Building custom supply chain management software brings in a lot of benefits for companies. With emerging technologies like IoT, AI, and RFID, you can now track your inventory not just in your storage space but from your distributors, dealers, and even the end user. Imagine being able to know how much of your product is in transit at any particular moment, their exact location, how much stock each of your distributors is holding, and the best route your transportation should take to reach the destination effectively. With custom supply chain software development, all these are possible and a lot more.
Supply Chain Software Development Services
Supply chain management software development includes a wide range of services that start from inventory control management, transportation management, warehouse management, and risk management services, among others. Commonly customized services in supply chain management services include the below modules.
Inventory Management Solutions
Inventory management solutions provide real-time inventory tracking, ensuring that you have the right data at the right time. You can track inventory not only in your warehouse but in the warehouses of distributors and dealers too, provided you have implemented the right technology. You can automate stock replenishment and forecast demand based on data.
Warehouse Management Systems
Warehouse management systems enable you to optimize your warehouse layout planning. With barcode scanning and RFID integration, you can keep track of stocks in your warehouse and automate order picking and packing.
Transportation Management Systems
Transportation is a major part of large organizations. From raw products to finished goods, transportation plays a major role in the efficiency of the manufacturing industry. With the right transport management system (TMS), you can integrate route optimization, shipment tracking, and monitoring of shipments. Transportation management systems also come with freight auditing and payment solutions modules, which can be integrated into your SCM software.
Order Management System
Centralize your order processing, order tracking, and fulfillment processes with a custom order management system. Return and exchange management becomes easy with an order management system with tracking enabled. Know which products are often returned or exchanged and optimize your business accordingly to reduce costs.
Procurement Management Solutions
Supplier management and collaboration are integral parts of every business. With purchase order automation and cost analysis and reporting, you will be enabled with better decision-making when it comes to purchasing raw materials.
Supply Chain Visibility
Integrate supply chain visibility platforms into your ERP systems to get real-time insights across the supply chain. With advanced analytics and predictive models integrated with IoT devices, you can ensure you have a great visual map of where your products are stocked, how they are moving, and more.
Benefits of Supply Chain Management Software
Supply chain management software is complex and can provide a range of features that can benefit your organization by saving time and money. The integration of the right software helps your organization understand your stocks, location of excess or less stock, transportation details, and even the smallest details of your supply chain process. Some of the key benefits of SCM software include the below:
- Enhanced Visibility
Tracking your shipment and inventory in real-time helps organizations with decision-making, especially when there is large inventory involved with multiple locations and routes. With real-time tracking, your software can help you determine a range of factors, including delays to be accounted for, the best route to take, changes you need to make for future shipments, and the precise location of each shipment to inform customers of the status. - Cost Efficiency
Automating shipments when stocks are low can be easy with advanced SCM software. You can identify stocks and automate shipping, analyze routes, and determine the shortest routes to take, as well as the best method of shipping in terms of cost and efficiency, with ready-to-use information in real-time provided by SCM software. - Increased Collaboration
Collaborating with distributors, suppliers, and customers becomes easy with a centralized SCM software that provides real-time data. Suppliers can now see data on your stock and inform you about low stock, provide you with quotes and shipping details for raw materials beforehand. Distributors can see where your products are en route to them. - Agility and Scalability
You can scale your SCM software based on market changes and disruptions. With changes in geopolitics, finding a better route to reach your customers and distributors takes only a few minutes with data and insights from SCM software. - Data-Driven Insights
It’s impossible to go through thousands or even millions of records from software and provide insights in a minute. With tools like Power BI and Tableau, SCM software integrates visual data to provide data-driven insights in an easy-to-consume format for strategic planning. Actionable insights with advanced analytics can make decision-making extremely easy, especially for organizations that ship thousands of products to multiple locations.
Supply Chain Solutions and SCM Software Features You Should Look For
Supply chain management software comes with a wide range of features. Enterprise-level SCM software can be daunting and expansive with a lot of features. Basic SCM software has some of the most required modules but suffices for smaller organizations. When it comes to features to look out for in SCM software, you should consider your requirements. Some of the basic features provided and required are:
- Inventory Management: You should be able to manage your inventory and optimize stocks with your SCM software. Inventory management should be an integral part of the software. For enterprises, the software should have means to integrate the SCM software into the ERP software seamlessly and access information about the inventory.
