The Disadvantages of Improper Supply Chain Management | PlanetTogether

Supply chain management pertains to the flow of goods and services that includes process that transform raw materials into final products. Supply chain management involves streamlining a business’s supply-side activities in order to maximum customer value and gain a competitive advantage within the marketplace that you wish to be apart of.

All production facilities are in need of a system that aids them with succeeding in day-to-day operations and thrive long-term. For companies that have complex supply chains, a supply chain management provider may be a beneficial system that simplifies the company’s daily operations and takes stress off of the administrative team. Having said that, utilizing poor supply chain management may be more costly in various ways. 

The Disadvantages of Utilizing Improper Supply Chain Management 

The main disadvantages of utilizing improper supply chain management (SCM) pertains to the following: 

• Improper Implementation - Changing a supply chain management system requires three things: financial investment, time, and human resources. If implementation is not conducted properly, there will be wasted labor, service redundancy, and missed deadlines that may be potentially result in significant costs. In order to avoid these costs, high-quality logistics providers will complete a thorough analysis before implementing changes to the supply chain. This ensures that they fully understand the client’s freight schedule, consolidation opportunities, and last-mile logistics needs before they develop and implement a new system. 
  
  
• Inadequate Training - Inadequate training is by far one of the most common mistakes that companies can make when implementing a new system into a working supply chain. In order to avoid this mistake, make sure and spend money and time on a detailed and planned training program for employees to ensure that they understand what exactly is needed. This will ensure that there are no costly mistakes and will decrease excessive employee turnover within your manufacturing operation. 
  
  
• “One & Done” Mentality - Short-sighted logistics providers miss out on consolidation opportunities and other ways to potentially improve their clients supply chain efficiency. The initial savings are realized, but any additional savings or growth opportunities will get neglected. A company that relies on this form of provider will eventually fall behind competitors. In order to avoid this, focus on continual analysis. This pushes you to always look for new methods to reduce their clients’ supply chain expenses and improve efficiency. 

A software that can aid with ensuring that your supply chain stays on track is PlanetTogether’s Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) Software. Advanced Planning and Scheduling Software (APS) allows manufacturers to have a visual representation of their entire production process and manipulate areas that are in need of productivity enhancement. Advanced Planning and Scheduling Software (APS) is a necessity for manufacturing operations that are seeking to take their production up a notch. Advanced Planning and Scheduling Software (APS) is being implemented into manufacturing operations around the globe and are easily being optimized through implementation of the software.

Advanced Planning and Scheduling Software 

Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) software has become a must for modern-day manufacturing operations due to customer demand for increased product mix and fast delivery combined with downward cost pressures. APS can be quickly integrated with a ERP/MRP software to fill gaps where these system lack planning and scheduling flexibility and accuracy. Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) helps planners save time while providing greater agility in updating ever-changing priorities, production schedules, and inventory plans.

• Create optimized schedules balancing production efficiency and delivery performance
• Maximize output on bottleneck resources to increase revenue
• Synchronize supply with demand to reduce inventories
• Provide company-wide visibility to capacity
• Enable scenario data-driven decision making

Implementation of Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) software will take your manufacturing operations to the next level of production efficiency, taking advantage of the operational data you already have in your ERP.

Video: Capacity Planning with APS to Fix Supply Chain Failures

In this video, you’ll see how PlanetTogether Advanced Planning & Scheduling (APS) brings capacity planning into the center of your supply chain management software stack. When supply chain management is implemented poorly—through improper implementation, inadequate training, or a “one and done” mentality—companies suffer from wasted labor, service redundancy, missed deadlines, and rising costs.

The video shows how APS helps manufacturers avoid these pitfalls by:

– Creating optimized production schedules that balance efficiency and delivery performance, rather than relying on static or manual plans

– Maximizing output on bottleneck resources to increase revenue without adding more equipment
– Synchronizing supply with demand so you can reduce inventories while protecting customer service
– Providing company-wide visibility to capacity, making it easier to train teams and standardize best practices
– Enabling scenario-based, data-driven decision making, so you continuously improve instead of treating SCM as a one-time project

This video is ideal for operations, supply chain, and implementation teams who use supply chain management software and want APS-driven capacity planning to keep their supply chain on track long-term.

Spot the Red Flags Before Your Supply Chain Fails

Improper supply chain management rarely fails all at once—it erodes performance through poor implementation, inadequate training, and a “set it and forget it” mindset. The result is wasted labor, service redundancy, missed deadlines, and higher costs that slowly undermine your competitive advantage.

Download our “Red Flags in S&OP” Infographic to quickly identify warning signs that your supply chain processes are off track, such as:

• Repeated missed deadlines, expediting, or constant schedule changes
• Frequent data or process workarounds because teams are not fully trained on the system
• A lack of ongoing analysis and continuous improvement, where the initial implementation was the last time anyone reviewed the design
• Misalignment between supply, production, and demand that leads to stockouts in some areas and excess inventory in others

Use this one-page visual with your operations, supply chain, and implementation teams as a quick way to start conversations about where APS-enabled planning, better training, and continuous improvement can stabilize and strengthen your supply chain.