Improving supply chain management practices is crucial for companies that want to maintain sufficient revenues even in the sluggish modern economy. Management practices are important because they dictate guidelines and policies that are carried out by the supply chain as a whole. Here are seven strategies for improving supply chain management practices:
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1. Update Your Technology
There is no reason that you should still be using spreadsheets to manage your supply chain. There are plenty of practical supply chain platforms that can be incorporated into your operation to help you work more efficiently and track shipments and purchases.
2. Segment Your Supply Sources
Segmentation will help you get more use out of business intelligence tactics that can analyze efficiencies to help you understand where you are succeeding and where you need to improve your practices. It can also help you track your supply partners to see if there are issues with any specific channel partners.
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3. Integrate Other Parts Of Your Operation
Your sales, finance, and operations departments should all be working in sync so that you have a realistic overall plan that you can achieve by improving supply chain management practices. When your entire organization is on the same page as far as targets for revenue and efficiency, it makes teamwork much easier.
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4. Track Customer Demand
Some logistics professionals believe that determining which goods consumers want and which ones they don’t is outside of the scope of supply chain management. However, this practice is integral for making sure that you are getting the maximum ROI from your deliveries.
Do you want the remaining supply chain management practices? Make sure you come back next week back as we will be publishing the remaining strategies that can help your supply chain management efforts.

About Michael Wilson
Michael Wilson is AFFLINK'S Vice President of Marketing and Communications. He has been with the organization since 2005 and provides strategic leadership for the entire supply chain team. In his free time, Michael enjoys working with the Wounded Warrior Project, fishing, and improving his cooking skills.
