Brands that sell physical products spend substantial time and resources creating a delightful experience for customers the moment they open their new purchase. Companies want to wow customers with beautiful packaging, sophisticated product design and simple setup instructions. Yet while all of these elements are important, the customer journey actually starts long before the customer receives a product – and a company’s supply chain is crucial in determining whether that experience is positive or negative.
In a competitive marketplace increasingly driven by e-commerce, customer expectations are high. People want to know what they are ordering and when and how it will arrive, and they have little patience for missing or late shipments. They have plenty of options, so one delayed delivery can cause them to cancel their order and move on to another company.
Throughout my career, I’ve specialized in different parts of the supply chain, starting out on the manufacturing and distribution side, and now working for an intelligent supply chain platform. And the biggest recurring problem I see in supply chain management is lack of visibility.
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