Modern businesses of any size regularly face the same question – “What’s happening now?”. So, you’re looking at how things are going now with your warehousing, inventorying, fulfillment, cargo carriage, container handling, and many others. The essence is to get “What will happen next?” in your supply chain. To ensure full visibility into your company’s logistics and trading process, discover how to build a supply chain control tower in this article.
What is supply chain control tower?
Is it really a "tower" physically?
Let’s clarify the supply chain control tower definition, making you sure, actually, it’s not. For top-level KPI performance, businesses should pay attention to complete transparency and advanced management of all processes. Here, you require ways to increase profits and reduce time, costs, and other resources.
The concept and impact of supply chain control towers lead to a combination of Technologies, Processes, and People. This way, your local or international supply chain becomes visible and well-managed. Your digital supply chain tower allows you to gain insights at a glance into the following:
- supply
- orders
- demand
- manufacturing
- inventorying
- cargo carriage
- customers experience
- etc.
You get real-time updates, current situations, analytics, and any data on operations via the supply chain control tower dashboard. So, the importance of a control tower in supply chain management is to ensure your capabilities of end-to-end chain control in all logistics aspects.
Types of Logistics Control Towers
Each part of the supply chain is definitely accessible for resource management, related to its specifics. Let’s dive deep into supply chain control tower examples. There are:
Inventory
For the sake of reliable management of all stock within your company, we highlight the inventory control tower, which includes warehousing processes. This way, your inventory management team achieves full visibility and real-time updates on statuses. So, ensure timely actions and preventive measures in case of stock-outs and shortages.
Fulfillment
At this stage, you have access to accurate information on shipment carriage, ensuring complete transparency in transit. Meanwhile, you comprehensively reduce the overall cost-to-serve due to profitable and efficient cargo shipping preparation.
Transportation
Transportation/logistics control towers are committed to empowering your operations with precise analytics in the easiest format possible. So, you or your operational managers get notifications on everything that happened in transit with containers and are critical:
- cargo real-time tracking data
- container movement status
- data on vessels or carriers
- and more
This kind of knowledge ensures your staff, or you personally, fully control inbound and outbound logistics and trading.
Supply/logistics assurance
That kind of logistics control tower provides you with the opportunity to analyze and process any event related to supplies. That includes an assessment of the available planned supplies and organizing additional ones.
E2E (End-to-End)
To smoothly integrate next-generation logistics tools into your company’s system, get close to E2E supply chain control tower solutions that are easy to integrate. With these capabilities, your business conquers internal and external processes. Get as advanced with logistics apps for different partner organizations or your company’s departments as possible.
Does my business require a logistics control tower?
What industries appear to have supply chain control tower use cases? The answer is any, and you can easily find it out as a solution for a business of any specifics. The audience for the supply chain control tower system is quite wide and includes any business area. Logistics providers, shippers from any field, analytics companies, software providers, and others are required to provide logistics control tower solutions for a streamlined and transparent supply chain in the turbulent conditions of the digital era.
To fully manage every step of your company's supply chain, you need the ability to oversee your freight rates, product management, transportation, and bookings for a complete logistics and trading monitoring solution. Thus, SeaRates Enterprise and its user-friendly dashboard are the quintessence of all the features and benefits of a logistics control tower. The solution provides all the necessary services of the modern logistics industry in one place, atomizing dozens of departments in your company. By integrating supply chain control tower software, you can gain real-time visibility, enhanced decision-making capabilities, and improved operational efficiency across the entire supply chain network.
Benefits of supply chain control tower
There are three essential benefits of a supply chain control tower:
Complete transparency and visibility
By achieving full monitoring of significant processes, you gain traceability and tracking insights. All external activities, such as shipping schedules events, and cargo carriage data, are completely synchronized with your company’s internal operations.
Here, the logistics control tower dashboard allows you to manage in the most advanced and streamlined way possible. Check potential risks, delays, and disruptions; estimate the transportation budget to avoid extra charges; and so on through the supply chain control tower platform.
Foreseeing and reliable prediction
Prioritize your processes and prediction measures with precise, up-to-date information on each stage of the supply chain. Digital supply chain control tower methods let you start a proactive path effectively because you have access to necessary insights from innovative and easy-to-use tools committed to logistics foreseen and analysis.
Advanced control tower supply chain management approach
To gain the highest KPI performance, you can apply supply chain control tower metrics to fewer expenses, resulting in more profits. The SeaRates tools and supply chain apps allow you to implement this view and set logistics most profitably. It starts with a personal consultation to find your main bright and hidden business needs and ensure smooth integration.
High-management solutions
In line with supply chain control tower solutions, we at SeaRates provide innovative tools to meet the urgent or daily needs of your business and advanced management.
Supply chain visibility
Trace-n-track powerful interface, provided essential updates on container shipments across the continents to automate the entire supply flow.
Discover Tracking System Integration
Transparent pricing
Interactive rate and load calculator for the best freight rates with a space guarantee and favorable shipment quotation.
Discover Logistics Explorer Integration
Logistics assets management
Absolute clarity and monitoring of your transport on shippers’ requests worldwide, managing your cargo and fleet digitally on the world map in real-time. Essential app for closing the main control tower responsibilities. Upgrade crucial processes, providing advanced tracking data via Web or API Integration.
Discover Logistics Map Integration
Freight index market insights
Precise analytic and historical data on sea/land/air shipping indexes is necessary for proactive supply chain planning and foreseeing.
Discover Freight Index Integration
Green logistics
Accurate CO2 emissions and carbon offset estimation due to types and shipping requirements.
Discover Carbon Emission Calculator
Your interactive account in worldwide shipping
Innovative interface with an easy-to-use dashboard for logistics asset management, supply chain optimization, and inbound/outbound logistics control.
Drive your Enterprise progressive
Uniquely designed solution committed to setting your logistics and upselling optimized. Establish each business aspect, from financing and partnerships to booking management, with strong digital maintenance and worldwide logistics practices in your single dashboard.
Discover SeaRates Enterprise Integration
To sum up
With local/regional and global supply chain visibility control tower methods, your business gets quality and necessary data per demand and sets an efficient development strategy. Moreover, the mindset of your management process has been improved and streamlined to ensure a better customer experience.
SeaRates tools and apps for streamlined logistics and shipping management are committed to meeting needs at each stage of the supply chain. Find ways to smoothly integrate IT logistics tools into your business operation in our Request an IT Quote form. Get your plan to achieve advanced logistics and trading.
You are always welcome to contact the SeaRates team at [email protected] for customized logistics services.
