21 Reasons Why Businesses Must Invest in Supply Chain Analytics

The goal of supply chain analytics is to improve the efficiency of the entire supply chain by optimizing the flow of goods through the system. This includes everything from inventory management to transportation planning.

The Importance of Data Analysis

There are two main reasons why businesses should invest in supply chain analytics. First, supply chain analytics helps companies make better decisions regarding where to source products and how much to order. Second, supply chain analytics provides visibility into the operations of the company itself. By understanding what goes wrong with the supply chain, companies can take steps to prevent future issues.

The Benefits of Supply Chain Analytics

Companies that use supply chain analytics benefit by being able to make more informed business decisions. They also gain insight into the operations of their own company. This allows them to identify areas where improvements can be made. Finally, supply chain analytics gives companies an opportunity to improve customer service. If a company knows exactly where its products come from, then it can provide customers with more accurate information about the product.

21 Challenges Faced by Companies That Don't Invest in Supply Chain Analytics

There are several challenges faced by companies that do not invest in supply chain analytics.

First, there is a lack of understanding among executives as to how supply chain analytics works.

Second, there is a lack of awareness regarding the benefits of supply chain analytics.

Third, there is a lack of knowledge of what tools are available to help companies implement supply chain analytics.

Fourth, there is a lack of understanding of the skills needed to perform supply chain analytics.

Fifth, there is a lack of comprehension of the value of supply chain analytics.

Sixth, there is a lack of appreciation of the importance of supply chain analytics.

Seventh, there is a lack of commitment to supply chain analytics.

Eighth, there is a lack of ability to measure the success of supply chain analytics.

Ninth, there is a lack of willingness to invest in supply chain analytics because of the cost involved.

Tenth, there is a lack of desire to invest in the supply chain because of the complexity involved.

Eleventh, there is a lack of motivation to invest in the supply chain due to the lack of return on investment.

Twelfth, there is a lack of interest in investing in supply chain analytics because it is too difficult.

Thirteenth, there is a lack of focus on supply chain analytics because it takes up too much time.

Fourteenth, there is a shortage of qualified people who understand supply chain analytics.

Fifteenth, there is a scarcity of skilled professionals who understand supply chain analytics and can teach others.

Sixteenth, there is a dearth of experts who understand supply chain analytics and can train others.

Seventeenth, there is a lack of expertise in supply chain analytics.

Eighteenth, there is a shortage in supply chain analytics.

Nineteenth, there is a lack in supply chain analytics.

Twentieth, there is a lack of supply chain analytics.

Twenty-first, there is a lack of demand for supply chain analytics. In twenty seconds, there is a lack of need for supply chain analytics.

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Commport Supply Chain Analytics

Top 15 Supply Chain Terminologies

First lets start off with What does Supply Chain Mean? To put it simply, a supply chain is a system that allows a manufactured product to reach a consumer in one or many steps. The 5 components of a supply chain:

Planning
Manufacturing
Assembling
Packaging
Transporting
Delivery & Return

Ecommerce: Is an industry where the buying and selling of products or services is conducted via electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. Electronic commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory management systems, and automated data collection systems.

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI): Electronic Data Interface is the exchange of large amounts of information computer-to-computer in a specified format between business partners.

Blanket Order: A method in which the buyer agrees to buy a certain quantity with its supplier to allow multiple delivery dates over a period of time, often negotiated to take advantage of predetermined pricing. It is normally used when there is a recurring need for expendable goods.

Distribution Center (DC): Is a warehouse or other specialized building, often with refrigeration or air conditioning, which is stocked with goods to be redistributed to retailers, to wholesalers, or directly to consumers. A distribution center is a central part of the order fulfillment process.

Bonded Warehouse: A location managed by the customs office or a government body, where businesses may store taxable goods and imports subject to duties for business purposes. The business will only need to pay taxes at the time of removing the goods from the warehouse. This is particularly useful for retailers who import a lot of goods into the country, since it allows them to spread out their tax burden by deferring some tax payments to a later time.

