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Joan Lim, Sr Product Marketing Manager

With the pressures of customer driven demand affecting businesses today, having strong logistics end-to-end capabilities contribute to a seamless end-to-end supply chain execution, leading to better orchestration and optimization. Oracle, in conjunction with Aberdeen, has published an interactive eBook, End-to-End Logistics Capabilities: Linking the Supply Chain Together for Better Orchestration & Optimization, which highlights the different types of business pressures that affect supply chain behavior and processes, and focuses on identifying the critical components needed for a global end-to-end visibility and successful fulfillment execution. The report also gives insights on what Best-in-Class (Top 20%) companies are doing when it comes to their supply chain operations to ensure successful implementation and maximize results.

With over 51% of customers demanding faster, more accurate, and different levels of fulfillment, more and more companies are citing complexity in their global operations as a factor affecting data accuracy and efficiency (38%). Because of the complexity in both customer demands and operational requirements, the process can result to higher management and operating costs as well (51%).

The interactive eBook focuses on identifying the critical components in Best-in-Class supply chain operations, focusing on the impact of a strong logistics and fulfillment execution, while the accompanying infographic offers a summary of how you can drive better omni-channel performance by learning from Best-in-Class companies. What are the interoperability and integration needs that are essential between transportation, warehouse management and global trade solutions? How do Best-in-Class companies do it? What are the deployment options available and how does the type of deployment become a critical factor?

Visibility Across All Levels

With the growing demands of eCommerce, it is now important for companies to gain visibility across all levels – from in-transit shipments, to inventory at both distribution center and store levels. It is also important to integrate this with upstream views into suppliers and order status, and important in notifying stakeholders when a potential disruption may take place.

Best-in-Class companies who adapt end-to-end logistics and fulfillment capabilities have higher visibility into in-transit shipment status (69% vs all others at 51%), and have superior SKU visibility at distribution centers and store level (67% vs all others at 42%). When it comes to supply chain data and disruption visibility, best-in-class companies are twice as effective as all others.

Omni-channel Expectations and Ability to Respond

Companies using Best-in-Class supply chain technologies are far ahead in the game. They are able to save the sale more frequently than companies who are not adapting digital supply chain operations (90% vs 68%). With customers now demanding product availability at multiple channels, they want the flexibility to find items online, buy or pick up at the store, or have their orders shipped to a preferred address.

Because of this, there’s been more emphasis on direct-to-consumer fulfillment, which can lead to additional costs. What can companies do to offset these structural costs increases and manage fulfillment points to profitably support omni-channel workflows? Having a closed-loop integration between order management and warehouse execution is required to be able to support omni-channel fulfillment. One challenge that needs to be addressed is making sure inventory is in place to make sure the fulfillment can happen. Most companies don’t even have visibility to their inventory at the SKU level, which makes it difficult to “save the sale”.  Another challenge is finding efficient ways minimize costs that can incur when there are multiple fulfillment points. Leveraging partners, integrating shipments, and prioritizing orders allow Best-in-Class to minimize costs while still being able to support multiple fulfillment points. 

Leveraging the Power of the Cloud

The integration required to achieve a Best-in-Class level of visibility, including third-party partners, is where a cloud-based solution has more advantage than on-premise solutions. Cloud-based solutions offer flexibility and simplify the number of integration points, and offer a faster time to value. From a technology standpoint, they are also more scalable, easier to deploy, and are more secured.

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