A supply chain is a system of organisations, people, information, and resources involved in moving a product or service from the supplier to the customer. It involves procurement, production, warehousing, logistics, and sales. In essence, it’s everything necessary in getting products to consumers—from materials acquisition to inventory management.
This nature makes supply chains vulnerable to disruptions by natural and artificial disasters. Thus, knowing how much inventory you have in a location can let you know if you can continue operations without interruption if an unwanted event occurs. Knowledge of other warehouses and delivery routes can allow you to identify alternative areas where items can be restocked in case a catastrophe strikes.
Although the scenarios mentioned above may seem troublesome to many businesses, there can be a strategic approach to managing problems related to supply chains. One is by getting managed service providers (MSPs) so they can navigate such concerns better.
Managed Services And Ways These Can Strengthen Your Supply Chain
Supply chain management can be a daunting task. To keep your business productive and running smoothly, you’ll need to ensure your team members work together using the most advanced technology. Managed services can assist you in this goal. Businesses can work with an experienced company specialising in this field and streamline their processes through technology.
Although most businesses are familiar with some managed services, there can be confusion over what these can do for supply chain management. That’s because different businesses provide different services to strengthen supply chain operations.
For example, an insurance firm might provide business continuity plans that help clients recover if they encounter unexpected setbacks, such as natural disasters or acts of terrorism. On the other hand, a consulting group may develop strategic solutions to organisational problems. An information technology (IT) company might provide its clients with security and network management services. If you’re in Texas, for instance, and looking for IT support in Dallas, hiring the best IT managed services in the area would be beneficial as your business grows and evolves over time.
All these service providers have deep industry knowledge and experience in their respective areas of expertise, making them ideal partners for supply chain organisations. But, how exactly do they do this? Here are specific ways managed services fortify supply chains:
Use Reporting And Analytics
Analytics is one of the best innovations in supply chains. It’s a necessary tool to track progress, review best practices, identify trends, forecast future needs, and provide strategic insights into the current state and future objectives. It enables visibility into the actual costs of doing business, the value created through customer satisfaction levels, and priorities within supply chains.
MSPs utilise such tools to analyse key data points in the supply chain process, like shipping times, delivery confirmation details, inventory information, and more. They may also provide continual updates about anything that’s happening on their end that may have an impact on supply chain operations. For example, one of your suppliers has had a sudden spike in production and can’t keep up with the demand. Your managed service provider will call or email to ensure that you’re aware of potential delays or product shortages.
Provide Proactive And Preventive Services
Modern supply chains are complex, globalised networks with multiple nodes and touchpoints. Even the slightest downtime in production or distribution can have significant repercussions for various industries involved.
By providing services such as proactive maintenance, machine monitoring, predictive analysis, third-party logistics management, and service level agreements (SLAs), managed services providers can take steps and prevent disruptions before they happen. They do this by proactively looking for bottlenecks and warning of potential issues, reducing repair costs, improving efficiency, and giving you a competitive edge over others.
Conduct Contingency Planning
Contingency planning has long been a strategy to strengthen supply chain operations. After all, it’s essential to have a plan to get your business back on track in an outage, natural disaster, or some other events that can disrupt operations.
Managed services providers can help fortify their clients’ supply chains by conducting contingency planning for their needs. Such services provide two key features: operational continuity and financial protection. Operational continuity involves developing response plans in case something like an earthquake or fire could lead to delayed shipments and damage to inventory. Financial protection, on the one hand, is based on the premise that you can keep your business up and running even if disruptions and crises occur.
Conclusion
Managed services can make a significant difference in how various companies’ supply chains operate. Production processes can run more smoothly with the help of these outsourced experts. The services they provide can even be utilised by companies as they grow and adapt to their updated business models. They’ll also be able to take advantage of innovations as a result of new technologies and methods of working brought by hiring MSPs.