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Intelligent Supply for achieving optimum customer service levels

# : INTELLIGENT SUPPLY | SUPPLY CHAIN | DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION | RESILIENT SUPPLY CHAINS | DIGITAL CAPABILITIES

Wed, 14 Jul 2021

3 to 5 mins read

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86% of buyers are willing to pay more for a great customer experience. The more expensive the item, the more they are willing to pay, according to a research from PWC

Meeting and exceeding customer service levels has long been recommended by business experts for all industry verticals. When it comes to logistics and supply chain businesses, customers no longer expect - they ‘demand’ better quality in shortest delivery times. Timely communication about the whereabouts of the shipped product is the norm in 2021 and hence, it is a critical that organizations work on enhancing logistics and supply chain operations with proper customer service. 

Legacy-based organizations have long been employing traditional practices for managing their end-to-end supply-chain processes. These traditional practices might be convenient to work with, given their cost saving offerings, but they are inaccurate and not based on real-time data and trends. And when it comes to forecasting events that affect the outcome, they have a little chance of producing accurate action points. For supply chain organizations, the result is large quantities of obsolete stock or lack of inventory, failure to meet on-time delivery promises, customers held on timeline, and unexpected gap in deliverance. 

Absence of accurate planning, lack of visibility across the end-to-end supply chain, poor response times due to presence of silos, and the use of legacy technology as a means for cost savings - bad news for organizations that are still wondering as to why their customer relationship is not taking off. 

Switching gears to the present, eCommerce has exploded like never before. Customer expectations are at an all-time high. Demand-driven forecasting is crucial in present time; demand has increased rapidly, so have the sources.  In order to manage demand with smart inventory and supply planning, companies have to take the demand-driven approach. It is important to deliver what the customers want, when, where, and how. By reflecting upon and improving the basics of modern customer service, delivery processes can be improved. And it is absolutely crucial to keep tracking the performance metrics that matter. 

76 % of supply chain leaders see the top two customer demands of the future as “more customized products and services” and “faster order fulfilment times.” To meet these demands, 79 % of them believe the supply chain must become fit for purpose, whatever the value proposition for the customer segment happens to be.

In order to boost the customer service levels, it is important to: 

  • Ensure fast, accurate, and timely delivery of products to the customers
  • Be a pro at tracking shipments so that the company as well as the customer stay updated about the most recent events
  • Always have the right items in stock by maintaining optimal inventory levels
  • Save time by eliminating manual processes
  • Reduce customer service response times by introducing multiple touchpoints 

When companies are able to access real-time production, re-planning, and supplier order updates, they can stay updated about any disruptions to come – well in time. And once that happens, warehouse allocations can be taken care of, downstream delivery schedules can be realigned, and hence, optimum customer service levels can be achieved. If companies really want to preserve their customer’s delight and achieve optimum service levels, the key is to offer proactive, future-ready, and autonomous response with swift and real-time data backed decision-making across the chain. Here are the power pointers that can help: 

Data-based Insights

Base all decisions on insights that are yielded from data-driven processes

Cloud capabilities

Deploy cloud capabilities to simplify process and reduce time-to-market

Innovation + Automation

Lace all supply chain value functions with innovation and automation tools

Customer Listening

A robust platform for customers feedback, and redressal

Challenges that keep organizations from running an intelligent supply chain function can be put away by deploying next-generation practices that constantly surprise and delight the customer—by conveniently exceeding their customer expectations – in a manner convenient to all. Embracing the digital capability of ‘Intelligent Supply’, organizations can tap into the missed opportunity by developing effective, efficient, and ultimately successful processes. The benefits, as to speak of, are strong supplier relationships, delighted customers, improved capacity planning, streamlined workflows, increased customer satisfaction and loyalty. The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step, and here, it is all about taking the first, right step towards building customer-driven supply chains.  

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