Efficiency Matters
In this industry, supply chain efficiency is everything. Making sure that a shipment successfully travels from point A to point B in a timely manner, within budget, and with all the necessary documents is the backbone of what we do here at Navegate. That’s why it’s so important that you and your business, as well as the clients you work with, have processes and software put in place that will maximize efficiency, reduce costs, and save time.
Why is supply chain efficiency so important?
There are many benefits to implementing more efficient methods in your work. First, your customers will notice and most likely appreciate the proactivity because it makes their lives easier (and yours too)! With efficient, accessible, and high visibility software, customers won’t be left waiting in any situation. That’s right – no more stressing about emailing or calling them back at all hours into the night. The data that they will see with efficient software will automatically update and feed into their portal. This integration provides them with data without having to come to you and your team for updates. And now the responsibility of updating information and keeping records accurate is equally shared among all parties, making other work processes a breeze.
Not only will this efficiency benefit the customer, but also your staff. You and your team can devote more time to tasks other than customer service, like enhancing software capabilities. Thus, building a more straightforward work process for everyone involved.
What does more efficiency mean for your supply chain management?
More efficiency in your workplace will have positive effects for you and your team, decluttering the most detailed parts of your job. For instance, with an efficient software model like Navegate Emerald, documents and messages are all stored centrally in one place, so no more looking for documents that you or your client need. Specifically, with Navegate Emerald’s Global Search capabilities, you can quickly find information based on what you have in front of you. This feature saves you time and allows you to focus on managing and improving your supply chain, not just trying to find basic information about it. Additionally, workflows will be more consolidated, and organization will become more intuitive, streamlining your work processes and making the most detail-oriented parts of your job that much easier! With this centralized messaging, email chains are no longer necessary, so there’s no need to track down specific information in your inbox anymore, but rather, you’ll be able to see correspondence from all involved parties in one consolidated view.
Another advantage of a central storage system is easy document uploading. A system like this stores documents all in one place, and parties can upload the necessary documents they’re responsible for. This ability allows audits to be incredibly effortless, and it ensures that shipments have the required documentation. If any documentation is missing, it’s now simple to identify which shipments need documentation to painlessly pass through customs.
What’s more is that a collaborative site like Navegate Emerald allows parties to receive real-time data from anywhere that’s needed. This efficiency ensures that what you’re seeing in your supply chain is the latest and greatest information and straight from the source. It’s a lot easier this way because the party responsible for certain information can make any changes instead of the bottleneck that occurs when only one party has access to a site. Furthermore, every change is documented, so you can easily track your supply chain’s history and monitor a past field’s value if need be, so your work is easier to navigate (no pun intended).
How else does the customer benefit?
With more streamlined processes and maximized efficiency, the customer will also greatly benefit. Specifically, with proactive communication and a logical storage method, customers can conveniently observe supply changes and act quickly if something goes wrong. With this type of storage method, customers can also avoid fees like detention and demurrage. In addition, they don’t have to wait for data to be uploaded or speak to an agent to obtain information; all the communication and data entry is done through the collaborative storage site and bolstered by sophisticated integrations. These efficiencies store everything in one place, once again, making the work processes for you and the customer faster and easier.
A collaborative storage site like Navegate Emerald also provides opportunities for reporting, which gives customers substantial and impactful insights into their operational efficiency, like whether there are weak spots in their supply chain. This feature exposes the bigger picture of their supply chain; it’s made possible when all the data from a collaborative site converts to meaningful and customer-specific information and analysis. Therefore, your customer’s supply chain can improve for a better workflow and better results.
And finally, with a platform like Navegate Emerald, many customers benefit from the ability to view and update information in a multiple shipment view. This capability allows the customer to analyze and filter data side-by-side. For example, customers can update arrival dates as they adjust their receiving schedule in the last mile delivery. They can also review and prioritize bookings as they reserve equipment to put on a steamship line as the commodities leave the point of manufacturing. This ability to prioritize multiple elements of your supply chain in one place with curated information at your fingertips is a time saver for Navegate Emerald customers.
Navigating Further
Clearly, efficiency is crucial for a better work process – for both your business and your customers. More efficiency in your work means simplified communication, more documentation visibility, and a glimpse at the bigger picture of a supply chain – all of which can yield lasting results for your business. At Navegate, we’re no stranger to implementing more efficient methods in our work, so contact us today to see what solutions we can provide for you and how to help maximize efficiency in your supply chain.
Photo by Fahrul Azmi via Unsplash.
