7 Reasons to Hire a Supply Chain Consulting Firm

The first question you may probably be thinking is, why do I really need to hire a Supply Chain Consulting Firm? As a business leader or senior manager in a firm that does not typically use supply chain consulting solutions, you may wonder what additional value or experience can be offered.

It can be a minefield and sometimes not overly obvious how to justify whether you need to hire such a firm, this blog will address this by providing 7 reasons to hire a supply chain consulting firm.

However, before we get to these reasons, let’s look at what the purpose is of a Supply Chain Consulting Firm.

What is the purpose of a Supply Chain Consulting Firm?

Consultants are typically called upon to provide solutions when a sizable change or shift in the professional landscape is about to take place. Whether a merger or acquisition is on the horizon, a new product launch, implementation of new business systems or restructuring of the current supply chain, it is recommended to seek a Supply Chain consultant’s help. Their role is to provide an in-depth analysis of strategies that will work best for the company and its supply chain process.

For example, to be successful in business, it is essential to have a detailed plan and standard operating procedure for how you want your products to be manufactured rolled out into the marketplace and sold. If you are struggling to develop the most effective plan to suit your business, Supply Chain Consulting Firms specialize in helping create the most effective SOP/plan that will suit your business’ needs and size.

7 Reasons to Hire a Supply Chain Consulting Firm

Businesses continue to see the value of a Consulting Firm and its ability to help organizations navigate their supply chain needs. The improved efficiency, enhanced performance, and increased profit made available from the use of these consultants are hard to ignore or dismiss.

Every product/service is unique, and the same applies to a supply chain consulting firm dedicated to helping you get through several challenges. You may be faced with specific needs or seek consulting firms based on the company’s defined matrices.

Yes, a cost is involved when hiring a consulting firm that must not out-weigh the benefits you will receive, so here are my 7 reasons as to why and when it will be beneficial for you to consider hiring a Supply Chain Consulting Firm:

1. In-depth Base Lining

Supply Chain Consulting Firms can wade through an extensive amount of data to find the relevant information and deliver the details in the form of usable data. Often, consulting firms are able to complete the needed tasks in less time thus saving money.

2. Swift Resolutions to Issues

Supply Chain Consulting Firms can handle complex supply chain issues, even when it is a challenge to identify the exact issues. Access to internal resources can provide the needed insights towards making swift resolutions to most problems faced by products/services. They are the ‘fresh pair of eyes’ needed to see the issue that otherwise may not be easily identifiable to those who are continually working at the company. Consulting Firms can examine your overall process with a clear, refined, and impartial view leading to a more accurate and effective problem-to-solution strategy.

3. Solutions With Recommendations

Identifying a problem is not the beginning, not the end; the need to find the specific correct solutions from a plethora of possible solutions requires the expertise of consulting firms. A common issue faced by supply chain firms is reducing the higher capital-related processes. Poor decisions and delays are costly to a business, in this scenario hiring Supply Chain Consulting Firms are ideal for them to develop, train and deliver a timely resolution. The consultant(s) can help evaluate and present all viable solutions providing the most cost-effective recommendations.

4. Step-By-Step Support

In many cases, by engaging a Supply Chain Consulting Firm, you will have assistance in completing identified solutions and applying recommendations towards attaining best practices and overall improvements to existing supply chains. From time to time at the implementation stage, it may be beneficial to retain a consulting firm to provide their expertise and support for the duration of the implementation process.

5. Detecting and Exploring Resource Gaps

The idea of “do-it-yourself” is very common amongst small businesses with limited capital and is completely fine at the beginning. But, for larger firms, the processes and challenges are more complex to pinpoint – this is where supply chain consulting firms do what they do best, and have the competencies and expertise to fix deeper issues. Hiring a consulting firm for areas with less visibility can be the game-changer you need for growth and focus on higher goals. Sure, there is a lot to attend to, but getting a good consulting firm will help you handle it effectively.

6. Improving Conversion

Sadly, there is a significant focus on traffic and supply when the biggest priority should be the focus on demand and customer needs. A large percentage of businesses hold onto the wrong priorities, yielding poor outcomes over time. Engaging a Supply Chain Consulting Firm can fix that and improve your conversion rate with new and highly focused priorities that keep every aspect optimized.

7. Staying Focused

A secret to most consulting is that you simply require somebody to hold accountability. Using the services of consulting firms, you can get the required assistance with documenting your goals and objectives needed to stay focused on accomplishing the best outcomes. An exceptional consulting firm delivers metrics linked to set objectives and assists with processing and understanding the overarching value you will derive by hitting your goals.

Supply Chain Consulting is Not Magic

When selecting a Supply Chain Consulting Firm, the first and foremost important requirement is that you really understand your needs. Create a list of questions to ask yourself, your peers or management to help direct you towards an effective strategy and consulting solution.

So, when you decide a consulting firm is required, here are the 4 main steps consulting approach required for hiring a consulting firm. You can easily apply this to aid your firm in overcoming such challenges in transforming and growing your strategies.

1. Conduct Supply Chain Assessment: Seek consulting that offers assessment tools that help understand your business’s current state and areas of growth. Create a road map to further achieve the desired performance levels.

2. Consulting And Implementing: Seek to consult to provide end-to-end Supply Chain capabilities. This will aid your firm to reach its peak performance defined by metrics critical to success.

3. Competency Development for Sustainable Results: Engage with consulting and or training firms to assess organisational resource capacity and competency gaps to enable the new way of working required in the organisation.

4. Change Management for Increased Adoption Levels: Engage with consulting firms to facilitate the people side or as it is called the "soft side" of the change. It is essential to ensure the new way of working is entrenched in the organisation with all affected stakeholders.

Conclusion

We can all agree that there are several reasons why businesses consider hiring a supply chain consulting firm. There are many firms in every part of the world so that in itself shows there is a demand for them. If you are feeling your business is stagnating or even beginning to see a decline, hire a consulting firm to help identify the issues and get back on the right path. at End2end Supply Chain Consulting and Academy, we provide you with the full spectrum of offerings as outlined above. Do not wait, call us now!

Their experts are ready to help and improve your overall supply chain process.

Once satisfied that a consulting firm is required for hiring, it would be wise to consider investing in a consulting firm that has a great track record of success and always check the customer testimonials.