Using low code development to improve supply chain management
Supply Chain Management (SCM) is the management of the flow of goods and services which includes numerous processes from movement and storage of raw materials to the transformation of the raw materials into the final products, as well as end-to-end order fulfilment from the manufacturers to the consumers. It is a critical factor in determining the long-term success of a business. When Supply Chain is managed properly, a business can significantly reduce its operating expenses, improve customer satisfaction, and in return boost up the revenue. It can give a business a competitive advantage over its competitors.
However, in this era of globalization, free trade, and open markets, the supply chain has grown to be very complex. Businesses need to make sure that their supply chain can evolve to meet the growing demands and multiple channels to market. The only way to do this is to digitally transform their processes from procurement, inventory, finance, and other functions.
There is a range of solutions and technologies out there that can help businesses to digitally transform their supply chain but all those solutions and technologies are independent and often addresses only a particular section or function out of the whole complex supply chain. This creates a set of challenges that businesses need to address. That is why, as reported by Gartner, more than half of the organizations have not yet actively started to build a roadmap for supply chain digital transformation.
Below we will discuss some of those challenges faced by the businesses and how we can use the low code development platform to improve it:
1.Lack of traceability
Traceability is the ability to track a product through all the stages of the supply chain. This kind of ability is highly in demand, especially in the food supply chain. Nowadays, consumers are savvier and have increased awareness of environmental issues. A lot of consumers will prefer to purchase from an organization that is environmentally friendly as compared to those that are not. Hence, they would like to know where the products that they bought come from.
Being able to trace and share with customers the information from each and every step of supply change can enhance the brand integrity and increases customer loyalty. It also enables the business to track the source of the problem should there be any faulty product and have a quick action to stop the products from reaching the consumer or to at least have the ability to withdraw that faulty product from the market. This will allow a business to have a competitive advantage over its competitors.
With Low code development platform, all the data and information regarding the products will be recorded at every step of the supply chain. Since the data is stored in the database on the same platform, businesses can identify and trace the origin of the products should there be any faulty product reported.
2.Broken link of communication between stakeholders involved
Supply chain management involves different stakeholders from different business units or departments. These units or departments usually will have their own system and will update them individually. The only time the information on the status of the production is shared with other departments is during the weekly meeting. This causes the link of communications to be broken and resulting in the reduced performance or productivity of the business.
When using a low code development platform, every unit can create and have their own solutions to help them with their daily activities or operational needs. While each unit using different systems, all of them are built on the same platform and this allows the sharing of information to be faster and seamless.
3.Inability to react with the sudden increase in demand
Sometimes due to certain reasons, there will be a sudden increase in demand for a certain product in a certain area. When the supply chain of a business is properly managed, they can leverage on new demand to increase the level of their product and resulted in higher revenue. However, because of the different systems used by different business units, there will be a lag of time for the information to be captured and resulting in the business to fail to meet the surging demand.
With the advancement of technology and the help of a low code development platform, the business can create an analysis of the possibility of the surge of the demand and it will enable the production team to plan ahead of the surge so that it can increase the production output within short notice.
4.No visibility of costs
The main purpose of every business is to have a profitable business. On the other hand, consumers are looking for a quality product with the lowest possible price. Globalization and open markets have increased the global competition and make it difficult for businesses to have a fat profit margin and consumers are spoilt with choices from different competing manufacturers. To make it worst, the increase in the cost of raw materials, energy, and manpower eat up all those profit margins that the businesses should have.
To keep the profit margin and continue to provide a quality product at an affordable price, businesses can only turn to cost reduction. To achieve this, businesses need to improve their cost control and constantly monitor the cost from all aspects of the supply chain.
With a low code development platform, all the business units will be able to connect and share information seamlessly, resulting in transparency in the information. Every business units can report their costs and overheads in a common and centralized manner which allow for accurate cost tracking and reporting. It can also be linked to financial analytics which can provide an early sight of cost leakage and other financial issues.
Above are some samples of how low code development platform such as FloWave can help businesses to have effective supply chain management. Feel free to contact us for a FREE consultation on how we can value add to your business!