Setting Up Real Time Supply Chain Visibility – The 2021 Checklist

End-to-end supply chain visibility is widely discussed in the world of business. Several companies struggle with the complexities of supply chain operations, despite their continuous investment in tech and skilled personnel. With several stages and suppliers involved, supply chain can be lengthy and overwhelming. Many businesses are on the lookout for the most effective strategies that could help them attain real time supply chain visibility.

So, what does end-to-end supply chain visibility mean, and how do you achieve it? Why is it really important for businesses? This guide will give you the answers.

Supply Chain Visibility – An Overview:

Supply chain visibility is a term that encapsulates the process of monitoring all the stages of a supply chain. Data will be collected right from the procurement of materials to the delivery of the final product to the customer. The collected data will then be analysed for future decision making.

In a world where E-commerce businesses are booming, customers demand quick access to their favourite products and services. More and more people turn to online stores these days, for purchasing everything from clothing to home appliances. As a result, businesses are committed to improve the shopping experience by introducing features such as same day delivery and real time visibility of order fulfilment.

With efficient tracking solutions in place, customers will know when their package would arrive. This is made possible with advanced IoT tracking devices that constantly share data on the location of the consignments.

These experiences can be delivered only when a business successfully attains unrestricted and real time supply chain visibility.

Your Ultimate Checklist for Real Time Supply Chain Visibility:

Ditch the age-old conventional systems and switch to the state-of-the-art IoT solutions for getting started. Here’s a list of things that can help you on your journey to achieve end-to-end supply chain visibility.

1. A Trusted Partner:

The power of IoT technology was first embraced by logistic companies, and those businesses have been reaping the rewards ever since. As more entrepreneurs realise the benefits of IoT, they are migrating to this next generation technology for improving operational visibility and gaining an edge over the competition.

You need a trusted partner that has great experience in manufacturing IoT devices and offering supply chain solutions with the best industry standards. Deal with a manufacturer having a track record of supplying superior asset monitoring systems that have made real time supply chain visibility possible.

2. Cloud-Agnostic Platform:

The underlying purpose of choosing a cloud agnostic platform is flexibility. It allows your business to seamlessly connect with different cloud solution providers. Being cloud agnostic means your platform becomes scalable and manageable. Migrating your applications across different providers is easy, with minimal disruption to your business operations.

A multi cloud environment will prevent you from relying on a single cloud provider and regulate costs at the same time.

3. Flexible IoT Platform:

A flexible IoT platform will facilitate communication across various devices. Collection and processing of data with the help of a robust IoT infrastructure will produce better results for your business.

Choose IoT trackers that support multiple networks such as 4G LTE, 5G, BLE, Wi-Fi, 3G and more, as opposed to sensors that work only on a single network. A flexible IoT platform will be integrated with rich analytics tools for better fleet management.

4. Systems Integration:

By integrating people, processes, technologies, and applications, your systems can unlock new capabilities that maximise real time supply chain visibility, traceability, and efficiency.

With proper systems integration, everything from warehouse to transportation to customers will be greatly benefited. For instance, integrating transportation management with warehouse management will improve the flow of products. Systems integration also lets you collect customer data that can be used to address concerns and identify opportunities of growth.

5. Feature Rich IoT Devices:

You’ve already read above that it is wise to invest in an IoT platform supporting multiple networks. Besides network compatibility, make sure that the IoT tracking systems you purchase come with a range of features for an efficient supply chain management. Some of them include the following;

• Monitoring the location of your shipments in real time with GPS accuracy
• Analysing and recording the temperature of your assets
• Monitoring and verifying humidity
• Noticing if the parcel is tilted
• Alerting when the package is opened, and more.

6. IoT Security:

Apparently, the devices and applications used in supply chain, transmit and process a bunch of sensitive information. Chip-to-cloud security enables secure access to data by authorised personnel.

Organisations must first analyse their current supply chain performance and identify the areas of improvement. As customer demands continue to accelerate, adopting IoT technology for real time supply chain visibility will make a world of difference for both your partners and customers.