In a recent report, the Department of Business, Innovation
and Skills (BIS) noted that the current economic situation is a barrier to innovation
in the supply chain.
In particular, says BIS, companies considering investment
in supply chain management want to minimise their risk by using proven
technologies and processes. And understandably so!
So when it comes to tried and tested technologies and
processes that will drive cost from the supply chain, it’s clear to me that a
great place to start is in the smarter management of trading documents such as
invoices and purchase orders.
Traditional practices that require manual processing of such
documents are very wasteful in terms of human resources, as well as paper and
postage. In contrast, the electronic exchange of such documents through
integration of each company’s back office systems not only eliminates such
waste, it also improves the management of the whole supply chain.
Furthermore, such eTrading has been thoroughly tested in a
wide range of contracting environments, delivering significant time and cost
savings. McNicholas, for example, has transformed its supply chain operation by
removing 90% of paper invoices, with the help of Causeway’s Tradex eTrading
solution.
An added bonus is that implementation is straightforward
when working with the right technology partner and the initial investment is
relatively low, with a fast payback.
There are many other complementary ways of innovating supply
chain management, and these should also be considered in parallel, but eTrading
is a real ‘no-brainer’.
Do you agree?
