Collaboration, Agility, and Visibility: The Supply Chain Trifecta
Customers have become increasingly responsive to new trends and their range of preferences have also diversified, leading to an explosion in the variety of products being sold. High demand for product variety, especially in the case of short lifecycle products like food, apparel, toys, and computers, makes it challenging for manufacturers and retailers to forecast which precise range of products will be a hit with consumers. Extreme competition in the marketplace has forced companies to respond more quickly to customer needs through faster product development and accelerated delivery schedules. Only those companies that offer highly relevant products and deliver them on time receive their customers’ full support and appreciation. Manufacturers and retailers must join forces across the supply chain to become more effective in aligning supply with actual consumer demand. Improving collaboration, agility, and visibility are the three most important ways to strengthen your supply chain. Each of these three attributes offers multiple operational enhancements for manufacturers and retailers in the fashion, apparel, and consumer goods industries. Collaboration Through collaboration, manufacturers and retailers can meet customer demand better by sharing sales information amongst themselves to generate accurate demand forecasts. Sharing information up the supply chain can help companies proactively adjust to evolving supply demands, which leads to less onhand inventory. Not only is continued collaboration with dedicated partners the best way to reduce long-term supply chain costs, but it also leads to developments in product and process innovation. Instead of relying on telephone conversations or email, leading enterprises use modern communication solutions that seamlessly transfer relevant business information between trading partners’ enterprise systems. Using a specialized business communication solution based on electronic data interchange