How can you evaluate an integrated supply chain management system?

An integrated supply chain management system (ISCM) is a software solution that connects and coordinates the activities of different parties involved in the delivery of products or services, from suppliers to customers. ISCM can help improve efficiency, reduce costs, enhance customer satisfaction, and support strategic decision-making. But how can you evaluate an ISCM and choose the best one for your business? Here are some key aspects to consider.

1 Business objectives

The first step in evaluating an ISCM is to define your business objectives and how they relate to your supply chain performance. What are your goals in terms of quality, speed, flexibility, reliability, and sustainability? How do you measure and monitor them? How do you align them with your customers' expectations and your suppliers' capabilities? An ISCM should help you achieve your objectives by providing the right features, functions, and data to support your processes and decisions.

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Naimish Patel

🌍 Saas Enthusiast, ✌ Web-to-Print Specialist, 🏃♂️Runner, 😀 Print Industry Influencer, 👍 Helping Print Service Providers win more Sales with Automated Order Processing & Modern Custom Experience
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Defining clear business objectives is paramount in evaluating an ISCM. Our focus is on quality, speed, flexibility, reliability, and sustainability. We measure and monitor these goals meticulously, ensuring alignment with customer expectations and supplier capabilities. An effective ISCM, for us, is one that seamlessly integrates features, functions, and data to support our supply chain processes and decision-making, ultimately driving us toward our defined objectives.

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2 Integration and interoperability

The second step in evaluating an ISCM is to assess its level of integration and interoperability with your existing systems, processes, and data sources. How easily and seamlessly can the ISCM communicate and exchange information with your enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), warehouse management system (WMS), and other software applications? How well can the ISCM handle different formats, standards, and protocols? How secure and reliable is the data transfer and storage? An ISCM should offer a high degree of integration and interoperability to ensure data accuracy, consistency, and availability.

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Naimish Patel

🌍 Saas Enthusiast, ✌ Web-to-Print Specialist, 🏃♂️Runner, 😀 Print Industry Influencer, 👍 Helping Print Service Providers win more Sales with Automated Order Processing & Modern Custom Experience
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Our evaluation of an ISCM includes assessing its seamless communication with existing systems like ERP, CRM, and WMS. We prioritize solutions that can adeptly handle diverse formats, standards, and protocols, ensuring a robust and secure data transfer and storage environment. The goal is to achieve a high degree of integration, guaranteeing data accuracy, consistency, and availability throughout our operational landscape.

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3 Functionality and usability

The third step in evaluating an ISCM is to examine its functionality and usability for your specific supply chain needs and challenges. What are the main features and modules that the ISCM offers, such as demand planning, inventory management, order fulfillment, transportation management, supplier management, and analytics? How customizable and scalable are they? How user-friendly and intuitive is the interface and navigation? How flexible and adaptable is the workflow and configuration? An ISCM should offer a comprehensive and tailored functionality and usability to suit your supply chain requirements and preferences.

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Naimish Patel

🌍 Saas Enthusiast, ✌ Web-to-Print Specialist, 🏃♂️Runner, 😀 Print Industry Influencer, 👍 Helping Print Service Providers win more Sales with Automated Order Processing & Modern Custom Experience
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Features like demand planning, inventory management, order fulfillment, transportation management, supplier management, and analytics. Client preference is for a solution that is highly customizable and scalable, ensuring it aligns seamlessly with our evolving needs. User-friendly interfaces, intuitive navigation, and flexible workflows are key in customer selection criteria

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4 Performance and reliability

The fourth step in evaluating an ISCM is to test its performance and reliability in real-world scenarios and conditions. How fast and accurate is the ISCM in processing and analyzing data, generating reports, and executing tasks? How robust and resilient is the ISCM in handling errors, exceptions, and changes? How responsive and supportive is the vendor in providing technical assistance, updates, and maintenance? An ISCM should offer a high-performance and reliable service to ensure your supply chain operations run smoothly and effectively.

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5 Cost and value

The fifth step in evaluating an ISCM is to compare its cost and value for your business. How much does the ISCM cost in terms of upfront investment, licensing fees, implementation costs, training costs, and ongoing costs? How much value does the ISCM deliver in terms of return on investment, cost savings, revenue growth, customer satisfaction, and competitive advantage? How long will it take to break even and see the benefits of the ISCM? An ISCM should offer a reasonable and justified cost and value proposition to justify your investment and meet your expectations.

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6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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Naimish Patel

🌍 Saas Enthusiast, ✌ Web-to-Print Specialist, 🏃♂️Runner, 😀 Print Industry Influencer, 👍 Helping Print Service Providers win more Sales with Automated Order Processing & Modern Custom Experience
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Ensuring the ISCM aligns with our organizational culture promotes smoother adoption and integration. Furthermore, a robust support and training infrastructure is vital to maximize the system's potential.

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How can you evaluate an integrated supply chain management system?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 Business objectives

2 Integration and interoperability

3 Functionality and usability

4 Performance and reliability

5 Cost and value

6 Here’s what else to consider

Enterprise Software

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How can you evaluate an integrated supply chain management system?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 Business objectives

2 Integration and interoperability

3 Functionality and usability

4 Performance and reliability

5 Cost and value

6 Here’s what else to consider

Enterprise Software

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