Supply chain management is among the most important tasks for modern companies. Growing competition around the world forces business to decrease prices. In this light, every avenue of improvement becomes vital, including supply chains. After all, warehouse storage and transportation are costly. Various inefficiencies can make costs even higher. As a result, an interest in custom software solutions arises. They solve many problems supply chains face, enabling practices such as just-in-time, which remove the need for warehouses altogether.
Common Supply Chain Challenges
Modern supply chains face many challenges that make them difficult to navigate.
- Firstly, they’re prone to inefficiencies in processes. For example, many suppliers still use paper records to record the movements of wares. This means that the likelihood of losing parts during transportation is often high.
- Secondly, supply chains are very complex and, thus, lack real-time visibility. You can learn about the status of particular goods only during pauses in their transportation, which often leads to incorrect predictions about product delivery. Losses in supply chains are expected, and many suppliers have to invest significant sums into insurance. Hence, interest in supply chain software development is logical.
- Lastly, supply chains can suffer from outside shocks, such as natural disasters or pandemics. COVID-19 lockdowns led to one of the strongest economic downturns in recent history. Why? It was impossible to move goods between different locations. Alternative suppliers from non-affected locations had them, but many businesses didn’t receive enough information about them. In this way, disasters correlate with lacking information.
Those challenges lead to significant problems for businesses. They cannot deliver products on time or may have to use lower-quality materials. In the end, low-quality supply chains lead to low customer satisfaction and a collapse in profitability.
Custom Software Solutions and Supply Chains
Let’s start by defining custom software solutions. Custom software solutions represent software created by a dedicated developer for a particular firm. For example, a school may want to create a food supply app to improve student nutrition.
These solutions differ from off-the-shelf software because they are tailored to a particular business. Off-the-shelf solutions are apps made by product companies to sell to a large audience. They target the general needs of the market. Custom apps may be costlier, but they often consider unique business aspects.
Modern custom software for supply chains takes a variety of forms. You can order custom development for inventory management tools to improve your business’s tracking of goods and instruments. A mix of RFID/GPS technologies and custom software is great for helping with real-time tracking and visibility.
Do you want a unified platform for customer communication? In that case, investing in supplier and vendor management software makes sense. In many cases, combining it with tracking and data analytics tools is also a good idea.
Besides, integrating existing systems is a major reason to invest in custom software. Many companies have tools like ERPs and CRMs that can benefit from added sources of information about supplier activities. Off-the-shelf tools often use proprietary formats that may be difficult to integrate into other off-the-shelf supply chain management instruments. With custom software, however, you can overcome this limitation by developing apps integrated into your existing frameworks.
Benefits of Custom Software Solutions for Supply Chain Management
Modern custom software solutions for supply chain management offer multiple significant benefits.
- The first benefit includes enhancements in productivity. How exactly do these tools achieve them? For example, automation decreases errors in order management. Another benefit is real-time ware tracking, which allows better business decisions.
- The second benefit of investing in custom software for supply chain management is flexibility and scalability. Paper and spreadsheet systems are hard to scale because they require manual data management. This problem doesn’t concern electronic systems, which automate many processes. Thus, supply chain software is essential for businesses that expect growth in the long term.
- Lastly, supply chain software offers high-quality tools for communicating with suppliers. On the one hand, they allow you to analyze their performance objectively through accurate records. On the other hand, integrated chats make it much easier to manage communication and see the history of particular wares. This way, you can learn which suppliers are the most reliable for your business.
Key Steps for Implementing Custom Software Solutions in Supply Chain Management
Ultimately, there are four steps to implementing a custom software solution for supply chain management.
Initially, one should analyze the needs of the supply chain. It’s essential to know what features you lack and review existing software to understand whether it can cover your requirements.
If you discover that off-the-shelf solutions fail to satisfy your requirements, it’s time to choose the right development partner. In this regard, we recommend seeking companies with advanced knowledge of manufacturing, experienced developers, and significant longevity. After selecting the development partner, engage in continuous communication with them. This is the best way to ensure your product requirements align with the development process.
Lastly, you should consider proper training. New supply chain management tools may be difficult to use, so you must have a strong implementation team capable of answering all employee questions. Listening to feedback is also vital because it can help support your system.
Conclusion
All in all, custom software for supply chain management is essential if your company has unique requirements, such as integration or particular quality requirements. The best way to implement these solutions is to look for custom development companies like Keenethics, which have both general programming and manufacturing expertise. As for the implementation process, we recommend concentrating on proper communication. The more precise you are in communicating your needs, the easier it will be to deliver a solution.
