Supply chain management is an integral function of businesses, especially those that offer a myriad range of products and services to consumers. Supply chain management is applicable across the entire breadth of an organisation — from procuring raw materials to delivering finished goods to the customers.
For effective supply chain management, businesses often create a network of suppliers who move the product along the supply chain. Managers who oversee the supply chain are required to have in-depth knowledge about its functions and characteristics. Supply chain management courses, such as IIT Delhi's certification in supply chain management and analytics, help managers understand the five basic components of traditional supply chain management, namely, planning, sourcing, manufacturing, delivery and logistics, and returning. Managers handle all these five functions at their end to ensure the effective movement of products along the supply chain.
However, with the changing business environment and consumer preferences, management of the supply chain has become a complex task and encompasses much more than just the above-mentioned components.
Changing tides of supply chain management
Like other aspects of business, the supply chain has also been impacted significantly by the rapidly changing business environment and evolving technology. Supply chain trends are also evolving continuously and keeping pace with these trends has become imperative for all supply chain managers. Supply chain management courses can help managers understand and keep pace with these breakneck advancements in the field.
Trends that are shaping and revolutionising supply chain management include the following:
Automation and artificial intelligence: The use of automation and artificial intelligence is on the rise in supply chains as both these technologies make it easy for managers to handle complex supply chain tasks.
Sustainability: Businesses, as well as customers, are becoming more conscious about their environmental impact. Consequently, the issue of sustainability is fast seeping into supply chains as well. The need to reduce waste and switch to sustainable manufacturing and logistical processes requires a major overhaul of supply chains.
Internet of Things: The Internet of Things (IoT) has come to play a dominant role in logistics. Companies today make use of IoT to oversee operations and transportation in supply chains in real-time to improve efficiency and reduce downtimes.
Cloud-based solutions: Traditional and local supply chains are out of the question for most businesses today. Organisations need agile, accurate, and accessible solutions to manage their supply chains and deal with the issues therein. Cloud-based solutions fulfil this role of managing a distributed and digitalized supply chain more effectively.
Supply chain analytics and predicting future demands
For managers handling supply chains, it is important to regularly conduct a supply chain analysis — a process that enables organisations to gain insight into the procurement, processing, and distribution of products — for their organisation. This would help the managers predict future demand to regularise and operate their organisation’s supply chain accordingly.
Managers using supply chain management analytics primarily rely on predictive analysis to accurately forecast demand. Supply chain management courses help managers use different models for predictive analysis and determine the optimal level of inventory required at all geographic locations where the supply chain operates. Using supply chain analytics, managers can predict the future inventory and logistical requirements and accordingly make plans to manage the supply chain in the most cost-effective manner.
Need for upskilling supply chain professionals
Supply chain managers need to upskill themselves to keep abreast of the rapid transformations taking place in the operations of the supply chain. With upskilling, supply chain professionals can ensure that they make use of the latest technologies as and when they are integrated into the supply chain. Further, learning more about supply chain management analytics can enable professionals to create a more agile and resilient supply chain, which is the need of the hour.
Supply chain professionals can enrol in several supply chain management courses offered by different institutions to learn the skills required for efficiently managing modern supply chains in a dynamic business environment.
offers a comprehensive and contemporary curriculum for professionals interested in establishing a career in logistics and supply chain management. The course also offers hands-on experience in Spreadsheet Modelling and R/Python Programming.
The learning outcomes that the course aims to achieve include the following:
In-depth understanding of fundamental and advanced topics in supply chain management
Thorough understanding of supply chain analytics
Solving real-world problems
Executive Program in Supply Chain Management and Analytics by IIT Delhi
Learn more about the IIT Delhi supply chain management certification, a programme of 6-month duration that would help you understand the vast world of supply chain management. The course has been designed by domain experts to prepare participants in becoming demand planners, data scientists, supply planners, operation planners, and other challenging roles.
To know more: https://timestsw.com/blog-detail/how-supply-chain-analytics-help-managers-predict-future-demands/
