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Supply Chain Visibility

Key Differentiators of the Supply Chain Control Tower for Orchestration

From optimizing complex product flows to achieving cost-to-serve figures, here are five ways a control tower will revolutionize the way you do business.

June 11, 2020

Mpo Key Differentiators Of The Supply Chainl

Time for Plan B: How Supply Chains Can Avoid the Mad Scramble of Disruption

May 1, 2020

Time for Plan B: How Supply Chains Can Avoid the Mad Scramble of Disruption

Did you know that courtship is as important to the art of e-commerce as it is to the art of romance?

May 1, 2020

MPO Music E-Commerce Video

Supply Chain Orchestration is not your typical solution: As a holistic alternative, it will improve both operational excellence and customer service

May 1, 2020

Today's supply chain businesses face many unique challenges -- from evolving customer demands to managing increasingly global, networked, and multi-channel supply chains. Many of the most successful leaders have opted for a more holistic approach to management through a Supply Chain Orchestration solution. Not only does it connect siloed systems, but it also provides unprecedented opportunities for superior service, innovation, and profitability. Stand-alone Control Towers are often limited in their depth of functionality, in-app actionability, and end-to-end scope. A Supply Chain Orchestration solution doesn't simply address a narrow pain point; it connects to and complements disparate systems to help companies manage their entire ecosystem. A holistic solution leverages information about inventory, sourcing, and replenishment to help you make smarter planning and execution decisions. By integrating inbound, outbound, and after-sales flows, users can create one smooth and continuous end-to-end flow, broadening opportunities for optimization and multi-party collaboration.

Today it’s easier than ever to merge the physical and digital worlds – and it doesn’t involve a price increase.

May 1, 2020

For years, brands have been treating e-fulfillment as a separate business with its own distribution network. Most have since realized that, even though omni-channel order fulfillment involves complex, multi-form processes, customers just want a consistent and satisfying experience. Converging worlds requires converging systems. Unified platforms make it easier than ever for businesses to provide full transparency on orders through status updates and feedback – including through their web-shops. The holistic visibility offered allows businesses to better integrate and streamline all order types (sales, purchase, stock transfers, returns) and flow types (inbound, middle mile, last mile), regardless of the channel. Beyond maintaining a uniform customer experience, converging systems and flows enhances operational excellence by introducing more opportunities for order splitting and consolidation. With today’s technology, brands can also offer customizable delivery or fulfillment options to their customers – regardless of the channel – and boost their own efficiency simultaneously. Smart software now allows companies to tailor supply chains to balance both customer and business demands. Every order gets its own optimized 'micro supply chain.'

In the Ever-Changing Supply Chain, the Order-Centric TMS is a Game Changer

May 1, 2020

While most transportation management solutions handle operations from a shipment perspective (shipment-centric), the order-centric TMS can consume a raw order of any type (Purchase Order, Sales Order, Return) – making integration with order capture systems easy. The system can also decompose orders into one or many shipments, optimizing every routing and carrier decision for efficiency and cost-effectiveness. The order-centric structure allows for superior rush and expedite order management. Since there is no batching or special processing, users can aggregate and optimize flows as needed, until the last possible moment. Order-Centric systems also provide unprecedented processing speeds and reduce latency in status updates to facilitate the quickest responses and most timely event management. The Order-Centric TMS is not just multi-modal - it has no mode, leg, or geographic limit. As one of the most flexible TMS solutions on the market, it empowers its users to configure complex order flows, as well as easily modify and add new flows to accommodate evolving business needs. The Order-Centric structure enables the system to leverage a robust rate and service agreement structure for pinpoint accuracy and detailed cost allocation. The MPO TMS solution captures not only transport costs, but all logistics costs including handling, detention, and warehousing.

Are There Blind Spots in Your Supply Chain Visibility?

Today’s global supply chain complexity creates many blind spots - whether you're managing environmental and political uncertainty, multi-enterprise business networks, the pressures of e-commerce, or multi-modal shipping. Proper visibility has become crucial to mitigating the impacts of disruption and optimally choosing between multiple sources, delivery points, and logistical processes to consistently ensure profitability and customer satisfaction - no matter the situation.

May 1, 2020

Today’s global supply chain complexity creates many blind spots - whether you're managing environmental and political uncertainty, multi-enterprise business networks, the pressures of e-commerce, or multi-modal shipping. Proper visibility has become crucial to mitigating the impacts of disruption and optimally choosing between multiple sources, delivery points, and logistical processes to consistently ensure profitability and customer satisfaction - no matter the situation. Enterprise systems and incremental upgrades don’t do enough to purge the blind spots. They tend to zoom in on pain points within separate sectors, focusing on manufacturing or warehousing or else investing in a logistics control tower for greater transport visibility. As a result, businesses often deploy multiple visibility solutions, none of which effectively communicate with each other or offer insight into the bigger picture. Fortunately, more practitioners are realizing the crucial role supply chain visibility plays in cost control and boosting customer satisfaction. Indeed, so many issues, ranging from poor inventory management and ineffective communication to exorbitant errors and delays, either boil down to a lack of visibility or else cannot be resolved without first implementing a proper supply chain visibility solution. In other words, visibility is a necessary foundation to all other supply chain functions.

The Key Functions of a Supply Chain Transportation Management System (TMS)

In essence, a TMS is leveraged to move products from point A to point B as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible. To succeed in this, an effective transportation management system will provide end-to-end visibility across the entire multi-party network (beyond just logistics providers), as well as multi-modal and container, pallet, and parcel support. Consistent OTIF delivery also requires exceptions management using real-time track and trace visibility with real-time alerts and in-app corrective actions capabilities.

April 30, 2020

The Key Functions of a Supply Chain Transportation Management System (TMS)

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