Supply chains are bound to discover uncertainty and disruption. As the revenues go downhill and supply chains become less viable, organizations are swiveling to Control Towers to obtain the desired visibility they need. As a matter of fact, several existing supply chain software solutions are closely knitted legacy applications and today’s organizations cannot afford to forsake the need for integration. Control Towers are fast, easy and the most cost-effective to implement as we stay better informed, connected, and resilient at the same time.
An ideal supply chain Control Tower provides clear visibility, control, and actionability throughout the different stages of a supply chain.
The following are three ways in which Control Towers can offer sublime flexibility and a rise in financial returns.
1. Combining Planning and Execution to amplify order optimization:
A supply chain is often a convoluted system that involves different parties managing multiple order types, shipments, and inventories at various locations against divergent cost factors. Having an insight into real-time processes and flows to facilitate the most cost-effective use of all the available resources is a prerequisite for efficient order planning. The same holds good for execution particularly when the operations don’t go the intended way.
Most of the enterprise systems such as ERP, WMS and TMS typically focus either on planning or on execution, but rarely both. An ideal Control Tower bridges the gap by providing a comprehensive view of all the inventory, in-transit stock, replenishment plans, order, and shipment types with their flows.
A robust Control Tower will be configurable and able to apply the smart business rules to the data it gathers. To adapt to the unexpected sudden changes and disruptions, an efficient Control Tower lets us easily and continuously configure the operational parameters and thereby determines best partner options, usage of resources, and routes. Control Tower can automate these decisions and handle the exceptions effectively as and when they arise. Exceptions management is a tremendous way to save on costs, for instance, splitting and consolidating orders as needed can save exponentially on unnecessary expedites.
2. Converging Order and Logistics Management for increased flexibility:
If a Control Tower is to screen just the logistics and transportation, it would calculate the fastest and cheapest way out to ship an item from source to its destination. If the order management is combined with logistics, it will have real-time access to ongoing orders, flows, business options, and let the businesses or even split the order and ship it from different locations.
3. Uncovering previously hidden costs:
An efficient Control Tower can provide exceptional insight into how organizations view and control their expenditure. If we desire a clear picture, Control Tower documents the complete journey of an order from start to finish in great detail.
With the astute blending of planning and execution, the Control Tower captures all types of costs including customs, duties, storage, transport, handling and so forth to land at a total cost. These landed costs can be modeled and continuously tracked to increase financial returns. An added advantage of capturing all the cost types is to standardize all invoice processes. Such an automated process abolishes any errors and discrepancies while providing much needed holistic cost visibility.
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