Expect the Next Disruption to Happen
Leading supply chain experts emphasize that the current ease of supply chains may be short-lived. Macro-economic and geo-political developments could lead to more supply chain disruptions in the near future. Therefore, supply chain managers should prepare their operational processes for the next impact by rethinking their strategies for more control and visibility of shipments across all modes of transport.
The Rise of Digital Services in Supply Chain Management
New digital services have emerged in the supply chain industry, and as more and more partners offer them, achieving visibility into the supply chain becomes easier. The statement, “We are blind between purchase order and goods receipt” no longer holds true as different sources of tracking data are now available.
Carriers offer real-time visibility links to their vessels, and containers on these vessels are also trackable. Ports are digitizing their infrastructure, forwarders are providing tracking links and APIs, and the supply chain manager is able to follow up on the exact position of the cargo and estimate its arrival times with this information.
However, these various services pose another problem.
Dealing with Multiple Data Sources in Supply Chain Management
One of the downsides of digitization is that data in supply chain management is not standardized, and each partner offers a different type of service. Many supply chain managers we interviewed over the past few months have struggled with the need to manually consolidate data from various websites or emails into a central overview, typically a large spreadsheet.
This spreadsheet serves as the basis for subsequent workflows and crisis management. However, because manual data updates can be tedious, updates may be missed or important shipment delays may be overlooked, leading to delayed countermeasures.
Facing Unplanned Cost
Supply chain disruptions can lead to unexpected costs, such as airfreight, express shipping, demurrage, and detention costs, or longer storage periods in the port. These costs can lower the company's margins and may also potentially risk customer satisfaction. For instance, when a shipment is delayed, it may impact the delivery time of the goods, causing frustration for the customer. Therefore, it is crucial for supply chain managers to prepare their operational processes for the next impact by rethinking their strategies for more control and visibility of shipments across all modes of transport. By doing so, they can proactively mitigate the risks and avoid the unplanned costs associated with supply chain disruptions.
Integrating Supply Chain Partner Data
The main reason many companies struggle to integrate supply chain partners, such as suppliers, carriers, and forwarders, is the concern that the different data formats will cause a high workload to harmonize, a high communication effort, or reluctance from partners to collaborate due to their own buying power. Consolidating data from all these sources is necessary to efficiently react to the next disruption. However, many companies find it challenging to plan and execute such a project.
Free Time With Effective Shipment Management
limbiq helps customers effectively manage shipments across all modes of transport. The platform integrates third-party data from various sources and connects supply chain data, providing supply chain managers with full command and control at the SKU level. This allows them to oversee the process from placing the order to receiving the shipment at the final destination.
Pro-active Alerts and Deviation Management
Supply chain managers working with limbiq receive proactive alerts based on previously defined rules. Deviations from expected estimated times of arrival (ETAs) are immediately visible, and countermeasures can be taken.
Advanced And Quick Filters
limbiq is a platform that helps supply chain managers manage their shipments across all modes of transport with ease. One of the key features of limbiq is its ability to enable supply chain managers to quickly filter and search for any type of information needed. This can be done either in a free-text field or via advanced facet filters, which makes it easy to find specific information. This is where limbiq comes in. With its ability to integrate third-party data from various sources and connect supply chain data, limbiq provides supply chain managers with full command and control at the SKU level. This allows them to oversee the process from placing the order to receiving the shipment at the final destination.
Cargo And Shipment Consolidation
Supply chain managers can stop spending time tracking how shipments and particular SKUs correspond to a certain order. In limbiq, everything is connected and the supply chain manager can follow the SKU along shipments and orders, track partial deliveries.
Collaboration with Partners
Partners such as suppliers, forwarders or other partners can update information in the platform so that the supply chain manager is always up-to-date. Users can comment in-line or request information via a chat window.
Document Management
Supply chain managers can exchange all relevant documents related to a file directly within limbiq.
Taking Control
Supply chain managers can now leave the task of collecting data from various sources like ERP, shipping lists, e-mails, and PDFs to Limbiq. With the visibility provided by the data in Limbiq, supply chain managers can plan more accurately and react to supply chain disruptions much more rapidly. This enables them to take greater control of their supply chain.
To learn more about limbiq, visit www.limbiq.com and book your free personalized 30 min introductory call with a supply chain expert today.
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