Every supply chain has its own set of pain points. Although varied by industry and company size, these pain points often stem from inefficiencies and entropy, and are manifested as a result of either lack of attention or lack of process, both of which affect your supply chain optimization.
When left to fester, these pain points can create permanent damage within a supply chain. Working to identify and immediately triage these pain points should be a top priority for all companies. The following 3-step process has proven to be an effective way to handle these common pain points:
The first step in the healing process is to DIAGNOSE the pain points – large or small – and determine how they are hurting your supply chain’s overall optimization. One of the best ways to do this is to have a supply chain engineer break your supply chain down, layer by layer. Most supply chains consist of the following layers or departments:
It’s important to be thorough and break down each layer, process by process and person by person. It can be extremely helpful during this process to have the assistance of an experienced supply chain engineer.
The next step in the process is to IDENTIFY solutions. Supply chain solutions can be found in many ways, including:
Be sure to ask yourself these important questions about your WMS in order to determine if it’s up to par:
An underperforming WMS can cause serious damage to a supply chain, which is why we recommended a Tier 1 platform capable of providing better visibility and management of product inventory, as well as additional insight on warehouse labor, space utilization, workflows, equipment requirements and even accounting.
Once you’ve conducted your study, done your Lean action workouts, or leveraged technology, now it’s time to IMPLEMENT with measurable action plans. To measure is to know, and without measurement, you cannot manage toward a successful supply chain.
There are three levels of metrics that should be looked at to achieve supply chain success:
These metrics should be visible and meaningful across a supply chain, and embraced by leadership. When company leaders live by these metrics, the culture becomes one where employees thrive on driving continuous improvement within the supply chain.
Having a partner help identify and mitigate the many stressors you may be facing in your supply chain can be a competitive advantage to your business. For more information specific to increasing your warehouse performance, download our white paper, Rapidly Improve the Performance of Your Warehouse.
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