Cross docking: A distribution system in which merchandise received at the warehouse or distribution center is not put away, but instead is readied for shipment to retail stores. Cross docking requires close synchronization of all inbound and outbound shipment movements. By eliminating the multiple steps (put-away, storage, etc.), it can significantly reduce costs. This method is typically used for perishable goods with a short shelf life and goods that are affected by temperature.

Drop shipment: Where one of a buyers vendors takes the title of the products but does not actually handle, stock, or deliver it, e.g., to have one supplier ship directly to another or to have a supplier ship directly to the buyer's customer. This is useful for selling slow-moving items with a long product life, without bearing the burden of storage and maintenance.

Waybill: A document prepared by the seller, on behalf of the carrier, that specifies the shipment’s point of origin, the details of the transacting parties (the buyer and seller), the route, and the destination address.

Hitchment: The process of combing two or more portions of one shipment that originate at different locations, moving under one bill of lading, from one shipper to one consignee. This process can be done only if the shipments have the same sender and receiver and It’s approved by shipping tariff authorities.

Harmonized System (HS) Codes: The Harmonized System Codes is commonly used throughout the export process for goods. The Harmonized System is a standardized numerical method of classifying traded products. It is used by customs authorities around the world to identify products when assessing duties and taxes and for gathering statistics. These codes normally range from 4 to 10 digits, depending on where they are used.

Landed Cost: Landed cost is the total amount of money it costs a vendor to create a product then transport it, and have the customer receive it. This not only includes shipping and raw materials, but any additional fees such as import duties, shipping insurance, and other related costs.

Back Ordering: Backordering is the process of allowing customers to place orders even if there isn't sufficient stock on hand. It is usually done during times of high demand and/or for slow-moving products that suddenly see a spike in demand.

ASN (Advanced Shipping Notification): Information sent from the shipper via Electronic Data Interchange to the customer that communicates the contents of the shipment, shipping time, estimated arrival time etc.

Groupage: Refers to the process where multiple shipments are combined in order to streamline transportation. More than one order with individual Bills of Landing will exist in one shipment or container.

FIFO & LIFO: Stands for “First In, First Out” Means that the first shipment received is the first to be sent out. The opposite is LIFO which stands for "Last In, First Out".

Get Started With EDI & EDI Integration to Manage Your Supply Chain

What Do You Need to Get Started With EDI?

First of all, determine the volume of paper transactions your company processes—this will help you determine how you will benefit from implementing an EDI solution..

Getting Started With EDI - 5 Step Process

An action plan for vendors. Identify Internal Champions. Identify business processes to be moved to EDI. Select an EDI Solution. Select an EDI Solution Provider and Implement.

Getting Started With Integrated EDI

Commport's Integrated EDI software as a service solution is a proven and cost-effective platform without the initial outlay associated with traditional EDI Software..

Ready to find out more?

Drop us a email today at sales@commport.com for a free quote! You can also call us at 905-727-6782

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Retail Council of Canada – Leaders in Retail Breakfast Series Event

Retail Council of Canada

Leaders in Retail Breakfast Series Event

Retail Council of Canada 2019

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Speaker: Alan MacDonald, Executive Vice-President, Retail, Canadian Tire Corporation

I attended another Retail Council of Canada event this morning to hear the Canadian Tire success story from Allan MacDonald, who runs the retail businesses. It was another very candid and informative session. Diane Brisebois, the CEO of RCC, was on the stage with Allan, and she was asking pertinent and sometimes hardball questions to Allan. Allan did not disappoint and responded with thorough, candid, insightful answers.

CTC is not only doing well, they are making very smart strategic decisions that are helping them grow their business, increase loyalty, protect market share and increase ROI. My biggest takeaway, which Allan mentioned many times, is they make all their business decisions using, in his words, “Data and Analytics”. For over three years this has been their methodology. Allan indicated that their top 200 executives have all talked a one week course on data and analytic decision making skills. He gave a timely example of how data and analytics works. In Nova Scotia they sell 75% left-hand shot hockey sticks and in BC they sell 75% right–hand shot hockey sticks. This is the type of data they have right down to the store level. And, due their loyalty programs and 10 million people who carry a CTC MasterCard, they have it at the customer level.

