Have you, as a business leader or senior manager, ever wondered why you would need the services of a supply chain consultant? Perhaps you are in a company or business environment where the services of a management consultant are not typically used or even looked down upon and therefore you’ve never even considered it? In this article we will give you a few good reasons to engage a supply chain consultant.
Typically, when you need advice on a particular subject or issue, you consult someone who specialises in the field. When we need advice on our health we consult our doctor. For legal advice we go to a lawyer, for tax advice we consult a tax specialist… the list is endless. In these scenarios we clearly see the benefits of their specialist and professional services. More often than not though, this clarity only comes after we’ve made some costly mistakes. When it comes to business in general and supply chain in particular, there comes a point where either the challenges are too great to resolve by using our own resources and in-house ‘expertise’ or where we find our supply chain needs that ‘something extra’ to give us the competitive edge in order to get ahead of the rest.
This is where a supply chain consultant can step into the picture and change things for your business.
How can they help your business? Here are a few good reasons:
- fresh eyes – supply chain problems are notoriously difficult to identify and solve with internal resources alone and a supply chain consultants can look at your operation with ‘fresh eyes’ and detect problems which may not be that obvious to your team who are inevitably entrenched in the process.
- fast, accurate data analysis – efforts to improve your supply chain or resolve a particular problem often require going through large quantities of historic and current data and compiling future projection data. Consultants are able to adeptly dig up and sift through information and present it as usable data in much less time than it would take to do it internally.
- figuring out improvements and/or solutions – employees and management are often too close to the problem/s at hand to see them clearly and have become entrenched in the processes within the operation. A supply chain consultant on the other hand comes armed with years’ of experience and can take an objective, impartial look at your entire supply chain and operation and more accurately identify any issues.
- solution selection – once the problem/s have been identified and solutions found the supply chain consultant can also give sound advice on which solution would be the most effective if a number of possible solutions are on the table. It also, in certain situations, helps to have an ‘unpopular’ solution come from an external consultant rather than a permanent staff member
- solution implementation support – a supply chain consultant should ideally stay on to assist and support during the implementation of the solution.
- cost saving on new projects – when it comes to building a supply chain from scratch, having a consultant on board can save on costs in the long term as thanks to their experience and knowledge costly mistakes can be avoided and clients can enjoy the right system and solution for their new supply chain from the get-go.
- supplement or substitute for existing internal resources – having a supply chain consultant on ‘speed dial’ also allows you to manage any crises relating to internal resources or simply to supplement internal resources when needs be.
- growth and scaling – if your business or operation is growing and scaling a supply chain consultant can be there to help with new ideas and solutions, methodologies and best practices for you changing operation
- training – last, but not least, a supply chain consultant can share their knowledge and experience with you team in the form of training
In closing, it is inevitable that issues will arise within a company’s supply chain operation at some point as nothing is ever ‘plain sailing’ all the way. A supply chain consultant can act as a ‘cure-all’ in most situations as they are not only able to diagnose the issues quickly thanks to their invaluable, specialist experience and knowledge, but they can also offer cost-effective solutions together with overseeing their smooth implementation. The time and costs saved in the process easily covers the cost of the consultant fee many times over. Building a long-term relationship with a supply chain consultant will stand your business in good stead – start today by contacting Sean van Harmelen and the QWIX supply chain consulting team today.
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