How to Use Supply Chain Analytics for Performance Management

With suppliers, manufacturers, and distributors located all over the country or even the globe, it can be difficult to keep track of everything that’s happening throughout your supply chain in real-time. You have to keep an eye on performance of everything from procurement to inventory management, to supplier management, identifying potential issues before they become major problems.

You’re responsible for ensuring that your company’s supply chain runs smoothly and efficiently, from the sourcing of raw materials to the delivery of finished products to customers all over the world. You know that even a small hiccup in your supply chain can cause major disruptions, delays, and ultimately, loss of revenue.

By leveraging data, supply chain executives across industries can identify performance gaps, optimize their operations, and gain a competitive edge.

The Power of Supply Chain Analytics

Supply chain analytics collects, analyzes, and uses data from various sources to gain insights into your supply chain. By tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) such as inventory levels, delivery times, and production costs, you can gain insights into your operations and identify areas for improvement. This can lead to significant cost savings, improved efficiency, and better customer satisfaction.

Supply chain analytics can help organizations:

Identify areas of waste and inefficiency
Optimize inventory levels and reduce stockouts
Improve delivery times and increase on-time delivery rates
Reduce transportation costs and improve routing
Enhance supplier performance and reduce risk

How to Leverage Supply Chain Analytics for Performance Management

To leverage supply chain analytics for performance management, organizations need to follow a few key steps:

Define your Goals and Objectives

Before diving into data analysis, organizations need to define their goals and objectives. This means identifying the key performance indicators (KPIs) that matter most for their business. For example, a manufacturer might focus on reducing production costs, while a retailer might prioritize improving on-time delivery rates. Defining goals and objectives upfront helps organizations stay focused on what matters most.

Collect and Consolidate Data

To gain insights from supply chain analytics, organizations need to collect and consolidate data from various sources. This includes data from enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, transportation management systems (TMS), warehouse management systems (WMS), and other sources. By bringing all of this data together in one place, organizations can get a holistic view of their supply chain operations.

Analyze and Interpret Data

Once the data is collected and consolidated, organizations can start analyzing and interpreting it. This involves using various analytics tools and techniques to identify patterns, trends, outliers, and opportunities for improvement. For example, organizations might use predictive analytics to forecast demand and optimize inventory levels, or use network optimization tools to identify the most efficient transportation routes.

Act on Insights

Finally, you need to act on the insights you gain from your data. This involves making changes to your supply chain operations to improve performance. It may require you to renegotiate contracts with suppliers, optimize production schedules, or change delivery routes, among other things.

Organizations need to continuously monitor performance and adjust their strategies as needed to stay ahead of the competition.

Supply chain analytics is a powerful tool for driving performance management in today’s competitive business environment. You know you need to consolidate all the data from your supply chain, but what is the best way to bring all of that data together to gain these insights?

The Importance of Supply Chain Performance Management Software

That’s where supply chain performance management software comes in. This type of software allows you to move beyond track and trace into deeper analytics with impactful insights from your data. You can monitor every aspect of your supply chain in real-time, giving you complete visibility and control over your operations.

How Supply Chain Performance Management Software Works

So, how does supply chain performance management software work? Essentially, it pulls your data from various sources (ERP, WMS, TMS, IoT technology etc.) and uses advanced analytics and data visualization tools to help you monitor and analyze your supply chain data in real-time. This allows you to identify trends, patterns, and potential issues before they become major problems.

For example, let’s say you’re using supply chain performance management software to monitor your production process. You notice that one of your suppliers is consistently delivering raw materials that are below your quality standards. With this information, you can take action to either improve the quality of the raw materials or find a new supplier.

The Benefits of Supply Chain Performance Management Software

The benefits of using supply chain performance management software are clear. With this type of software, you can:

Improve your supply chain efficiency and cost savings
Increase your customer satisfaction and loyalty
Streamline your procurement, inventory management, and supplier management processes
Reduce the risk of supply chain disruptions and delays
Identify potential issues before they become major problems
Improve your overall supply chain performance

Choosing the Right Supply Chain Performance Management Software

Of course, not all supply chain performance management software is created equal. When choosing a software solution for your supply chain, it’s important to consider factors such as:

Your specific supply chain needs and challenges
The features and functionality of the software
The scalability and flexibility of the software
The ease of use and implementation
The level of support and training offered by the software provider

Real Time Intelligence’s eP360 visibility and performance management software solution is proven at scale globally, stress tested for quantity and complexity—making it a reliable solution for companies of any size.

eP360 is also data agnostic, pulling data from various sources into one hub for actionable insights to performance across your entire supply chain. The easy-to-use, and easy-to-understand interface allows stakeholders throughout your organization to share and see data in real-time. This quick-to-value visibility and traceability option is ready to go, so you can start seeing ROI and optimizing facility and supplier performance sooner.

Our customer portfolio speaks to the power and effectiveness of our solution. They trust us to provide impactful insights into their data to make informed decisions. They now have the data to see new opportunities and make improvements inside their facilities and across their supplier network, saving millions.

Contact Real Time Intelligence today to learn how our supply chain analytics and performance management solution can help you optimize your supply chain and drive value for your business.