Supply chain management (SCM) is designed to help organizations in a wide variety of industries improve the quality, efficiency, and effectiveness of their supply chains, including sourcing, supply chain planning, warehousing, business forecasting, and demand planning.
And, when it comes to managing your supply chain in the most efficient way possible, you need the best solution working in your favor… The solution? SAP Supply Chain Management.
Read on to learn more about SAP supply chain software, as well as how our team of senior-level SAP consultants can help optimize inventory management, improve procurement, and maximize the value of your supply chain processes across your organization.
What is SAP SCM?
SAP Supply Chain Management (SAP SCM) is a module within the SAP ERP system that allows companies to effectively conduct advanced planning and optimization efforts to ensure supply chain, procurement, and logistics processes are completed and managed properly.
Supply chain management in SAP improves connectivity and collaboration between supply chain operations and other SAP and non-SAP systems and processes, making it easier for companies to streamline business functions and increase business agility across the board.
With SAP Supply Chain Management, companies can manage and optimize…
- Production Planning
- Logistics Management
- Product Lifecycle Management
- Manufacturing Technology
- Enterprise Asset Management
- Supply Chain Procurement
And, by leveraging digital supply chain technology within your SAP system, your organization can improve resource utilization to satisfy customer demand, minimize product waste and surplus, enhance production efficiency, and maximize value across the entire supply chain network.
Understanding Supply Chain Management in SAP
Supply chain processes can get a little complicated with more key stakeholders, broader supply networks, and complex integrations between solutions and organizations. But, SAP SCM offers advanced planning, scheduling, and distribution functionality to help users optimize business processes across the entire supply chain.
Here are the main phases of supply chain management with SAP SCM software…
1) Planning
Creating a well-defined plan for the processes throughout the supply chain process, including forecasting demand, scheduling production, and determining inventory levels, and leveraging digital supply chain software to maximize value across areas of the organization.
2) Sourcing
Identifying and selecting the right suppliers for the raw materials, products, or services required to meet demand and maintain customer satisfaction across the board.
Sourcing processes also include contract negotiation and customer relationship management to enforce contract compliance and improve experiences for all supply chain stakeholders.
3) Manufacturing
Producing goods or services according to supply chain planning initiatives and objectives, including scheduling production, managing inventory levels, conducting manufacturing processes with minimal waste, and and maintaining quality control.
4) Delivery
Delivering goods or services to the customers or distribution centers to keep supply chain operations on track to meet customer demand and production timelines.
Delivery processes include managing transportation for raw materials and finished products, tracking shipments across the supply network, and efficiently managing customer orders.
5) Returns
Managing returns or exchanges from customers, including processing each return, managing actual and expected inventory levels, and handling refunds or replacements to keep customers happy in the long run.
6) Analytics
Analyzing data collected throughout the supply chain process to improve operations, increase efficiency, and reduce costs. Analytics processes also include monitoring key performance indicators (KPIs) and performance metrics to identify areas for improvement.
Key Components of the SAP SCM Module
SAP SCM software helps automate and streamline business processes, provide real-time visibility into supply chain operations, and enable quicker, more informed decision-making to maximize the value of your supply chain in the long run.
Here are a few main components included in SAP’s Supply Chain Management module…
Collaboration
With SAP SCM functionality, organizations can facilitate better collaboration between individuals, teams, and departments across the company to create stronger relationships with customers and build a trustworthy reputation for themselves over time.
The collaboration component makes it easier for SAP users to create collaborative forecasts across teams and secure agreements between stakeholders in a more efficient way to maximize the value of their supply chain operations throughout the entire enterprise.
Stronger connections between manufacturers, suppliers, and customers can help align supply and demand more efficiently across the board, optimize demand and production planning throughout the entire product lifecycle, and improve customer satisfaction.
Coordination
The coordination component in the SAP SCM module allows users to efficiently and effectively coordinate the exchange of important supply chain and logistics data between different teams and areas of the organization.
And, with a synchronized flow of information between key stakeholders across the SAP SCM system, employees involved in different business units can share information with business partners across the entire enterprise network to improve communication and maximize productivity.
Planning
With personalized plans for supply chain management based on current supply trends and other relevant data within SAP SCM, companies can improve resource utilization and enhance the flow of materials throughout each phase of the supply chain to meet evolving market demands over time.
Detailed scheduling and planning practices in the SAP SCM module provide the functionality needed to support better enterprise resource planning (ERP) decisions at strategic, tactical, and operational levels across the supply chain.
Execution
The execution component in SAP SCM modules helps companies ensure their supply chain operations are carried out in the most efficient way possible to maximize value.
With stronger execution strategies across the entire supply chain, companies can achieve desired outcomes for meeting customer demand and reduce the risk for issues in the quality and value of their production processes.
Main Advantages of SAP SCM Software
Let’s take a look at a few of the main advantages of SAP SCM software for your organization…
Better visibility: SAP ERP SCM provides real-time visibility into supply chain operations to allow companies in any industry to track inventory levels, monitor product delivery schedules, and identify potential issues and risks before they become major problems.
Improved efficiency: With better asset management and predictive analytics functionality, SAP SCM helps users automate and streamline the supply chain process to eliminate manual processes, enabling faster decision-making and improved efficiency across the board.
Enhanced collaboration: SAP Supply Chain Management solutions enable better collaboration between suppliers, manufacturers, and customers by offering a centralized platform for communication and data sharing and connecting supply chain management processes across systems and areas of the organization.
Increased customer service: SAP SCM architecture offers adaptive, customer-centric solutions that help users manage the supply chain process in a more accurate and efficient manner, making it easier for them to facilitate customer feedback and improve service delivery, no matter what.
Higher product quality: By connecting customer feedback with R&D teams, organizations leveraging SAP SCM solutions can ensure higher quality products through advanced production planning and development processes informed by customer needs.
Reduced costs: SAP SCM helps companies optimize supply chain management processes, helping to reduce costs related to inventory, transportation, and production and leading to significant cost savings for companies in any industry.
How Can We Help?
Whether you need help implementing a new SAP Supply Chain Management solution across your organization, additional support facilitating integrations between SAP SCM and other SAP ERP applications (i.e., SAP APO, SAP CRM, etc.), or just an extra hand structuring your supply networks to optimize efficiency, Surety Systems is here to help.
Our team of senior-level SAP consultants has the technical skills and functional expertise needed to lead you to success, regardless of the complexity of your SAP SCM process, the size of your supply networks, or your individual demand management needs.
Partnering with the Best
Interested in learning more about our SAP SCM consulting solutions?
Ready to start optimizing your business processes, leveraging functional supply chain software to improve efficiencies, and maximizing the potential of your SAP system across the entire supply chain process?
Contact us today for more information!
