Avetta reviews five supply chain management success factors that contribute to higher output, more agility, and lower costs. See what made the list and why.

Keeping a supply chain up and running is challenging and takes a lot more than luck. As any supply chain manager can tell you, the job requires dedication, acute attention to detail, and some very quick thinking.

Unfortunately, your personal skills alone cannot guarantee success because any supply chain involves many interconnected elements. You need to know other success factors for supply chains just like yours so you can plan for contingencies.  

Avetta knows everything there is to know about supply chain management—from top to bottom and beginning to end. That’s why we can confidently say we know what works and why it makes all the difference.

We’ve listed five supply chain management success factors here that we’ve studied and experienced, and we fully recommend implementing them for your organization.

1. Pre-Qualified and Diversified Suppliers

When you find qualified suppliers who have gone through a customized pre-qualification process, you are helping to guarantee your supply chain’s success. How? Selecting suppliers who have been audited and certified for safety and sustainability leads to higher performance and increased confidence that your standards are upheld.

Additionally, using diverse suppliers across various locations, both onshore and off, can mitigate the risk of suffering through unprecedented events. You shouldn’t rely on one or two similar types of suppliers from the same region.  

2. Multiple Backup Plans

As many businesses have learned—likely the hard way—the cost of being unprepared for the unexpected is immeasurable. New problems will always need to be solved. Unexpected hurdles will continually need to be overcome.  

Having multiple, actionable backup plans leads to growth and profitability because you’re ready to adjust at a moment’s notice. Flexibility becomes your advantage over your competitors.  

Here are three things you can do to prepare backup plans that work:

1. Empower all employees, from executives to frontline workers, to uncover hidden inefficiencies that may lead to disruption.

2. Ask managers in every stage of the supply chain to contribute their backup ideas. In addition, they should describe how their ideas can benefit the organization in the event of a disruption.

3. Embrace innovative technology that allows your supply chain to scale up or down quickly and cost-efficiently without interruption.

3. Real-Time Data Analytics

Data-driven supply chains come out on top. Imagine being able to eliminate homegrown estimates and faulty forecasts. New real-time data gathering techniques and automated analytical technology can eliminate guesswork. The result is a more efficient and optimized supply operation, along with the ability to make faster, more fact-based decisions.

Additionally, supply chains that freely share their data throughout the organization fare better than those that don’t. Transparency comes with many benefits, namely:

• Maintaining control within each stage of the supply chain
• Increasing accountability and compliance across the board

• Increasing efficiency and profitability overall
• Minimizing financial and reputational losses

4. Automated Supply Chain Management Platform

It’s near impossible to successfully run a supply chain without having some automated help along the way. Using a supply chain management platform can greatly reduce your efforts while also significantly increase efficiency.  

Avetta’s platform makes all the following tasks accessible, straightforward, and tailored to your needs:

• Set compliance standards.
• Train onboarding clients and suppliers.
• Track compliance status and identify issues.

• Manage individual workers and the workforce as a whole.
• Monitor performance across the supply chain.
• Eliminate manual documentation and signatures.
• Build visualizations, dashboards, and reports based on configurable data.
• Access your client and supplier network.

5. Solid Supply Chain Network

The last of our recommended supply chain management success factors is a thoroughly vetted supply chain network.  

When you have access to a supply chain network of suppliers, contractors, and vendors, it’s easier to build and manage quality relationships with them. Such a network leads to a smarter, more sustainable, and highly efficient supply chain. It puts you in control and gives you unparalleled visibility. It helps you reduce risk and protect your reputation.

Tap into the resources of Avetta’s supply chain network to discover what we can do to make your supply chain more successful!

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