Five Ways to Make Your Supply Chain More Dynamic Part 2: Make a Big Impact with Big Data

This is the second post in our five-part series Five Ways to Make Your Supply Chain More Dynamic. We’ve previously looked at how finding actual costs is key to cutting out any inefficiencies in your supply chain. Today we will look at how to turn data into the insight that helps you fine-tune your operations.

Make a Big Impact with Big Data

Big Data seems to be a hot topic in every industry, but what does Big Data really mean for small and mid-size businesses? And how can it improve your supply chain?

We’re all painfully aware of the immense amount of data every supply chain produces—from the manufacturing process to orders, inventory and all the detailed metrics you’ve established to measure, track and plan. Instead of making your supply chain run smarter and faster, the enormity of this data often bogs you down.

So how do you use data to your advantage? By capturing it, translating it and sharing its most essential elements—quickly, across your entire organization, with just the right people.

To really analyze and improve the effectiveness of your supply chain, you first must connect your SCM data with the metrics that matter most to your business. To connect all the pieces of this fast-moving puzzle, you need a truly integrated business management system. And Microsoft Dynamics NAV lets you manage your finances and supply chain from a single system.

Once your data is connected, you need the tools to easily analyze it and then use it to make your supply chain work harder. Microsoft Dynamics NAV lets your people instantly access the relevant information they need—at a high-level or granular-level—right from home pages personalized to each user. Plus, you can export information into Excel with a simple click, so you can poke and prod your data as much as you’d like, then easily share it around your organization.

Big Data is a big deal when you make it manageable and workable for your supply chain. When you can bring your specific transaction details together with information like weather forecasts, population changes, traffic conditions, etc. you can make a significant impact on your service levels as well as your sales and profitability.