IBS is the world leader in distribution software, providing business applications for the wholesale, distribution and manufacturer/distributor markets. Supply chains play a key role in making or breaking an organization’s success and profitability.

1. Looking to Implement a More Efficient Supply Chain?
– Here’s What You Can Do
Supply chains play a key role in making or breaking an organization’s success and profitability. Thanks to
the ever-increasing competition and the need to maintain cost efficiency, more and more businesses are
realizing the importance of revamping their supply chain process.
The better optimized the process; the greater would be the chances of boosting productivity,
eliminating process inefficiencies and meeting time-to-market goals. A well-managed supply chain also
gives businesses tremendous visibility in planning, forecasting and business strategy.
That said it becomes extremely critical for businesses to choose supply chain management software that
is more in sync with their business needs.
Outlined below are some tips you could use to move towards a more robust and efficient supply chain
Time to Dump the Old School Method
management system.
For most businesses, especially the small and mid-sized firms, a spreadsheet is still the preferred tool to
manage procurement and other supply chain needs. Now using a spreadsheet is in no way inferior or
imperfect, but think of the lost opportunities in terms of losing out on a better way to manage stuff.
We are talking about a complete solution that takes care of all the aspects of a supply chain process and
offers much more than a traditional spreadsheet.
solutions cost a fortune.
And yes, it’s entirely a myth that supply chain
There are a variety of solutions that are fairly affordable and easy to
Choosing the Right Kind Solution
implement and manage.
Once you have decided to opt for a supply chain solution, the next logical step would be to choose the
package that best fits your need. You can find several turnkey supply chain management solutions with
most of them requiring varying degree of customizations during implementation. When looking for a
solution, make sure you pick the one that’s specifically developed for your niche or industry. Choosing
the wrong solution can result in incorrect implementation or incurring additional costs. For instance, a

2. wholesale distribution software with limited functionality doesn’t make sense for a manufacturing firm
Monitoring and Measuring Mechanisms
looking for 100% integration all of its internal and external supply chain processes.
There are several solutions in the market today that provide data that is critical to maintain a supply
chain’s efficiency. While most companies do have the requisite infrastructure, most of them struggle to
make good of the tools at their disposal. A good tactic to tackle the issue is to develop modules from
ground up and let the respective stakeholders determine the data points that need to be tracked. This
can include system-wide score cards, management dashboards and detailed insights on other key
elements driving the supply chain. The system can then be allowed to gradually mature and evolve.
Again, in today’s world of shrinking timelines as well as cost and productivity pressures, it’s also critical
to monitor vendor performance in your supply chain.
A holistic study of what the key performance
indicators show for the respective vendor partners is quite helpful in determining process dependencies
and ways to put in place backup mechanisms. This can be extremely useful in the event of breaks or
Understanding the Supply Chain Process
temporary disruptions in the supply chain.
It is a commonly held notion that supply chain begins at the warehouse and ends at the stores. You
might have installed the best warehouse management system that efficiently takes care of delivering
goods from point A to B. But what’s becoming seemingly more important is to understand why certain
products are being requisitioned more than the others. While it’s good to keep shelves full, it’s also
important to understand the kind of products that are in demand versus the ones that are sluggish or
stagnant. Again, the metrics and measuring mechanisms play a key role in determining what’s working
versus what’s not and accordingly adjust your business strategy.