15 Apr Supply Chain Resilience Plans Profit From Global Freight Audit & Payment
Supply chain resilience plans are a hot topic among C-Level executives and many professionals in supply chain, operations, and finance roles. Especially for those who manage global supply chains, developing resilience strategies and implementing new tactics are paramount. Further, valuable elements to include in your resilience planning are SSI freight audit and freight payment services, as we will explain below.
First, let’s address a key question: what is a resilient supply chain? A fresh post on the website, SupplyChainBrain, provides good insight: “A resilient supply chain is one that involves strong communication and collaboration; flexibility to rapidly adjust and onboard new suppliers as needed; digital solutions to anticipate changing material and component needs; and a high level of visibility across the entire supply chain. These enable organizations to adapt to unexpected or disruptive events — and recover quickly without sacrificing cost or quality.” 1
SUPPLY CHAIN RESILIENCE PLANS ARE VITAL
Today’s business leaders have never encountered such a multitude of sourcing challenges. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal entitled, “How Sanctions on Russia, War in Ukraine and Covid in China Are Transforming Global Supply Chains,” explains the current crises in clear terms. For the past 50 years of globalization, “modern supply chains were designed to be cost-effective, but not necessarily resilient”. 2
The WSJ piece goes on to describe how some enterprises, as part of their supply chain resilience planning, are shifting from long-tail supply chains to “webs” that include multiple sources to mitigate out-of-stock inventory risk. In fact, initiatives such as “near sourcing” and “re-shoring” of strategically relevant products, such as semiconductors and electric-vehicle batteries, are now being subsidized by state, national, and regional governments. In the EU, the policy of safeguarding access to these types of key goods is known as “technological sovereignty”. 3
COVID EXPOSED WEAK LINKS IN GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAINS
The Covid-19 pandemic continues to keep the need for resilience programs top-of-mind. Current lockdowns in China have significantly impacted truck drivers, which means essential parts cannot be transported to many factories and finished goods cannot be delivered to key shipping ports. “China’s mounting Covid-19 restrictions are creating further disruptions to global supply chains for consumer electronics, car parts and other goods”, according to a recent New York Times article. 4
On the topic of how Covid is influencing supply chain resilience plans, some important thoughts were recently shared in Supply Chain Management Review. Here is an excerpt from the piece: “Resilience is not about investing in a single tactic or technique; it is a proactive process that continuously incorporates new learnings. In this vein, consider building a roadmap for making your COVID-19 lessons actionable. What insights have you gained into your chain’s weakest links that you can leverage to help you be better prepared for the next disruption? What are the critical investments to make in light of these weak links?” 5
INCLUDE SSI GLOBAL FREIGHT AUDIT SERVICES IN YOUR RESILIENCE PLANNING
As you develop and implement your supply chain resilience plans, be sure to include SSI global freight audit and freight payment services into those programs. Our services are customized to meet your needs and our automated process easily adapts and scales to meet your evolving supply chain needs.
Whether your supply chain resilience planning involves re-shoring, near-shoring, or setting up regional webs of suppliers, SSI multimodal freight audits deliver measurable savings that will offset some incremental costs associated with procuring goods from multiple sources. In fact, you may save up to 15% of your transportation budget. Some SSI customers save tens-of-thousands of dollars each month.
Further, a valuable result of this endeavor is that large volumes of relevant supply chain data are captured and entered into a dedicated data storehouse. SSIconnect,™ our user-friendly, online customer platform allows you and your team to access highly relevant information and valuable analytics. Also available are business-intelligence dashboards powered by Domo®, a respected leader in transforming complex business data into useful graphics.6
These modern, customizable dashboards empower leaders to discover and pinpoint the shipments and carriers that adversely affect costs. Armed with pertinent information, supply chain issues can be addressed at the root cause, resulting in real change by cutting shipping costs, improving logistical efficiencies, and reducing operating expenses. Download the SSI managed analytics brochure to learn how to convert your transportation and logistics data into a powerhouse of supply chain intelligence.
After completing a best-in-class freight audit, SSI can pay your global freight invoices as well. We process freight bills from multiple languages, in the world’s most traded currencies. With SSI freight payment services you save money, reduce administrative burdens from your operations and AP teams, and maintain positive relations with your carriers as we issue their payments in a timely manner.
ABOUT SSI
SSI transforms the complexity of freight audit and freight payment into cash savings and supply chain intelligence, providing actionable insights to maximize your profit potential.
- Customizable solution scales with your growing and dynamic business needs
- Automated freight audit drives savings to the bottom line
- Managed analytics services provide superb data visualization tools to facilitate analysis
- Actionable business intelligence supports ongoing supply chain optimization initiatives
Include SSI freight audit and freight payment in your supply chain resilience planning and start saving now. To learn more, simply submit the form at the bottom of this web page, or contact SSI directly and let’s talk.
Footnotes:
1. David Issacson, ”Collaboration, Clarity, Compliance: A Guide to Supplier Resilience”. April 10, 2022, as published by SupplyChainBrain.
2 & 3. Christopher Mims, “How Sanctions on Russia, War in Ukraine and Covid in China Are Transforming Global Supply Chains”. March 26, 2022, as published by The Wall Street Journal.
4. Keith Bradsher, “Lockdowns in China Block Truck Shipments and Close Factories”. April 8, 2022, as published by The New York Times.
5. Lynn Torrel, “Building supply chain resilience”. April 8, 2022, as published by Supply Chain Management Review.
6. Domo is a registered trademark of Domo, Inc. and SSIconnect is a trademark of Software Solutions Unlimited, Inc.