A better viewpoint on your supply chain Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and information is in their hands Find out why Being wary of unexpected risks is part of what makes us human. Whether it’s the hairs on the back of your neck standing up during a horror movie, an increase in heart rate when you reach the top of a rollercoaster, or a shiver down your spine when you hear a strange noise in the dark. It’s only natural to want to know what’s going on around you. And it’s the same with supply chains in your business. Knowing that things are running smoothly, and seeing what’s happening, puts your mind at ease. But a recent report from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) says that more than half of companies lack any sort of end-to-end visibility in their supply chains. Which makes them vulnerable to all kinds of unexpected risks. Introducing an operating model that offers a better oversight allows for changes to be made easier, faster and safer. Models that can break down supply chain resources and processes into separate ‘blocks’ is one way of doing this. This ‘block’ approach allows for quicker reactions that minimize the impact of emerging threats or disruption. A clearer picture It’s not just about seeing what’s going on around your business. Having a clearer picture of your supply chain, and where your products come from, also has a huge impact on your bottom line. As well as your reputation within your industry. Click the icons below for more reasons why it pays to be able to see what’s going on in your supply chain: With hybrid and remote working on the increase, your teams need to access supply chain data from a variety of locations on a variety of devices. Not being able to offer them this option can mean them missing out on additional sales. Research has shown that customers are willing to spend up to 10% more for products when they know where they’ve come from. As well as what materials and ingredients were used and where they were sourced. More and more companies are being asked to be open and share information about their supply chains. Not having that information to hand can seriously impact your reputation and play into the hands of your competitors who do. By 2025, 60% of B2B sales organizations will move to more data-driven selling. Your teams need easier access to keep up and provide customers with the information they need. CFOs are under constant pressure to manage costs and productivity. But it’s harder to make smart business decisions when you don’t have the data or insights into what’s going on. The six challenges of distribution The right business management tool gives you full visibility across your entire supply chain. Everyone—from suppliers to customers—can easily see everything they need to know and more. Whether it’s customer information, stock levels, past purchases or quotes. But how does it solve the most common issues that organizations face today? Challenge #4 Productivity Measuring the productivity of remote workers can be challenging. Scheduling their work can also be time-consuming—with many competing priorities, personal obligations, absences and other issues. The solution The right business management solution will improve employees’ performance and reduce the logistical complexity of scheduling their work. Sage manages to compare the actual time employees spent on tasks and travels with the expected time budgeted. You can check efficiency and provide support where issues are identified. 4 / 6 Challenge #2 Teamwork Teams who can’t collaborate effectively may be missing out on new opportunities. The solution By making your data centralized, accessible and always up to date, departments and individual employees can work better together. 2 / 6 Challenge #1 Complexity An unorganized or overly complicated back office can make life difficult, especially for finance and accounting teams. The solution Businesses with multiple legacy systems, and no centralized location for these requirements, are already at a disadvantage when it comes to serving customers. Sage consolidates your work systems into one solution. 1 / 6 Challenge #3 Division A disconnect between processes, technologies, machinery, and the workforce slows everything down, which can leave you struggling to meet customer expectations and respond to changes in the market. The solution The right system helps you manage purchasing processes from beginning to end, starting with management of Requests for Quotes (RFQs), input and follow-up of replies, and integration into the price list base. You can optimize your stock, keep up with demand and ensure efficiency through real-time monitoring of inventory status. Having effective scanning and bar-coding functionality, for example, helps ensure that your materials and products are properly tracked. 3 / 6 Challenge #5 Organization Every customer interaction is critical but can be difficult to manage. The solution Remote sales teams can access info such as stock information, past orders, open quotes, etc., whenever they need it, for sales with their clients—whether they are working at home or visiting their offices. 5 / 6 Challenge #6 Time wasting Repetitive tasks can take time away from customer engagements. The solution When your teams spend more than half of their days manually inputting data into Excel sheets or other mundane, error-prone manual tasks, productivity plummets. Sage reduces repetitive tasks through automation, saving them time and giving them the ability to create new orders while they are with the client. 6 / 6 Dr. Mark’s HyGenie “Sage X3 will save us considerable time and effort in the future. We will be able to integrate new distributors into a single platform, instead of having to set them up on separate platforms.” Steve Plakotaris, CEO and Managing Director, Dr Mark’s HyGenie 1 / 3 Woven “We wanted an ERP package that was truly in the cloud and secure so that we could use it from anywhere in the world. We now have one common database. It’s a single source of truth and it’s accurate, reliable and up to date.” Judi Babbage, Financial Processes Consultant, Woven 2 / 3 IDC “Sage X3 provides the flexibility in deployment (public cloud, hosted in a private environment or on customers’ infrastructure) and pricing that medium-sized firms are looking for. Additionally, all options have special appeal as firms look to support an increasingly mobile and remote workforce.” 3 / 3 A case in point Sage customer success stories Take a tour Browse more topics from this article Distribution ERP solutions Supply chain management
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