Factors Influencing The Supply Chain Ahead Of Holiday Season

  • Sep 06 ,2023
  • /
  • by AWL India Pvt. Ltd.
Factors Influencing The Supply Chain Ahead Of Holiday Season

Supply chain is an integral part of any business organisation as it can assist you to achieve various corporate goals. It is a connected system of multiple activities, information, and resources that are strategically planned to source, ship, and store goods from its initial stage to the final destination. Moreover, supply chain management gives you the control over shipping methods which enables you to track all your distribution processes in real time and also maintain inventory levels. Supply chain management is also important because it assists in enhancing the quality of the product while simultaneously reducing the risk of returns for that order. Overall the logistics and supply chain management helps in improving the overall customer satisfaction for the company. This results in increased profit margins by ensuring customer satisfaction and efficient operations throughout the entire supply chain.

AWL India is one of the leading supply chain management companies in India as it encompasses all the processes and simplifies the process for your business. AWL India is one of the most reliable supply chain management companies in India, which means that you can leave all the operations to us and focus on other important tasks of your business. That being said, the management of processes from transporting raw materials to processing centres and finished products to the final consumers falls under the supply chain management process. Supply planning, demand forecasting, sales planning, inventory management are all parts of the supply chain management process.

Supply chain management was highly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic when the restrictions forced businesses to entirely change their operation models. This resulted in the shortage of inventory and work force at the required time. Even today, many companies still find it difficult to accept the changes in their supply chain that are necessary to overcome the challenges present in the market today.

List Of Impacts Facing The Supply Chain

There are numerous problems that are present today in the industry and companies are finding it difficult to operate the supply chain management process efficiently. Here is a list of a few challenges that are being faced by the supply chain management companies today:

1. Labour Shortages

Ever since the pandemic happened, companies have been facing labour shortages . Moreover, looking at the current scenario companies, the woes might continue this holiday season as well. In order to fulfil the peak season demands companies are still struggling to arrange for the required workforces. During the pandemic, companies were forced to downgrade their employee strength during that period. Also, labour shortages are still present in the retail and manufacturing sector that makes it difficult to cope up with the industry demands. Workers on the other hand, are opting for seasonal work as they are getting employment and larger pay scales. However, to work with any logistics and supply chain management company, it takes some time to train the workers so that they can get familiar with equipment like forklifts and other warehouse machinery.

On the brighter side, businesses have started moving towards automation processes. This not only overcomes the labour shortages but also helps in streamlining the process to save time and resources of the company. AWL India uses cutting edge technologies to help your business in overcoming the labour shortage barrier that is present in the industry. It also provides a competitive edge over other market competition. Automation also helps in reducing the workloads on human resources and improves efficiency through all the stages of supply chain management.

2. International Restrictions

Whether it is COVID-19 or Russia Ukraine war the international restrictions are still present, making it difficult for logistics and supply chain management companies to transport goods from one place to another. Since the beginning of the pandemic, multiple countries had implemented lockdowns and other various restrictions that slowed the entire production process. Only the businesses that were labelled as “ESSENTIALS” by the government were allowed to operate. Even in the late 2022, restrictions are still present in the market that are making it difficult for the companies to operate in today's difficult times. These restrictions have a negative impact on the supply chain of your business.

China accounts for the highest number of manufacturing plants and also has the highest number of restrictions today. China contributes around 29% of the total world's output followed by the United States Of America which contributes around 17%. According to the experts, China is still at a risk for increased COVID-19 cases. Whereas, China is currently struggling with the seasonal flu cases. Any discrepancy within China impacts the entire manufacturing industry worldwide. A majority of the American companies have reduced their production orders by around 40% in China. Also, there are anticipated delays by American companies because of the cancelled containers coming out of China.

Increase In Online Shopping

Warehouses are the most affected parts of the entire supply chain because of the increase in online shopping. Especially during the pandemic, almost everyone ordered products online over the Internet because of the restrictions. Giant E-commerce companies like Amazon resulted in a 220% increase in their revenue margins during the pandemic period. Also, even after the pandemic the demand for online products has been on the rise which resulted in larger warehousing facilities. Managing the required inventory levels within the existing warehouse capacities is now becoming a challenge for the logistics and supply chain management companies. With the increased online demand it is challenging to keep up with the available warehouse spaces. However, AWL India provides optimised smart warehouses that are equipped with latest cutting edge technologies that can enable you to manage inventory efficiently.

There are plenty of strategies that warehouses implement to overcome these challenges. An efficient warehouse is directly responsible for smooth operations of the entire supply chain process. AWL India enables your business to be well aware of the future demands and also allows you to know which product will sell well. With the help of this research, it becomes easy for an organisation to keep only the inventory that will move through the supply chain. Also, they will not fear having a stockpile of not selling goods in their warehouses. However, it is important to understand that these strategies are critical and a frequent delay in the shipping from international locations can be expected.

Overcoming These Supply Chain Challenges

Although, it is supposed to be a wonderful time of the year. But this also results in the increased peak season demands that are to be taken care of by the logistics and supply chain companies. After the pandemic disruptions have changed the entire supply chain management scenario, companies like AWL India can help your business in overcoming these challenges. Labour shortages, delays in the manufacturing sector have left many wondering about the solutions for these problems. Also, the war in Ukraine and COVID restrictions in China are making it difficult to overcome these supply chain challenges.

Conclusion

Although, there are numerous logistics and supply chain management companies present in the country. It is important for you to select the best company that can help you with the best in class supply chain management solutions which can result in the overall growth of your business by ensuring smooth supply chain operations. As a business organisation, you can focus on the skills and technological advancements while determining your logistics and supply chain management partner. Furthermore, to overcome these challenges it is advisable to make use of the available automation and technological advancements in the market that can help in overcoming the human resource problems that are present within the industry.

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