The world’s interconnected supply chain is more complex and vulnerable to disruption than ever, which is why resilient operations are so important.
Companies must maintain visibility while optimizing efficiency and reaching sustainability goals to grow and succeed in the international market. Proper visibility enables a company to track inventory as it moves through the supply chain in real-time, but as the chain expands, accounting for every step along the way can feel impossible.
Without perfect knowledge of inventory, any attempts to optimize efficiency prove futile, and it becomes impossible to identify areas that will improve sustainability.
Fortunately, there are modern supply chain management software solutions designed to overcome these challenges and ensure smooth, sustainable operations across the board.
As supply chains expand, the companies providing supply solutions have developed alongside them. According to Gartner, an IT research firm and consultancy, “It is expected that digital supply chain (supply chain execution software) investment in real-time decision execution will increase 5x by 2028.”
The services provided by supply chain software have become essential for operations on the international market, ensuring visibility, efficiency, and sustainability.
Manhattan Associates: A Leader in Supply Chain Management Software
Among these emerging software solution enterprises, Gartner has identified Manhattan Associates as the foremost company in the Warehouse Management System (WMS) and Transport Management System industry.
Manhattan’s goal is to unite the entire supply chain, from warehouse to store, so that companies have full visibility at every step with one intuitive system.
In addition to their core TMS and WMS services, Manhattan Associates offers labor management solutions for balancing supply and demand and monitoring individual performance, yard management solutions for tracking dock door progress and inbound and outbound processes, and carrier management software for analyzing loads and accounting for cost of dispatch.
Each of these elements comes together to provide a holistic approach to supply chain management software, emphasizing every factor as a contribution to the whole.
Manhattan Associates is always committed to providing the best services it can, and it invests heavily in research and development each year to keep their solutions cloud-native, giving it the unique ability to push system upgrades every 90 days, so there is no need to update.
This way, customers always have access to the latest features without upgrading their system, and Manhattan Associates ensures that each service is unified and integrated with the whole. Being cloud-native empowers customers to make better-informed business decisions.
Enhancing Visibility with Advanced Supply Chain Software
Manhattan Associates’ TMS and WMS services enhance visibility across the supply chain, providing insight with real-time data, tracking, and analytics. This is largely accomplished by integrating each system on a shared cloud so that data can be freely and quickly exchanged across links in the chain.
With such improved visibility, companies have better inventory management, faster response times, and more informed decision-making for their supply chain. Visibility enables companies to identify potential risks, such as disruptions, quality issues, and changes in cost, and respond with a quick solution to ensure customer satisfaction.
Driving Efficiency With Integrated Supply Chain Solutions
The interconnected nature of Manhattan Associates’ software serves to improve operational efficiency by granting insight into the company’s areas of strength and weakness. With enhanced visibility, companies can identify where the supply chain is being held back and place a focus on improving that area of the business.
In addition to being able to capitalize on new insights, Manhattan Associates’ supply chain management software can automate key processes, leaving less room for error, reducing operational costs, and streamlining logistics overall.
By combining TMS to optimize transportation logistics and WMS to enhance warehouse operations, efficiency is significantly enhanced. When transportation times are accurately accounted for, warehouses are better prepared to respond to both arrivals and departures.
A recent example of Manhattan Associates’ success comes from Lydia Miller, Vice President of Replenishment at Dot Foods, North America’s largest food redistributor. Using the Active Inventory solution, Dot Foods was able to reduce buyer training time from 12-18 months to less than six, improve service, boost inventory turnaround, and reduce obsolete stock.
Promoting Sustainability Through Supply Chain Management
With the enhanced visibility of Manhattan Associates’ supply chain management software, companies are able to account for every aspect of their supply chain and identify points of improvement. If one component of a product could be sourced from a supplier closer to the warehouse, the company could save on fuel costs and reduce emissions.
Manhattan Associates’ Fuel&Route solution determines optimal routing to maximize fuel savings, prevent unnecessary stops, and provide an accurate ETA. With just one subcategory of their supply chain management software, Manhattan Associates helps improve overall sustainability.
The gradual integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into Manhattan Associates’ offerings aims to predict demand, optimize transportation routes, and minimize environmental impact using advanced analytics.
Predictive AI models can identify when and where products will be needed and inform supply chain management accordingly. This not only enables a company to anticipate market demand but also reduces unnecessary purchases that might have been made in response to fleeting trends.
A View of Supply Chain Management in a Globalized World
The integration of AI services into supply chain management software is the most prominent area of interest for the future of the global supply chain. Machine Learning and AI will serve to reduce error and enhance operational efficiency, all while improving sustainability overall.
Of course, sustainability is a major issue in the world of supply chain management, with the rise of climate change becoming impossible to ignore. In each of these areas, global cooperation and coordination are increasingly important for success.
With its suite of advanced products, Manhattan Associates is uniquely positioned to help companies take advantage of technological advancements and respond to global issues. Their services equip clients with the exact tools they need to optimize their businesses, enabling progress and sustainability.
