{"id":26791,"date":"2020-09-25T10:56:20","date_gmt":"2020-09-25T14:56:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stageres.blueridgeglobal.com\/?p=26791"},"modified":"2025-09-15T19:49:34","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T23:49:34","slug":"top-4-drivers-of-supply-chain-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blueridgeglobal.com\/blog\/top-4-drivers-of-supply-chain-success\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 4 Drivers of Supply Chain Success"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"cerasis-supply-chain-infographics\"<\/a>What are the best strategies that drive supply chain success? Ask a few people and you\u2019ll get a lot of different answers. After all, opinions are like\u2026 Well, you know. Everyone has one.<\/p>\n

But when you break it down to its simplest form, there are really 4 things you need.<\/p>\n

These are the top 4 drivers of success and promotion in the supply chain, as illustrated in an infographic<\/a> by Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), via Cerasis\/GlobalTranz:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Leadership<\/li>\n
  2. Supply chain visibility<\/li>\n
  3. Focus on supply chain analytics<\/li>\n
  4. Flexibility<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Good Leadership: What Does it Take?<\/h3>\n

    Companies are giving more and more organizational influence to supply chain officers. These leaders take a more global view of supply chain management and are typically early adopters of supply chain technology.<\/p>\n

    As a proof point, the leaders in CSC\u2019s study<\/a> influenced revenue gain at double the rate<\/strong> of laggards. And, they were 33% more effective at cost reduction.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Supply Chain Visibility<\/h3>\n

    Secondly, you have to see what\u2019s going on in the big picture. Unfortunately, many firms are lacking good upstream and downstream visibility into each of 10 key \u2018dimensions\u2019 of the supply chain:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Supplier Inventory: 52% have visibility<\/li>\n
    2. Market Supply: 70% have visibility<\/li>\n
    3. Order Lead Times: 80% have visibility<\/li>\n
    4. Shipment Notification: 63% have visibility<\/li>\n
    5. Point of Sale Records: 44% have visibility<\/li>\n
    6. Demand Forecasts: 56% have visibility<\/li>\n
    7. Overall Market Demand: 83% have visibility<\/li>\n
    8. Location of Finished Goods: 54% have visibility<\/li>\n
    9. Customer Promotions: 49% have visibility<\/li>\n
    10. Customer Inventory: 44% have visibility<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      In addition, supply chain visibility in these 10 areas varies greatly by industry<\/strong>. When graded on a scale of 1-10, here is \u201cwho sees what best\u201d:<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Manufacturing Retailers \u2013 scored 4.9 out of 10<\/li>\n
      2. Retailers \u2013 4.1 out of 10<\/li>\n
      3. Wholesalers \u2013 3.9 out of 10<\/li>\n
      4. Manufacturers \u2013 3.3 out of 10<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
        \"supply-chain-infographic\"<\/a>

        Source: CSC via Cerasis (now GLOBALTRANZ)<\/p><\/div>\n

        Supply Chain Analytics<\/h3>\n

        The third driver of supply chain success is using data and analytics to gain a competitive edge. CSC proved<\/a> that a firm that combines high visibility with high analytics capabilities is almost 2x as likely to be a fast grower<\/strong> (top 20% of growth) than one that is below average in both skill areas.<\/p>\n

        The ability to quickly and accurately<\/strong> analyze, visualize and interpret data from a wide variety of sources is essential in today\u2019s supply chain.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

        We just wrapped up our annual BLUEPRINT user conference, where we covered the introduction of machine learning, AI and neural networks to our platform. Attendees were super-excited about how these data science and supply chain analytics<\/a> capabilities will evolve their efforts in the areas of forecast accuracy, revenue performance and cost reduction.<\/p>\n

        The recorded BLUEPRINT sessions will be available next week for on-demand viewing for approved inquiries. Follow us on LinkedIn<\/a> and Twitter<\/a> for updates when the content is available.<\/p>\n

        Flexible Supply Chains<\/h3>\n

        Finally, everyone right now is blogging about agility in supply chain<\/em>. As much as it seems like a broken record (for those of us old enough to know what a record is), agility is truly a top focus \u2013 given what our industry has been through this year.<\/p>\n

        Flexible supply chains seize opportunities.<\/strong> They enable lower inventory, better customer experiences and timely response to new threats, opportunities or trends. But where do you start?<\/p>\n

        You call Blue Ridge.<\/p>\n

        Our highly configurable supply chain platform combines technology to enable quick, confident decisions, deep supply chain visibility, partnerships, and the intelligence and automation businesses need to rock supply chain:<\/p>\n