Before talking about why chemical companies worldwide are digitizing their supply chain visibility, it’s important to understand why supply chain visibility is such a crucial factor in determining the success of any business in the digital age.

Supply chain visibility is the ability to understand the various activities that take place right from the sourcing of raw materials to the delivery of finished products to customers, which involves having access to real-time data about the order status, inventory details, transportation, and other important metrics.

Having visibility into the complete supply chain allows businesses to make more informed business decisions, respond to customer requirements more efficiently, and minimize risk and costs. Owing to the increasing demand for real-time information and advancement of technologies, it is now more important than ever to respond to changes and disruptions in their supply chains to remain at the top of their game.

We will highlight the benefits of improved supply chain visibility, the obvious challenges and necessary solutions for better visibility.

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Benefits of improved supply chain visibility 

• Strengthen decision-making capabilities: Having access to real-time data about your supply chain systems can enable businesses to identify bottlenecks, optimize inventory levels and identify opportunities for cost savings.
• Better customer service: Businesses can offer better service to their customers by being able to track orders and provide latest information on delivery time, leading to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.
• Increased efficiency and cost savings: Businesses can streamline their operations for better efficiency and cost savings. A good real-time visibility can help avoid overstocking and impact inventory control to a greater extent, optimize routes and minimize transportation costs.
• Reduced risk and improved resiliency: Businesses can reduce risk and increase resiliency by responding to potential disruptions in the supply chain, including, identifying alternative suppliers or swiftly responding to changes in demand.

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Common challenges in achieving supply chain visibility

• Intricacies of supply chains: Supply chains are often complex, with multiple hierarchies of vendors, customers and partners, making it difficult to track and manage every component and processes of the supply value chain.
• Limited data visibility: Businesses lack visibility into key data about their supply chain owing to lack of collaboration between different technologies and processes, making it difficult to get an accurate view of the supply chain.
• Lack of standardization and integration of systems: Lack of proper standardization and integration of systems can lead to less accurate tracking of the supply chain, leading to inefficiencies and errors.

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Possible solutions to improve supply chain visibility

• Investment in data analytics and technology: Technologies such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, supply chain management software, and data analytics tools can help businesses gain greater visibility into their supply chain, enabling them to collect, store, and analyse data from various sources, therefore, investing in such technologies is a possible boon for your organization’s overall supply chain visibility.
• Collaboration and data sharing: Collaborating closely with suppliers, logistics partners, and other stakeholders can effectively improve the flow of information throughout the supply chain.
• Adoption of industry best practices: Embracing industry standards and best practices can significantly improve supply chain visibility by standardizing processes to be able to track and manage the entire supply chain, including adopting standards for data exchange and best practices, such as electronic data interchange (EDI) or the use of lean principles.

Increasing end-to-end visibility within your supply chain is a rapidly evolving process due to new technologies and opportunities being added every day to improve operations to achieve desired results. Omni-channel software solutions, sophisticated system integrations and other advancements will be an ongoing requirement to maximize supply chain visibility, thereby driving cost savings, revenue and profitability.

By leveraging Elchemy’s Digital Order Management System, you can significantly improve your chemical sourcing visibility and make more informed and data-driven strategic decisions.