Commport exchanges EDI procurement data with CTC pretty much every day and being a data company ourselves, we are continuing to promote our Global Data Synchronization Network GDSN services.

Home Hardware Changes – Article by Hardlines.ca

Providing EDI services to Home Hardware and their supplier community for the past 14 years, Commport has come to see just how in touch Home Hardware changes is with their community-focused, members-first attitude.

Over the last number of months, we have been working with Home Hardware to onboard many suppliers to become EDI compliant. Their goal is to “tighten and strengthen the relationship between Home Hardware and their vendor base".

Published by Hardlines (www.hardlines.ca), titled “Home Hardware CEO seeks change while preserving a distinct culture”, highlights changes that are being made by the new Home Hardware CEO, Kevin Macnab.

New rules are being put in place to tighten and strengthen, the relationship between Home Hardware and its vendor base. Much of this new reality was laid out during the company’s latest dealer market, held last month. Under President and CEO Kevin Macnab, the changes planned for the company aren’t restricted to vendors. Home Hardware is also looking to strengthen its connection with its dealers, ensuring they all conform to the metrics that define the Home Hardware brand. But change will have to stay true to the strong corporate culture of the 55-year-old company.

It's been a pleasure working closely with Home Hardware and their supplier community making their business processes more efficient. We welcome the opportunity to continue to work with Home Hardware in the future to reach its goals.

To read a preview of the article visit this page:

https://hardlines.ca/gp_dailynews/home-hardware-ceo-seeks-change-while-preserving-a-distinct-culture/.

Retail Council of Canada Annual STORE Conference

Retail Council of Canada: Commport’s Brian Miles attended the RCC STORE event May 28 -29 at the Toronto Congress Centre. Retail Council of Canada has done a great job of growing its membership, expanding the STORE Conference, and attracting both sought-after speakers and over 2,000 attendees to the STORE event.

This two-day event had a number of noteworthy speakers. Diane Brisebois, the RCC President, and CEO opened the conference telling the story of the RCC success over the past few years. Kevin Graff, President of Graff Retail TV was the MC for the 2-day event and kept everyone on schedule, and showed a lot of enthusiasm and knowledge in introducing each new speaker.

Day 1 had one of Canada’s leading retail gurus, Tony Chapman, presenting and then interviewing other quests.

Day 2 was highlighted by a presentation from Walter ROBB, CEO of Whole Foods, and then Michael LeBlanc coming on stage to interview Walter.

The overriding theme of the STORE Conference was changed in the retail sector. In the news, it talks about the demise of retail but in fact, in a lot of areas, retail sales are growing. The integration of retail with eComm and all facets of a business “omnichannel” is now getting more sophisticated by leveraging big data, AI, and most of all, experimenting with new and different ways to attract, retain, and excite customers. It is the growth of omnichannel that is bringing customers back to stores.

Everyone keeps hearing about the amazing success of Amazon and other eComm sites, and they are growing quickly, but the most “shocking” news we heard is that online sales only represent 8% of the total Canadian government retails sales number; it is 10% in the US. The major reason for these low numbers is that retail spending also includes cars, gas, all food bought in-store or restaurants, and other categories.

My compliments to Diane and the Retail Council of Canada staff as I learned a lot, met some new contacts, and was inspired to make a few changes in what I do... Great Event. – Brian Miles

Commport Attends MEDEC MedTech Conference

Commport attended MEDEC MEDTech 2019 Conference on April 3rd. Although not as well attended as some have been in the past, the topics and presentations were well done and extremely relevant. Many of the presentations were formatted using highly interactive panelists in a relaxed atmosphere. The focus for the most part was on Innovation in Healthcare and involved Patient Outcomes as part of the discussion. In a few panel discussions, actual patients were on stage and involved.

