Intelligent SKU management to increase supply chain efficiency

Supply chains used to be static, linear, and sequential. Today, they are dynamic, multifaceted, and often in a state of flux. By utilizing the latest technologies and tools, businesses can assess, strategize and react in real time to any disruptions in the market instead of waiting for days or weeks. This will allow them to deliver the highest value to their customers.   

The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the need for rapid response to market disruptions by manufacturers, distributors, and retailers. Organizations that effectively dealt with disruptions to their supply chain and continued operations focused on basic functions: production, inventory, transportation, and purchasing. They were able to align these functions with their partners across the supply network. As part of the response to the Covid crisis, businesses looked more closely at individual stock-keeping units (SKUs).  

This white paper by Anaplan outlines three challenges that companies face when it comes to intelligent SKU management. Download this white paper to learn more about these challenges and some advice on how to address them:

1. SKU price and position
2. SKU variability
3. SKU complexity

What is a supply chain?

The supply chain is the entire process of manufacturing and selling commercial goods. This includes the procurement of raw materials, manufacturing, distribution, and sale. A healthy supply chain will ensure that there is a continuous supply of a product available in the market to meet demand. If the supply chain is broken of disrupted, then this can impact the availability of a product on the market. Businesses need to ensure their supply chains are optimized. If they order too many raw materials they risk locking up their working capital, and incurring costs for the storage of excess materials, if they have too less then production may come to a halt. Supply chains also need to be agile to deal with any spikes or drops in demand from the market. 

There are a lot of external factors that can disrupt a supply chain. In recent history situations like the pandemic, Brexit, trade wars, etc can all lead to chaos in the flow of resources and products. Apart from external disruptions, supply chains are inherently getting more complex as consumers today demand personalization, product lines are more complex, and more stakeholders are part of the chain. Many businesses decided to streamline their product offerings to simplify matters during the Covid crisis. However, these factors have also highlighted the need for a unified, cloud-based platform that can be used by supply chain leaders to get visibility across the entire ecosystem and make better decisions. Anaplan is a cloud-based management platform that can be used for better supply chain management.

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