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Many executives know just how important a good supply chain can be for product lifecycles and other business processes. In many ways, the supply chain is the spine of a modern business operation. It’s how materials get sourced and how projects move ahead. It has a huge impact on all sorts of revenue handling offices and other parts of the enterprise. That said, there are some common things that companies are looking for to convert a “legacy system” to a new high-tech way to handle their supply chain. Here are some of the ideas getting a lot of attention in boardrooms and management offices across many different industries.
Electronic Warehouse Systems
Converting all of those old paper orders, tagging documents and “bills of lading” to new digital barcode and electronic document systems saves businesses a lot of time as well as a lot of money. By adopting a digital approach, companies cut down on the labor involved in handling paper. They also get more portable records for top-level monitoring, which can help the company to plan better. New digital documents systems effectively cover supply chain issues as well as a range of other issues for businesses. Some of these include liability for archive records. Others address the need for e-discovery and availability of information in order to better serve customers.
Inventory Models
The emergence of inventory models like just-in-time inventory have also revolutionized the modern supply chain. Now companies can demand only what they need from suppliers. Managers can make sure that just the right amounts of materials are delivered to a warehouse or storage facility. This helps the business to shrink its physical footprint and save money on corporate real estate. It also helps leaders to know exactly where supplies or materials are at any given time.
Pro Forma Invoices and Other Financial Documents
New high-tech supply chain systems can also convert both regular and pro forma invoices to digital documents that travel well over IP or wireless networks. That helps these important documents move quickly to a manager’s smartphone or other portable device. Electronic invoice handling helps with both ends of a business supply chain. It helps the company respond better to its suppliers while also streamlining the handling of customer accounts.
These types of digital technologies have a broad application to a diversity of businesses. It doesn’t matter what’s being run, whether it’s a chain of restaurants, hospitals or addiction rehab centers, law offices, or manufacturing operations. In any case, strategically implemented supply chain strategies will help to preserve profit margins and put feathers in the caps of managers and executives who find and implement these new solutions within a company.
