Is your planning system mature enough?

Agility, flexibility, speed and convenience are critical to being a competitive player in the retail industry

This is taken from the foreword to the eft’s 2020 State of Retail Supply Chain Report, produced in partnership with Dassault Systems

Is your planning system mature enough to deliver a seamless shopper experience across all channels? If you are part of a large company operating in the competitive retail industry and still relying on Excel sheets to plan each department, order and resource, the answer is a resounding no.

The market is transforming, with consumers driving the change. They want agility, flexibility, speed and convenience. Now, more than ever, an efficient supply chain will be the critical growth enabler for both retailer and manufacturer organizations. Retailers must elevate supply chain capabilities to serve the needs of the modern consumer while efficiently managing the costs required to do so. Legacy planning tools like Excel spreadsheets and limited capability, traditional planning solutions are no longer suitable for solving today’s complex supply chain challenges. The fragmentation of planning systems severely limits visibility, control and business potential resulting in the making of isolated decisions which is inefficient, have more potential for inaccuracy and adds unnecessary costs.

For forward-looking retailers, it is essential to start thinking about how to use new analytics technology, not just to analyze and understand the past, but to make better decisions for the future. Retailers who are beginning to harness big data can orchestrate the flow of goods and services from all channel partners toward the consumer, and back, in real-time. Proper end-to-end integration of supply chain planning helps businesses improve in several core ways: Better forecasting will allow retailers to retain less inventory and reduces the resources and routes required to successfully operate supply. By doing so, this will lessen transportation costs and will improve workforce planning, ensuring that the right people are in the right place at the right time. One integrated digital planning solution providing one version of truth is essential to stay on top of the competition.

Your desired level of supply chain planning maturity is probably closer, faster and easier to reach than you imagined. Ask yourselves where you want to be in the long term and develop a strategy according to that. Technological advances are then stepping stones to reaching this goal. There are plenty of new technologies flooding the market. The most important thing for you to realize is that technology can only enable change if it fits to your specific strategy.

The sooner you make the move, the sooner you will master your complex supply chain and reap the benefits of an optimized planning infrastructure to your bottom line.

Camilo Gaviri

Vice President of Technical Sales, DELMIA

Dassault Systèmes

Click here to download the complete 2020 State of Retail Supply Chain report for free here now!

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