The highlight of Day One of the Conference was the final speaker of the day, Mr. Stan Cho, Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board of Ontario. Mr. Cho spoke about the “New Entity” plans for Healthcare and what exactly that means. He made clear reference to the Export Panel Report and how that report illustrates that savings of $500 million can be achieved with very little turmoil in the market. The New Entity plans, as he presented, are to follow the recommendations of that report.

Mr. Cho presented a cost-saving example using rubber gloves. Rubber gloves are an item procured by the healthcare market in large numbers, but at varying prices depending on the hospital’s contract with the supplier. By having a single entity procure rubber gloves for all hospitals, there would be a single contract price for those gloves, with potential cost savings of an additional $500 million with minimal effort.

Commport, of course, supports this undertaking and is highly supportive of the single entity concept after seeing how well our project in British Columbia is going.

MEDEC is the national association representing the medical technology industry in Canada. Our members are committed to providing safe and innovative medical technologies that enhance the quality of patient care, improve patient access to health care, and help enable the sustainability of our publicly-funded health care system. We are committed to supporting the growth of a strong and vibrant medical technology industry that contributes to Canada’s innovation economy. www.medec.org

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RCC’s Leaders in Retail Breakfast Series – October 17

RCC's Leaders Retail Breakfast Series October 17, 2018: Commport was excited to attend the RCC's Leaders Retail Breakfast Series* featuring Sarah Davis, CEO of Loblaws. RCC’s CEO, Diane Brisebois interviewed Sarah on stage in front of over 400 people and asked a number of pertinent questions related to Loblaw and the Canadian retail industry.

Sarah is a gifted communicator and answered all the questions with a lot of clarity, depth, and honesty in telling the Loblaw story and handling hot topics such as online competition and how the largest Canadian retailer manages its various loyalty and credit cards. The Loblaw story is a great Canadian success story and with Sarah at the helm it appears to be in very solid hands.

Loblaws Inc. is a Canadian supermarket chain with stores located in the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan. Headquartered in Brampton, Ontario, Loblaws is a subsidiary of Loblaw Companies Limited, Canada's largest food distributor.

Loblaw Groceritas was founded by Theodore Loblaw and John Milton Cork in 1919. Loblaw opened the first Canadian self-service grocery store in Toronto in June 1919. During the 1920s the company grew throughout Ontario. By the 1930s it had 107 stores in Ontario and 50 in New York state.

The company initiated a broad marketing strategy that saw a prototype store renovated and remodeled in new colors and a new Loblaws logo. In the mid-1970s stores in the United States were sold to Bells Markets; however, some Loblaws stores in northwestern Pennsylvania continued operation into the early 1990s.

In 1996, in addition to revitalizing the look of its stores, Loblaw management earmarked $40 million for the development of its in-house, private label program

Retail Council of Canada’s Leaders in Retail Breakfast Series

*The Leaders in Retail Breakfast Series provides an exclusive and unique opportunity for vendors and suppliers of goods and services to hear directly from senior leaders of Canada’s biggest retail brands. with none of their fellow retailer competitors or media in the room.

https://www.retailcouncil.org/

Commport Exhibits at GS1 Connect 2018

GS1 Connect 2018 Event

From June 4th-7th 2018 Commport attended and exhibited at GS1 Connect 2018 held at the beautiful JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort & Spa in Phoenix, Arizona.

GS1 Connect is the flag ship conference and trade show held each year by GS1 US. GS1 Connect brings thought leaders together each year for a jam packed agenda focusing on the use of industry standards to improve and “Accelerate” business processes and trading partner relationships.

To that end, some of the unique opportunities that are presented to attendees at GS1 Connect are sessions known as “How to do business with…” and “Trading Partner Roundtables”. These sessions are designed to enable major retailers such as Walmart, Office Depot, Wegman’s, Target and many more to be able to directly communicate with their vendor partners regarding upcoming business process requirements and initiatives which are important to the trading relationship.

The sessions at GS1 Connect are broken into different industry vertical tracks; Grocery, Foodservice, Retail and Healthcare. Each track provides vertical specific learning opportunities about the latest trends and initiatives to businesses operating in each space. This year’s big cross industry topic was Blockchain and the transformational prospect that blockchain technology is bringing to the business landscape.

