Running an efficient, customer-driven business requires a supply chain convergence strategy that unifies your supply chain planning and execution. The applications that plan for inventory must work hand in hand with those that handle inventory.

With customers today demanding quicker order fulfillment, an end-to-end platform gives you the agility and efficiency to meet that challenge. Supply chain convergence unifies all aspects of your supply chain operations into a single system. This improves the coordination of the overall process and provides real-time data necessary for strategic decision-making.

Supply chain software categories 

When software developers first began writing applications for supply chain functions in the 1980s, they specialized in creating specific applications or so-called “point solutions” for one of two supply chain areas: planning or execution. 

Supply Chain Planning

Planning applications include those for:

These applications supported strategic and tactical planning for satisfying customer needs. Planning horizons spanned from minutes to a year but most often occurred in either weekly or monthly increments.

Supply Chain Execution 

Execution applications manage the processes and activities needed to implement plans and carry out the various tasks for moving, storing handling, and shipping products. Execution applications include:

Problems with siloed planning and execution systems

Although point solutions meet the needs of their individual functions, they do so often at the neglect of the entire enterprise. Siloed supply chain applications often make a specified task or assigned process efficient at the expense of another. 

For example, supply sourcing might order products in large quantities to get a lower purchase price and freight cost, only to increase warehousing costs for holding excess stock. 

Similarly, a siloed order fulfillment system might ship orders individually without taking advantage of a TMS to combine shipments for a freight discount.

omnichannel-planning-solutions

System integration impedes progress

Although companies undertook system integration to exchange data between disparate supply chain applications, that didn’t completely solve the sub-optimization problem. Linking disparate software necessitates data mapping to exchange information and middleware translations for a common language so applications can talk to one another. Not surprisingly, traditional systems integration work is generally time-consuming and expensive. 

Lack of visibility and responsiveness

Even when data connections are built, you often experience time delays in information exchange that impede systemwide responsiveness. In addition, there’s also a lack of enterprise-wide visibility for all the information needed to manage a complex supply chain operation.

Poor synching and data lag

For a supply chain to operate efficiently, real-time data integration—not just system integration—must occur to synchronize disparate applications and provide a unified, consistent, and comprehensive view of information across the supply chain for decision-making. This enables individual applications to work cross-functionally and provides a unified systemwide approach for enterprise-wide supply chain orchestration.

Unify planning and execution in the cloud

Advances in technology today make it possible to provide a unified approach for both supply chain planning and execution. The rise of cloud-based WMS software in conjunction with increased computer power enables real-time data sharing to allow for seamless integration between all types of supply chain software.

Those developments mean you can now have supply chain convergence, the ability to have various supply chain functions work together based on real-time shared data in the cloud. As a result, your company can become more responsive to changes in demand or supply and take action when necessary.

All inventory data in one place

Take inventory visibility as one example. The WMS gives a real-time picture of on-hand inventory across your network to your inventory planning system. That way when the planning system builds an ordering plan for future inventory needs, the WMS knows exactly the amount of supply you have on hand so you don’t order excess stock. 

All your systems working together

In Deposco, this looks like this:

Bright Order -> Bright Forecast -> Bright Inventory -> Bright Source

The OMS system (Bright Order) handles customer orders; it’s an input to the forecasting (Bright Forecast). The purchasing module (Bright Source) is the module that is used to place purchase orders.

Inventory optimization (Bright Inventory) happens before orders are placed. First, you determine the optimal stock levels from the forecast. You then place purchase orders, or transfer orders, where necessary to achieve the optimal stock levels, taking into account the existing stock in your WMS.

This inventory optimization approach uses the forecast to determine the optimal stocking levels. Then the purchase system places orders with suppliers for restocking. The end result is that all your applications are working as one fine-tuned engine.

Collaboration with no delays

A supply chain convergence platform also enables all your managers to share the same data without delay. That way the managers across all departments and functions are using the same information – a single source of truth – for everyone in the organization to collaborate and make decisions that benefit the entire organization, not just their departments.

A common codebase

Finally, a platform built specifically for supply chain convergence helps you avoid system integration costs. Plus, a platform using a common codebase — like Deposco — is designed from the ground up for fast response, as there’s no time delay from having to translate data from one application to another using data connectors.

Benefits of supply chain convergence

Supply chain convergence enables your business to maximize all aspects of your planning and execution operations for enhanced efficiency.

You gain such benefits as:

  • A single platform for all supply chain needs
  • Operational efficiency across the enterprise
  • Real-time visibility across all channels, locations, and sourcing partners
  • Active collaboration between planning and execution
  • Dynamic forecast and inventory plans based on execution data
  • Shorter order-to-delivery cycles
  • Single source of truth that powers fast, accurate decisions

When looking for a supply chain convergence solution, you want a system designed specifically for that purpose, with an existing array of integrated omnichannel supply chain software applications. 

Deposco’s platform offers just that. It’s born in the cloud and built on a single codebase, single database, and single platform. Integrated supply chain planning and execution offers features, such as customizable dashboards and automated reporting, to save tons of time and costs while meeting the dynamic expectations of modern shoppers.

Level up your supply chain efficiency

Bring together all aspects of your supply chain – demand planning, procurement, inventory management, warehousing, transportation – into a unified process for fulfilling customer orders. An end-to-end supply chain solution helps you respond to changing omnichannel demands and business conditions that are happening faster and faster. 

With a supply chain convergence solution, you can orchestrate all operations functions to keep the right amount of product on hand, drive sales and revenue, and increase margins.

Learn more about how an end-to-end planning and fulfillment platform can level up your supply chain efficiency.