Today’s competitive marketplace means there’s less room for inefficiency, but the good news is supply chain technology can simplify and optimize your business processes. That’s why it’s imperative for companies to continually innovate and streamline their supply chain, and software likely provides the greatest bang for the buck.

The right service supply chain technology enables your company to create greater visibility within your supply chain, gain more control over your inventory, reduce operating costs, and, ultimately, outpace the competition.

Here’s how tech and platforms designed for the supply chain can provide your company with a more stable and efficient supply chain that enhances customer satisfaction and retention.

1. Real-time, Actionable Data

In order to service customers, you need real-time inventory data at your fingertips that is accurate and actionable, no matter where the part is located worldwide.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips, barcodes and scanners are vital pieces of equipment that can provide innumerable benefits to your business. For example, RFID chips or barcodes can be placed on every product, which gives your company a way to easily track inventory.

With computerized product management, RFID chips and a barcode system provide increased visibility that can substantially improve your supply chain efficiency by detecting any order anomalies as they occur — enabling employees to immediately correct mistakes and reduce errors. Such technology also allows for easier, more consistent tracking throughout your supply chain, giving you maximum control and visibility over parts, whether those are motherboards or processors.

Knowing what you have and where it’s located leads to supply chain efficiencies and lower operating costs.

2. Visibility Across Your Supply Chain

Paired with RFID technology, cloud-based computerized shipping and tracking further simplifies the supply process and can dramatically reduce shipping errors.

Software like FlashTrac and its mobile version FlashLite enables savvy business owners to consolidate all aspects of their supply chain in one place. The apps enable you to digitally organize inventory data, monitor and manage shipping and tracking information, and create electronic invoices with ease.

Such supply chain management technologies make it easy to greatly reduce the time spent shipping, receiving, tracking, and compiling order data. This can save your company both time and money.

Last but not least, enhanced data availability makes it easier to produce customized reports and auto-generated reports that help your customers and you better understand where opportunities for improvement lie.

3. Simplify Your Supply Chain

It’s common sense that the more links there are in your supply chain, the more convoluted and complex that chain becomes and the more prone to errors and delays.

Investing in supply chain technology helps your company simplify its supply chain, eliminate unnecessary links, improve efficiency and reduce expenditures.

Optimizing the number of links in your supply chain will also enable you to lower the risks associated with shipping and receiving. For instance, you may find you can decrease the number of vendors for a particular part to two or three companies rather than five or six, and still meet your company’s service obligations and mitigate your risk around unpredictable events, such as natural disasters or a potential trade war.

Customers turn away from businesses that routinely have shipping delays, shipping errors, and products that are out of stock. Enhancing your supply chain technology can minimize risk and improve your company’s reputation within the industry.

4. Enhance Customer Communication

Creating predictability, consistency and visibility within your service supply chain enables your business to communicate faster and more efficiently with customers. Ideally, your supply chain technology will give you immediate access to all the real-time, actionable information you need, such as:

• Parts order tracking
• FSL location map
• Location of specific parts availability globally
• Location of parts nearest the customer
• Tracking field tech support personnel

For an example of how this might work, let’s say a server is down and your customer needs a processing chip to fix it. You can enter in the part number, the location where the part is needed, and the system will tell you where to ship it from.

If your company hasn’t already jumped on the social media bandwagon, this is another communications tool to add to your supply chain arsenal. You can use social media accounts to interact with customers, respond to questions, report accidents or weather conditions that may impede delivery or service schedules, and create automated updates about your inventory.

Social media can also increase the visibility of your company and improve demand for your products and services.

To stay ahead of your competition, it’s essential you continually adapt to emerging tools. Supply chain technology can greatly enhance your productivity as a company by helping you cut costs and improve customer satisfaction.

To learn more about Flash Global end-to-end solution for service supply chain logistics, use the form below to get in touch. An expert advisor can help address your specific needs and provide the detailed information you need to succeed.

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