As a global network services provider Commport is a big proponent of industry standards to streamline business operations and improve trading partner collaboration through effective communication. Our participation at GS1 Connect is definitely a highlight of the year.

Come visit us at GS1 Connect 2019 in Denver, Colorado June 19-21^st 2019!

Commport Customer BC Clinical and Support Services (BCCSS) wins Supply Chain Organization of the Year

Commport would like to extend its congratulations to the BC Clinical and Support Services (BCCSS) organization for winning the Supply Chain Organization of the Year from the Healthcare Supply Chain Network (HSCN).

HSCN is Canada’s leading industry association for the promotion of healthcare supply chain standards and leading practices. The annual Supply Chain Organization of the Year award is granted to healthcare organizations that demonstrate excellence in teamwork, innovation, customer service, patient care and strategic planning.

BCCSS is committed to supply chain efficiency and to that end has been working with Commport on a number of initiatives aimed to support and improve their supply chain operations. Working with both BCCSS and its vendor community, Commport is actively working to ensure that standards and best practices are in place. As a part of our efforts, we are working to on board more vendors to exchange electronic documents and are implementing a validation engine to ensure vendor conformance to the BCCSS requirements.

Effective data management using technologies such as EDI and the GDSN is a foundational requirement for all efficient healthcare supply chains and Commport is uniquely positioned to work with our customers to support their supply chain operations.

Congrats BCCSS!!! Keep up the great work!

About HSCN

Healthcare Supply Chain Network was established in 2002. It has since developed into a national, volunteer-based, not-for-profit network of healthcare providers and suppliers. HSCN is dedicated to identifying and implementing leading practices, enhancing members’ efficiency and effectiveness through professional development programs, and providing networking opportunities where supply chain professionals can share experiences and solutions to common challenges. Visit www.hscn.org

About BCCSS

Established in September 2015, BC Clinical and Support Services (BCCSS) Society’s mandate is to promote health in the province through coordinating, managing, and/or providing clinical, diagnostic and support services to BC’s health care system for the benefit of all users. BCCSS’ Clinical Services Division includes BC’s Agency for Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and the BC Provincial Blood Coordinating Office. BCCSS’ Support Services Division includes Supply Chain, Accounts Payable, Technology Services, Payroll, Employee Records and Benefits, and Revenue Services

Come See Commport at HSCN 2018!

Each year the Healthcare Supply Chain Network (HSCN) hosts the annual HSCN conference, the preeminent event for healthcare supply chain professionals and leaders with the goal of advancing healthcare supply chain excellence. This year’s conference is being held May 14-16 2018 at the Delta Hotels Toronto Airport & Conference Centre.

In Canada, there remains a significant opportunity for improvement within healthcare supply chain management to deliver cost control, efficiency, automation and positive patient outcomes through the use of technologies that are heavily relied on in private sector markets such as retail.

These opportunities have been spelled out in reports such as the McKinsey Report, Strength in Unity: The promise of Global Standards in Healthcare and the Advancing Healthcare in Ontario: Optimizing the healthcare Supply Chain – A New Model from the Healthcare Sector Supply Chain Strategy Expert Panel, which provide a detailed roadmap for the adoption of Global Standards including the use of supply chain management technologies and identification marks and symbols within internal processes. Commport’s suite of services including EDI processing, GDSN data synchronization and cloud based business intelligence and analytics provide the foundation on which these promises can be fulfilled.

Alongside Commport’s work with our customers to deliver on these promises, Commport is excited to attend and exhibit at HSCN2018. The sessions this year include topics such as Value Based Procurement, the role that Data can play to help identify and address supply chain problems, and global case studies that focus on driving value and innovation across the continuum of care.

Additionally, this year, Commport’s customer BCCSS is being awarded with the HCN Supply Chain Organization of the Year award. The award will be presented to BCCSS as a part of the HSCN conference.

For more information about HSCN2018 please visit the Conference Website.

Drop by and visit Commport at Booth # 2