As the supply chain is facing ever-growing demand, many companies are adopting Business Intelligence (BI) to improve their supply chain management and make more informed decisions.
But what are the real benefits of BI for the supply chain? You will find out in this article.
Centralized and secure logistics data
Large volumes of data are collected throughout the supply chain every single day. This data may concern products (price, lifespan, seasonality, etc.), suppliers (delivery times, discounts, conditions of purchase, etc.), or customers (buying preferences, loyalty rates, etc.)
Movements within the warehouse also generate a large volume of data related to stock, sales and orders, not to mention all the stores, vehicles, and warehouses that make up a company’s logistics network.
However, logistics professionals are often faced with large volumes of highly dispersed data, making it particularly difficult to harness. Business Intelligence solves this problem by centralizing and constantly updating all data. This data can be stored highly securely, both on site (on the premises) and in the cloud.
All collaborators therefore have access to identical and fully up-to-date data, allowing them to obtain the most relevant information in real time. It’s a case of making the best decisions to optimize the company’s supply chain based on standardized and reliable KPIs.
A real time-saver
Time is essential in the logistics sector, where companies must meet the expectations of increasingly demanding clients, who want their deliveries to arrive as soon as possible. Thankfully, BI can help predict demand more accurately, and, in turn, accelerate product shipments.
In addition, suitable reporting solutions can help companies optimize deliveries and identify potential problems. Data enables the instant review of many criteria: flow requirements for a particular product, transport standards, packaging, etc. BI also makes it easier to choose a suitable carrier based on identified needs and constraints.
Business intelligence would also save you a lot of time, immediately transforming raw, unstructured data into usable information. Decision-makers can easily devise and view customized performance indicators depending on their needs.
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Reduced costs and risk
Business Intelligence allows you to analyze sales figures, product seasonality and transport and maintenance costs in detail. This provides decision-makers with a reliable overview of their company’s performance, costs and expenses, which, in turn, enables them to make improvements to bring down costs and to increase margins.
By gaining a greater understanding of their clients’ needs in the short and medium term, companies can reliably estimate the lifespan of each product. This enables optimized inventory management, ensuring the availability of reasonable quantities of the right goods at the right time. This not only eliminates the risk of stock shortages, but also of saturation, which would lead to additional storage costs.
Harnessing data also reduces supplier costs. For example, the quality and compliance of purchased merchandise can be assessed more effectively. BI allows the purchasing department to make relevant bulk orders, which also means significant cost savings through discounts.
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An accelerated and automated supply chain
The supply chain has undergone major changes over recent years due to the emergence of increasingly sophisticated machines. The trend towards robotic automation brings various benefits: less redundant and tiring human work, automated processes, global acceleration of the supply chain, etc.
However, these new technologies generate a large volume of new data that needs to be collected and processed. The IoT (Internet of Things) is playing an integral role in efforts to fully capitalize on these connected machines, monitoring their performance in real time. Data allows breakdowns and anomalies to be identified much more quickly and paves the way for predictive maintenance, which consists in anticipating problems and resolving them before they occur.
Faced with this far more agile supply chain, where flexibility and reactivity play a crucial role, the use of an activity reporting solution is essential. Without Business Intelligence, companies would be unable to manage their processes efficiently and to transmit the most relevant data to the right person at the right time.
More effective collaboration
By using BI dashboards, employees can easily visualize supply chain data and perform all kinds of analyses and calculations. They can also share their results quickly and securely.
Adopting a Business Intelligence solution is therefore an excellent way to strengthen cooperation at all levels of an organization, by generating customized reports in many formats, for example. Users also have access to an intuitive interface, allowing them to make the most of the data at their disposal.
A collaborative approach that allows companies to make more informed decisions, while also managing the various supply chain flows more efficiently.
By providing consolidated and usable data, Business Intelligence allows companies to optimize their supply chains at various levels. Saving time and money, automating processes, improving cooperation… BI brings many benefits at all stages of the supply chain.
