7 Effective Ways to Increase Your Supply Chain’s Velocity

The name of the game in the e-commerce market is speed. Customers demand correct orders be delivered quickly, yet more than speedy last-mile logistics are needed to meet this expectation. 

A retailer's whole supply chain must operate at a high velocity to constantly offer the quick delivery that consumers expect. 

Editor’s Note: 

Maintaining a high supply chain velocity offers several advantages. Increased supply chain velocity may enhance customer happiness, cut delivery times and costs, establish a better inventory management system, and make your operations leaner and more cost-effective. 

In this post, we will define the 7 effective ways to increase your supply chain’s velocity. Let’s get started. 

7 Effective Ways to Increase the Velocity of Your Supply Chain 

Companies and customers have both seen price increases and slower output, but there are solutions to offset the disadvantages. 

These seven methods may assist in boosting supply chain velocity. 

1. Assess Supplier Viability

Suppliers are often among businesses' primary causes of supply chain challenges. A company that wants to enhance the velocity of its supply chain should start with its suppliers. Communication is an essential aspect of every partnership. Therefore, managers should evaluate the kind of replies they receive from suppliers.  

Does the provider reply fast and prioritise promptness?  

Do they squander time on misunderstandings? 

Another critical aspect of their viability is their dependability. Suppliers must consistently execute orders on time, or project managers may begin searching elsewhere. Suppliers should be consistent with items like purchase orders since little delays may quickly generate backlogs across the supply chain. Finally, managers should think about the pace of their suppliers. Today, speed is more valuable than gold. 

Custom display makers are one industry where time is of the essence. Many global shops use these signs as part of their marketing strategy. Because foreign shipping may be costly, many businesses employ local vendors for displays. 

2. Evaluate Current Strategies

Following the evaluation of supplier viability, supply chain managers should review their present tactics and how they might improve. These days, the most efficient supply chains are trustworthy, cost-effective, and lean. Optimising all three simultaneously might be difficult, but striking the right notes can enhance velocity. 

Different techniques will be effective for various types of businesses. Managers might begin by contrasting their supply chain strategy with the business they manage. Drop shipping, for example, allows internet companies to avoid maintaining inventories. 

3. Continue to Track for Weaknesses

Changing or improving the supply chain strategy is an effective technique to boost velocity. Managers, however, should only do this once. Businesses must constantly monitor their supply chain strategy and strive to improve to retain an efficient model. Often, a corporation addresses one issue, but another arises later on. 

Using data and algorithms to monitor flaws is one method. Analytics has become an essential component of end-to-end supply chain planning since it provides managers with data-backed feedback on the status of their operations and suppliers. This information is crucial in retail since client needs change frequently, and businesses must respond just as swiftly. 

4. Collaborate with Employees

A company may devise the finest end-to-end supply chain planning, but it is only as successful as those who put it into action. Managers should teach their employees the best practices from the start and continue to retrain when new techniques emerge to replace old ones. 

Another method for increasing supply chain velocity is relying on long-term personnel expertise. 

One unorthodox end-to-end supply chain planning approach is working with the information technology (IT) department. IT professionals may help determine where management can change the supply chain. Managers often engage IT teams when deploying new software for the organisation or when technological difficulties develop. 

5. Consider Automation

Humans can recognise and repair errors, but can they do it as quickly as a computer? Increased supply chain velocity may achieve via the use of automated technologies. These devices eliminate the need for people by reducing mistakes, speeding up production, saving money, and improving workplace safety. Companies that choose automation receive favourable returns. 

Automation may be a profitable investment for businesses, but one hurdle is that this equipment can be costly. Companies that can afford automation may simplify procedures and use their employees better. Because specific organisations, such as small firms, cannot afford robots and other innovative technology, they must depend on third-party logistics partners to assist them. 

6. Use the Internet of Things

The Internet of Things (IoT) has proven to be an excellent tool for end-to-end supply chain planning all around the globe. IoT devices can improve operations and provide feedback. They're beautiful tools for boosting supply chain visibility, a significant problem for supply chain managers nowadays. 

Some of the world's major corporations have used IoT to manage their supply chains. Amazon, for example, utilises it to identify items in the warehouse and to scan QR codes. 

7. Employ Telematics

Fleet demand planning in supply chain has evolved into an integral component of increasing supply chain velocity. As a result, the growth of telematics over the last several decades has become crucial for fleet owners looking to improve vehicle maintenance and maximise earnings. 

Telematics has proven particularly useful in times of driver shortages. This technology may assist truck drivers in improving their routes and guaranteeing their goods arrive on schedule. For fleet owners, route optimisation saves time and money. 

Bottom Line

Companies have confronted the fundamental challenge of optimising the distribution of products and services to the marketplace since the dawn of modern production and distribution of demand planning in supply chain. When producers and consumers are near each other, suppliers may swiftly get demand signals, and items and services can supply to the customer. Enterprises must expand the end-to-end supply chain planning network to maintain and improve customer serviceability. And its stocks as production and consumption move farther apart. 

The most common analogy for supply chain velocity is that of a pipeline through which goods flow. The amount of commodities flowing through a pipeline rises in proportion to its length as it serves an ever-expanding market. As pipeline flows get longer and longer, many significant issues might occur.