Insights from Ray DeMelfi, SVP of Strategic Services and Lori Gibson, VP of Strategic Services
Did you know that 79% of companies with high-performing supply chains achieve above-average revenue growth? Businesses that optimize their supply chains don’t just cut costs; they reduce inventory holdings by nearly half, accelerate cash-to-cash cycles, and improve overall efficiency. However, identifying the right areas for improvement while managing daily operations can be a challenge.
How do you know where to focus your optimization efforts? A Supply Chain Health Check provides the insights you need to enhance productivity, optimize capacity, and streamline operations. This strategic assessment helps businesses uncover inefficiencies and create a clear roadmap for improvement.
What Is a Supply Chain Health Check?
A Supply Chain Health Check is a short-term, data-driven evaluation that assesses operations at both the network and facility levels. By analyzing key aspects such as product flow, system performance, and visibility, companies can pinpoint areas for improvement and develop an actionable plan. The goal is not just to identify challenges but to provide a structured, prioritized approach to addressing them.
📊 For further reading on Supply Chain disruptions, click on this blog from McKinsey & Company.
Unlike traditional operational assessments that may take months, a Health Check is designed to be a targeted and efficient review. The findings help businesses make informed decisions that align with their strategic goals, whether it’s improving throughput, reducing costs, or enhancing workforce productivity.
A Supply Chain Health Check isn’t a one-and-done evaluation; it should be conducted annually or bi-annually to ensure that the network continues to operate at peak efficiency. Maintaining regular evaluations helps businesses stay ahead of disruptions, track progress on optimization efforts, and adjust strategies as needed to maintain a competitive edge.
Why It Matters for Your Business
A well-executed Health Check can produce significant business benefits. By increasing productivity and efficiency, businesses can eliminate bottlenecks, streamline workflows, and improve overall operational effectiveness. Optimizing capacity ensures that facilities and networks can handle fluctuating demand while maintaining seamless operations. Enhanced system performance helps identify gaps in software and automation, allowing for strategic upgrades that improve service levels. Ultimately, a Health Check delivers a data-driven roadmap that prioritizes high-impact changes.
Key Benefits
- Increased Productivity: Identifies workflow inefficiencies that slow down operations and recommends actionable improvements.
- Optimized Capacity: Ensures that storage, labor, and automation are fully utilized to handle peak and off-peak demands efficiently.
- Enhanced Visibility: Provides insight into inventory management, SKU velocity, and order trends for better forecasting and planning.
- Cost Savings: Highlights areas where expenses can be reduced through process improvements, better labor allocation, and smarter automation investments.
Tailoring the Health Check to Your Needs
Depending on your operational challenges, a Health Check can focus on different areas of your supply chain:
- Network Assessment: Evaluates capacity, transportation spend, inventory allocation, and software gaps to ensure seamless coordination. This ensures that your supply chain is optimized from an end-to-end perspective, reducing unnecessary costs and delays.
- Facility Operations Assessment: Uncovers inefficiencies in material flow, automation, and workforce productivity. From evaluating the effectiveness of warehouse layouts to analyzing labor management strategies, this assessment ensures smooth and efficient facility operations.
- Peak Season Preparation: Ensures scalability to manage seasonal demand surges effectively. Businesses that experience drastic fluctuations in order volume, such as retail and e-commerce, can use this assessment to proactively prepare for high-traffic periods.
- Post Go-Live Review: Assesses operational performance after implementation and identifies change management opportunities. This is critical for businesses that have recently integrated new automation or software and want to ensure they are getting ROI from their investments.
A Strategic Approach to Optimization
Achieving a more efficient and resilient supply chain requires more than just identifying problem areas, it demands a structured approach to implementing meaningful improvements. A Supply Chain Health Check provides a step-by-step methodology to assess current operations, prioritize opportunities, and drive impactful change. By leveraging data-driven insights and expert analysis, businesses can make informed decisions that enhance productivity, reduce costs, and improve overall performance.
The Health Check process follows a structured approach:
- Data Profiling – Operational data is collected and analyzed to create an assessment framework, identifying patterns, constraints, and key performance indicators.
- Onsite Workshop – Experts conduct a hands-on review of end-to-end processes, engaging stakeholders to gain deeper insights into operational challenges.
- Review & Alignment – Issues and opportunities are ranked by cost, effort, and benefit, ensuring businesses can prioritize initiatives with the highest impact.
- Implementation Support – Hy-Tek Intralogistics provides guidance on executing recommended changes, ensuring seamless adoption of new strategies and technologies.
What to Expect from a Supply Chain Health Check
A thorough Supply Chain Health Check provides businesses with a roadmap for success. Operational assessments reveal quick-win opportunities and cost-benefit analyses, while data-driven insights highlight SKU velocity, order profiles, and case-per-order trends. These findings are then translated into a sequenced plan, ensuring businesses take a structured approach to implementing impactful changes.
Additionally, companies can expect:
- A customized action plan that aligns with their specific operational goals.
- Identification of process bottlenecks that may be affecting order fulfillment and efficiency.
- Recommendations on automation that could enhance overall system performance and reduce manual labor.
- Enhanced reporting and forecasting capabilities to support long-term supply chain planning.
Take the Next Step Toward Supply Chain Optimization
If you’re looking to optimize your supply chain, a Health Check is the first step toward identifying hidden inefficiencies and unlocking new opportunities. Our experts can help you develop a data-driven strategy to enhance productivity, reduce costs, and future-proof your operations.
Schedule a discovery call with Hy-Tek Intralogistics today to learn how a tailored Supply Chain Health Check can drive meaningful improvements for your business.
