies and increasing the data and intelligence in your demand planning through automated decision making. To do this you need fast and effective processes for vendor selection, supplier onboarding and ongoing management.
In response to supply chain disruption, companies have not only faced the challenge of keeping supply lines moving but doing so in a way that remains profitable. Escalating costs and reduced efficiency, compounded by workforce disruption, have created a huge challenge when it comes to productivity.
Optimized and automated processes are crucial to delivering a new level of efficiency. Manual tasks can often lead to communication delays and natural human error, such as inputting incorrect information. These kinds of tasks are also often tedious, yet necessary: essentially a cost of doing business, or at least they used to be them. Automating tasks like data entry, production tracking, invoices and approvals means your work can be done faster. Ultimately this means you can get your product to market more quickly and satisfy customers with an efficient turnaround.
Some organizations are even looking to different ways of doing business to increase efficiency. Geesinknorba, one of Europe’s leading producers of refuse-collecting vehicles, deals with a broad product portfolio, 99% of which are highly customized to the needs of each customer. This dramatically increases the complexity of the organization’s manufacturing process.
They flipped the smart factory concept on its head by introducing intelligent automation to build ‘smart units’. Configurable processes were linked to the individual products, rather than the production line, so they could be more flexible to meet customer demands, delivering results at speed. Geesinknorba are now producing the most intelligent products on the market in an insightful and agile way, while being flexible to the changing needs of customers and delivering products faster. They have decreased the lead-time, increased the production efficiency by 45% and increased the production output by 40%.
Connectivity and automation bring the efficiency and agility that so many supply chain operators crave. If you would like to find out more about how a low-code platform can help transform your supply chain, download our free ebook, The Strategic Guide to Supply Chain Automation for Manufacturing.
In addition to insight on how to optimize your supply chain, you will also learn:
• 3 steps to building more resilient operations
• Best practices to tackle the key issues faced by manufacturers and retail organizations
• How Bizagi's low-code automation platform has helped leading organizations transform their supply chains
