Forbes has recently put out an article that details how to make your supply chain more resilient and dependable. The article goes into several aspects and processes to make sure the right vendors are being used.
A lot of these processes rely on having the right purchasing, supplier and inventory data on-hand to analyze. That means not only recording the data as it happens but keeping it in a condition where it can be easily accessed. The article doesn’t go deeply into the details of this aspect. After working with hundreds of manufacturers, we’re found that using a software platform that saves all this information in a database is the best way to go. Spreadsheets just can’t cut it.
While we recommend our own Material Resource Planning (MRP) system, Aligni MRP, for the job of storing and managing your supply chain data, we also recommend reading this article. It goes over several strategies and best practices that shouldn’t be ignored by buyers and purchasing managers.