In a quest to achieve supply chain optimization, organizations are looking for ways to implement effective supply chain management technologies. Organizations striving to attain a lean supply chain are also investing heavily in their IT infrastructure for supply chain management (SCM) applications. But with the advent of cloud technology, organizations can scale up their entire supply chain management system without having to pay a hefty price.

Why Cloud Technology for Supply Chain Management?

Cloud technology provides a host of benefits over the traditional supply chain management systems. Apart from cost savings, it equips the supply chain manager with real-time trackability and drives supply chain efficiency. In an era of stiff competition and rapid product innovations, a cloud-based supply chain management application helps the organization to react appropriately to dynamic customer demand and provide information on the centralized hosting of services. The organization benefits with improved supplier relationship management, high-quality data on vendors and suppliers, inventory management, and in-depth insights on increasing process efficiency.

How is Cloud Technology Changing the Supply Chain Management Landscape?

Big-Data Analytics and Automation

Today, supply chain management has witnessed a paradigm shift from the physical flow of products, services, and information to a digital business. With the availability of a significant amount of data and information to a supply chain analyst, cloud computing has accelerated the analytics capabilities in the supply chain management sector. It gives way for real-time inventory tracking, automates stock replenishment, automates item and quantity verification, and order validation. Cloud technology pushes the level of automation a step further by using machine learning algorithms, which can teach stock management system to predict and forecast order requirement.

Improved IT Capabilities

Implementing an integrated system requires a significant change in internal culture and employee reconditioning. Cloud technology enables the organization to use latest supply chain management systems without having to upscale their IT systems and has 24/7 support system without allocating a lot of human resources.

Flexibility in Adjusting to Market Volatility

Cloud technology acts as a buffer against market volatility as it enables the organization to scale up or down the level of services and the customization required. It prepares the organization for rapid expansion in their practices as cloud service providers provide the necessary level of services.

Many companies adopting cloud services to manage their supply chain functions with planning, forecasting, procurement, and logistics functions are the first to move to the cloud. As a result, service providers are keeping a close eye on the dynamic needs of the current supply chain management practices and responding to innovations occurring in the industry.

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