Investing in quality software for any part of a business will increase efficiency as well as provide necessary data for effective decision making, planning, ordering and inventory control.
Unfortunately, when it comes to the supply chain management software, many businesses fall into the trap of simply choosing software that has the basic functions and features for general supply chains. They fail to consider the unique requirements for the software to match their supply chain, industry, and business model.
By focusing in on what is required in the supply chain management software to meet your needs, this pitfall can be easily avoided. It will mean doing some research on different software suppliers and taking the time to talk with their developers to ensure it can be fully customized to your business needs.
Make a List
It can be very easy to get caught up in some of the bells and whistles on the various types of supply chain management software on the market and overlook a critical function that is missing. To avoid this issue, make a list of the essential and basic components and features that must be included.
Consider who will need to use and access the software, how the software will integrate with any current applications and software programs as well as the reporting capacity of the software.
More Than One Location
Not all supply chain software is designed to work within supply chains where there are multiple locations and types of facilities. This isn’t about having the software at each location, which is a concern if using traditional software options.
Today, the best systems tend to be cloud-based for complete access to information and data retrieval from multiple locations. Rather, this will allow data capture across the complete system while still maintaining different requirements for each location based on its function. With this feature, there is easy monitoring at the most basic levels through to the complete system, providing full transparency for accurate analysis and decision making.
