Year after year, Valentine’s Day gives people the perfect opportunity to show how much they care about their partners. Of course, buying a token of your love isn’t the only way to prove your devotion, but the gesture is certainly meaningful. And that’s why 62% of adults celebrate Valentine’s Day annually.
For your business to warm the hearts of customers on this important holiday, you need to make sure your products fly through the supply chain as swiftly as Cupid’s arrow.
Today, there’s no better way to ensure a happy Valentine’s Day than with a digital supply chain.
Nothing says “I love you” like a personalized product
Imagine you’ve got a customer, Frank, who has the perfect gift idea for his wife, Lisa: a heart-shaped pendant with her birthstone on the front and her name on the back.
Unfortunately, this brilliant idea doesn’t strike Frank until February 11 – a mere 72 hours before Valentine’s Day.
Yikes.
By investing in innovative technologies and embracing key concepts aligned with digital supply chain, your organization would be well equipped to fulfill Frank’s order in time for the big day.
Mass customization enables your business to personalize goods at high-volume/mass-produced prices by relying on a combination of traditional assembly line processes and groundbreaking digital technologies, including 3D printing.
With 3D printing, you can transform the way you manufacture goods. Your business can skip right over the planning and sourcing phases of your supply chain framework and jump straight to production. You can even personalize your products until the very last moment they ship.
Love connection: Why everybody’s gaga over connectivity
Frank is antsy to receive his wife’s pendant from the moment he orders it. After all, Valentine’s Day is dangerously close, and he needs the necklace to arrive by February 13 at the latest so he has time to wrap it.
With a digitalized supply chain, you can ease Frank’s mind by giving him real-time updates on when the necklace has been manufactured, when the logistics provider picks it up from your facility, and when it heads out for delivery.
This constant connectivity isn’t only useful in providing buyers like Frank with a superior customer service experience; it’s imperative for your business, too.
Companies connected through a digital supply chain can easily share data that helps synchronize partner planning and streamline operations across the entire network.
By gaining greater visibility into what’s happening throughout the supply chain at all times, you can resolve problems the moment they arise and prevent similar scenarios from occurring in the future.
Customers fall head over heels for agility
Uh-oh. Frank just realized something. That sapphire birthstone he bought for Lisa’s necklace? It was supposed to be opal.
Fortunately, the defining characteristic of a digital supply chain is agility.
Digital supply chain companies rely on the latest technology to ensure responsiveness. By outfitting your employees with mobile devices, you can react to order changes in real time.
As long as Frank lets your company know about his mistake before the gift is delivered, you or your partners can quickly and easily modify his order.
Whether a manufacturing specialist gets an alert before he makes the product, a warehouse employee gets a notification before he packs Lisa’s necklace, or a delivery driver gets an update on his way to Frank’s house, the order can be adjusted to ensure the pendant that eventually hangs from Lisa’s neck is perfect.
Digital supply chain: The Valentine’s Day gift that keeps on giving
In 2017, customers spent more than $18 billion on Valentine’s Day gifts – all to show how much they love the people in their lives.
If your supply chain company wants to prove it cares about consumers, don’t go out and buy them a greeting card, a box of chocolates, or a bouquet of flowers. Instead, put them at the center of your business operations by digitalizing your supply chain.
Want to learn more about transforming the supply chain so you can compete in any market? Download this free IDC white paper, “The Strategic Imperative for an Agile Supply Chain.”
This story also appears on the SAP Community.
