Monday 14 December 2015

Supply Chain Consulting – Giving the Right Directions to Businesses

The global nature of trade has made supply chain consulting an increasingly important part of the business decision-making processes. International businesses, as well as local firms with a smaller world footprint, are recognising the need for effective supply chain management and mitigation of the risks associated with the global logistics models. Some of the leading enterprises are taking the help of supply chain consultants to keep their order and delivery models free from foreseeable and unforeseeable risks.

These companies are using the expertise of supply chain consulting firms to make their supply chain more efficient. The supply chain management consultants help organisations achieve the desired growth and objectives while mitigating the risks involved. They help enterprises to increase their overall efficiency, cut down on the operating costs and have a detailed risk management strategy in place. The consultants provide businesses a strong competitive edge and help them to easily achieve both short-term and long-term goals.

Supply chain consultants play a critical role in managing and reducing risk in supply chains:

•    With globalised, complex and deeply integrated supply chains, international businesses are struggling to keep their supply chains risk free. This is where the need for supply chain consultants arises
•    Organisations are increasingly protecting themselves against risks in their supply chain by adopting cost-effective risk management strategies offered by various leading supply chain consultants
•    These consultants work with client teams across multiple geographies to understand the risks in the supply chain. They adopt rigorous risk analysis procedures to identify the weaknesses in the chain whether in the ordering process or in the delivery logistics.
•    These consultants then proactively assess the risks and take the necessary remedial actions to eradicate completely or reduce the risks to manageable levels

The procurement solutions offered by most of these consultants help optimise and de-risk supply chains. The consultants identify and study the risks in the supply chain by monitoring and tracking high-risk factors and putting in effect operational processes to reduce risks. They document and monitor each aspect ofpossible risk abatement options. After all facets, including macroeconomic factors, global logistics, customs formalities, ordering and delivery timeline, replacement parts, etc. are considered, they arrive at appropriate conclusions. These results are then utilised to make department-specific and enterprise-wide supply chain risk management policies that are designed to seamlessly integrate with the businesses’ overall risk abatement processes. All aspects that can be de-risked are considered and the entire supply chain optimised for increased efficiencies and reduced costing.

Considering their advantages, all enterprises involved in global trade could do well to use the expertise of a supply chain management consulting company to mitigate their risks and optimise their entire supply chain.