- Order Processing: Order processing can be automated with SCM software provided they have a clear workflow for the same. Ordering from suppliers can be automated when the stock falls below the threshold automatically. You can select multiple criteria for order processing based on the complexity of the software and integrations.
- Demand Forecasting: With a data-driven approach, you can now forecast demand for your products and create a timeline for production based on past data. With advanced data analytics, you can find the demand by location and seasons.
- Supplier Relationship Management: Communicate with suppliers and evaluate performance regularly. With SCM software providing communication tools, you can always be in touch with your suppliers and streamline supplier communication.
- Logistics and Shipping Management: SCM software can now help you manage routes, schedule shipments, and manage shipping costs with data available. With integrated IoT devices in the logistics systems, you can be provided with real-time logistic information to make quick decisions.
SCM Software Integrations
Most software comes with the ability to integrate into enterprise systems or work alongside other software. Be sure that the software you custom develop or purchase off the shelf has the capability to integrate with ERP systems for centralized data management, especially if you are an enterprise with ERP systems. Other software that can be integrated into SCM software includes warehouse management systems, transportation management systems, and e-commerce platforms. With IoT and RFID, tracking in real-time is possible with simple integration. If this is allowed in your SCM software, there is a lot of possibility to scale your SCM software.
How to Develop Supply Chain Software
Follow a structured approach to SCM software development. Analyze your business and requirements. Understanding business needs helps define solution requirements. If you are a small organization, you will not need a lot of the features provided by custom software development companies. Adding more features will add time to the project and costs too. Most companies do not complete a custom SCM software or any software if the time required to develop is higher. Lack of results diminishes the value of the software development and results in poor satisfaction. Also, large projects tend to be cumbersome, and the chances of bugs are higher if not developed correctly.
Post analysis, the software is designed. A scalable architecture is required for future growth. The software should also be user-friendly and easy to learn. Most people who work in an organization are well-versed in their department and not computers and software. Ensure that the software interface is easy to use and understand. The project planning phase is usually the next phase. Developers analyze the software requirements and the time to develop the software. Ensure that you stick to the milestones set by the developers and follow up on progress during this phase. There may be resources that require allocation.
Development and QA: The next phase is the development phase, which is usually completely in the hands of the developer. You, as a customer, are not involved in the technical part most of the time. If the analysis and design are correct, the development phase is usually very smooth. The QA process is in phases for each module completed. Testing is important for both the developers and the client. Making changes in this phase is much easier than making changes in the future when the project is almost ready.
Integration and Deployment: The final phase is the integration and deployment phase. Software is integrated into the existing system and thoroughly tested for the functionality of each module to satisfaction. Once the module is deployed, you may want to test the software for at least one week. Ensure that the developers are available full-time for at least one week to a month post-deployment for support and enhancement of the software.
Off the Shelf SCM Software’s And comparisons of Services and features
| SCM Software | Demand Planning | Inventory Management | Transportation Management | Warehouse Management | Supplier Collaboration | AI/ML Features | Integration Options | Best For |
| SAP SCM | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | SAP ERP, third-party tools | Large enterprises with complex supply chains |
| Oracle SCM Cloud | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | Oracle Cloud, ERP | Companies needing cloud-based solutions |
| Manhattan Associates | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | APIs, e-commerce platforms | Retailers and e-commerce businesses |
| Blue Yonder | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ERP, AI integrations | AI-driven supply chain innovations |
| Kinaxis RapidResponse | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ERP, BI tools | Enterprises with global supply chains |
| Infor SCM | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | Infor ERP, cloud platforms | Manufacturing and distribution |
| Epicor SCM | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ERP systems, APIs | Mid-sized manufacturers and distributors |
| Microsoft Dynamics 365 | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | Microsoft Suite, Azure | Businesses using Microsoft products |
| E2open | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ERP, CRM, APIs | Complex supply chain networks |
| HighJump (Körber) | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ERP, e-commerce platforms | Companies focusing on warehouse efficiency |
| Coupa SCM | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ | ERP, CRM | Cost-saving strategies |
| Netsuite SCM | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | Netsuite ERP, cloud | Small to mid-sized businesses |
| Logility Voyager | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ERP, BI tools | Seamless planning and execution |