5 Best Supply Chain Management Software in 2020

What is Supply Chain Management Software?

Supply Chain Management Software is used for managing supply chain transactions, administering supplier relationships, and handling various business procedures related to it. Supply chain analytics software helps companies ensure the smooth flow of goods, finances, and data with regards to a product or service.

Here are some common functionalities offered by a logistics and supply chain management software:

• Customer requirement handling
• Purchase order management
• Sales and distribution channel
• Inventory and warehouse management
• Goods receipt and other documents
• Supplier or vendor sourcing

Another key aspect of using supply chain simulation software is the provision of forecasting; Supply Management Software enhances the business processes by solving the disparity between supply and demand with the help of consumption analysis and business intelligence algorithms.

SCM Software: Features of Supply Chain Software

Supply chain management software is vital for manufacturing businesses, as it involves the complete monitoring of material from their origin to the destination.

Inventory Management

Supply Chain Management offers a comprehensive inventory management module that ensures that organizations have a sufficient amount of raw materials, finished goods, and components at all times. Supply chain management software also helps in ensuring that there are no delays, bottlenecks, or stoppage in production because of material shortage.

Forecasting and Business Intelligence

The best supply chain software helps organizations through business forecasts for achieving operational efficiency. Logistics and supply chain management software overpasses the huge difference between supply and demand to reduce the wastage of resources. Supply chain analytics software uses past data to improve the scheduling of inventory and production cycles.

Order Management

Supply chain simulation software helps in the automated creation and handling of purchase order documents. Supply management software decreases the time, money and effort required to create a purchase order document. The streamlined billing system does it for the user. Supply chain analytics software also tracks the status of every purchase order to make sure that you do not skip a payment by mistake.

Logistics and Shipping Status

Supply chain management software facilitates the efficient coordination of transportation channels to enhance delivery performance and boost customer satisfaction. It helps users stay informed about the current whereabouts of their shipments and status. Supply management software further assists in storage optimization, labeling, labor handling, and much more.

Data Security

Data security is at the heart of supply chain analytics software. The best supply chain software provides network monitoring, virus scanning, audit trailing, data encryption, fault tolerance, etc. This allows companies to maintain complete confidentiality of their workflow, business ideas, mart rates, among many other things.

Warehouse Management

A well-designed supply chain and logistics management software support accurate monitoring of warehouse functions. This allows companies to work in an organized fashion, where they can regularly monitor:

• Incoming and outgoing of goods
• Study the supply and demand cycles
• Locate goods in the warehouse
• Storage planning to decrease operational costs and eliminate bottlenecks

Transportation Management

Supply chain analytics software enables companies to handle supplies in transit. It has a fleet management module that lets users/employees/supervisors to check the status of their shipment going through various means of transport such as rail, road, sea, or air in real-time.

Benefits of Supply Chain Management Tools

Here are some benefits companies can get from using the best supply chain software:

Reduction in Expenses

A good supply chain management software performs a comprehensive cost analysis of the complete workflow and identifies the extra expenses in each process such as inventory, fleet operations, etc.

Boosting Efficiency

Supply management software enables companies to boost their productivity in terms of communication and coordination with their vendors, third-party fleet handlers and suppliers. It facilitates a constant flow of information on both sides for efficient working.

Profitability

Logistics and supply chain management software increases the profit margin for companies through various means. By streamlining the entire workflow through one platform, it ensures better supply chain management. Supply management software uses automation on several levels to cut extra costs to boost revenues as well.

Streamlined Communication

Supply chain management software facilitates communication between different individuals or teams involved in the handling of goods for better collaboration and higher productivity. Supply chain analytics software provides both companies and their vendors & suppliers, an in-built communication portal to stay informed regarding the status of their goods during the transportation process.

Accurate Post-Delivery operations

Supply chain simulation software helps in managing proper documentation of all the delivered goods with bills and various other important details such as – the time of delivery, the person receiving the delivery, the contact information of the fleet handler, etc. Supply chain management software ensures that the organizations have a complete record of their distribution and delivery channels to avoid any disparity.

Types of Supply Chain Management Software

Here are some important types of supply chain analytics software:

Inventory Tools

Supply management software allows users to stay updated with the most important aspect of their operations, i.e., storage. Supply chain analytics software consistently surveys the movement of goods in storage and their refilling rates to understand the supply and demand cycle. Supply chain management software also manages the daily operations within a warehouse such as cycle counting, daily dispatching with respect to a sales order, etc.

Freight Handling

Freight handling features of a supply chain simulation software enable users to track their goods in transit. It also helps users adhere to transport compliances, such as, cold chain logistics require to keep their goods transferred in refrigerated conditions. Users/companies can track the air conditioner status in real-time and check whether it was on or off, what was the temperature, etc.

Supplier Management

Supplier management tools are there in the best logistics and supply chain management software. It helps in managing cost issues, performance analysis, trade history, etc. Supplier management tools reflect the history of business partnerships and its effect on the supply chain process.

Supply Chain Analytics Software

Supply chain analytics software allows companies to assess consumer demand and their supplier’s performance along with a detailed analysis of their workflow. Supply chain analysis software facilitates complete visibility into the physical inventory, performance, and health of the company.

Collaboration Portals

Supply chain management software offers a separate portal for users to collaborate and handle tasks that require the involvement of third-party teams such as procurement. These portals allow suppliers to connect with supply chain managers/supervisors in real-time and eliminate bottlenecks in order and requisition. Collaboration portals also help in staying updated with order forecasts, product specifications, production progress, etc.

List of Supply Chain Management Software

Here are some of the best supply chain management software available in the market:

SAP Business by Design

SAP supply chain management software is one of the most popular and widely used tools by logistics companies. The supply chain analysis software allows users to automate repetitive tasks with enhanced reporting.

Features:

• Demand forecasting
• Optimization of inventory
• Sales and operations planning
• Supply and response planning

RapidResponse

RapidResponse is one of the best supply chain management software that allows users to improve logistical operations on several fronts. It offers well-defined modules for planning and execution of sales, demand, supply, inventory, etc.

Features:

• Demand planning
• Inventory management
• Order fulfillment
• Sales and operations planning
• Data visualization

Megaventory

Megaventory is one of the best supply chain management software designed for effective order fulfillment. Megaventory provides a fully integrated supply chain analytics solution for inventory management, order management, manufacturing tracking, report creation, etc. This software can be easily customized to fit in with any type of business environment.

Features:

• Production tracking
• Report generation
• Order completion
• Inventory management
• Data administering tools

NetSuite

NetSuite is a fully integrated cloud supply chain management software that allows different teams involved in the logistics process to work spontaneously. The software offers specialized order-to-cash modules which ensure that revenue is generated quickly on all the completed consignments.

Features:

• Supply chain management
• Warehouse management
• Production management
• Procurement handling
• Financial planning

Latitude WMS

Latitude WMS makes the task of supply chain management a breeze. This logistic and supply chain management software offers flexibility and efficiency to any type of warehouse it is deployed for. Plus, it makes sure that users can keep up with their daily tasks through automated reminders.

Features:

• Receiving
• Automate cycle counting
• Automatic warehouse picking
• Warehouse performance metrics