When buying furniture of your furniture supplier in China its nowhere near as simple as you may think. This is why we have compiled this list of 73 questions you ask your furniture supplier before and after buying your furniture.
If you are looking for more details, kindly visit EISHO.
In general, there are some simple questions to ask your furniture supplier such as the ones below to get a general feel of how things are and if working with them is a good idea or not.
1.Where is your factory?
2.When are you suitable for a factory audit?
3.Before the final payment, we will have a third party agency inspecting before paying if that is okay?
4.Do you participate in any trade shows? (if yes a quick google search will show their name)
5.Have you ever participated in any trade shows before if so when? (same as above)
6.Can you make a sample? (this question has multiple parts to it)
7.Can I pay to your company&#;s bank account? (You can check the company bank information matches)
8.Can I have your address to pick up the sample? (You are double-checking the address is the same, if not red flags are flying)
9.How many employees does the factory have? (This question is important! You can tell a lot about their scaleability, from this. For example, does their catalog have 100s of different types of products but they only have a few hundred staff? Make sure the numbers add up)
10.Do you have an export license? (All of these facts can be checked up on their Alibaba/global sources account)
11.Do you have any customer references from my country? (here you are checking if they are making stuff up or are the real deal, sadly a lot of companies will make up reviews).
12.I want to export to X country what regulations are you able to provide? (You are checking they know your local market regulations instead of just saying yes yes yes)
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So in addition to the 12 questions above, there are also certain extra things you can do to make sure the furniture from your furniture supplier you are getting is top quality.
If you manage to do these check-ups on all of your furniture suppliers you&#;ll be onto the right path of knowing who exactly you are working with.
Now we understand certain parts of these questions you may not feel comfortable asking, however, this guide is to give you a complete list of potential questions to ask to minimize your risk.
So on we go with some more questions to ask your potential furniture supplier.
14.How many employees in total? (before it was the factory but knowing the total amount will give a good idea of how many sales, support staff, etc)
15.Please, could you tell me what is your total domestic market sales?
16.What is your total export sales? (This will give you a good idea of their real capabilities, in larger companies sometimes the domestic market can be larger than the export market)
17.What furniture product do you mainly sell to the X market?
18.Which furniture product do you recommend for the X market?
19.Which product do you sell best globally?
20.What is the main furniture manufacturing process for the X product?
21.Are there any parts that are subcontracted out? If so which parts?
22.Are there parts of the product which are half-made here?
23.What is made entirely in the house?
24.Do you accept signing legally binding contracts? (best to get Chinese lawyers involved at this point)
25.Are there any products that you have exclusive agreements within the X geographical area?
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We have already got to the 25 question stage so naturally, we want to give you some extra things to think about before choosing your furniture supplier.
In their factory its best to take note of what their main product is. For example, if you are looking to buy coffee tables but the majority of their staff/machinery is based on making sofas then its expertise is sofas, not coffee tables.
So you&#;ve noticed a fantastic piece of furniture in their showroom and want it. Who designed it? Make sure they have the rights to it before buying to save yourself a law case back home.
Check up Importing China Hotel Furniture for Your Hotel Project in
So we are guessing if you are talking to someone on Alibaba via so here&#;s our own Alibaba template take on the initial message. (if you google Alibaba template you&#;ll find plenty of similar samples)
Subject: Would like some more information about (product name)
Dear (name),
My name is (your name), I am representing (company name) we are interesting in receiving more information about (product code and name),
Please could you send a quotation including:
Thank you
Yours sincerely
(your name, company name)
Feel free to copy and paste this template.
Check up Wooden Furniture from China&#;Everything You Need to Know
Want more information on Supply Chain of Furniture Industry? Feel free to contact us.
Back to question 26.
So far we have had 32 questions which aren&#;t 100% dedicated to just furniture. Don&#;t worry the next bunch is.
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Next up we have another 25+ question which is more specific to furniture and will help you choose the best supplier for your needs.
33.What is the MOQ to work with your company?
34.How many different types of furniture can I purchase from you to put into a single container?
35.What is EXW furniture price?
36.Do you also help with shipping?
37.What price is the FOB price?
38.What is this furniture weight per piece?
39.How will you package the furniture? What care instructions do I need to pay attention to for this furniture?
40.What certifications does it have?
41.Do you have any other company brand names (many furniture businesses have multiple brands under different company names)
42.When was your company established? (The older they are the more established but it also means more fixed rules)
43.Do you have an Alibaba or company website? (their company website on average doesn&#;t give a lot of information but is helpful to learn a little bit more about them)
44.What are your main products? (If there are too many types of furniture its a red flag they are a trading company pretending to be a furniture factory)
45.Can I see some pictures of your company such as your employees, finished products, office, and factory? (take them and do a google reverse image search to check they aren&#;t stock images/from another factory)
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Hopefully, you can already see there are a lot of questions that need to be answered when buying furniture from China. If you would like some help why not let Simonsense do the hard work for you?
53.How many people work here? (Will give you a scale of their capabilities)
54.Have you ever sold to (your) country? If so to who?
55.What certifications does your company have?
56.To what standard quality are you able to make the furniture too?
57.What payment schemes do you accept?
58.Can I get an invoice for my furniture purchase?
59.Do you issue receipts?
60.If the furniture is not up to standard will you issue a refund?
61.Does the price include taxes?
Okay, so far we have covered over 50 different questions to ask, but what about the shipping part? (This is the final bunch of questions doesn&#;t worry, we promise)
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So the questions above are more to do with buying furniture from your furniture supplier, as well some more general questions to ask, the final 11 questions are to help you ensure you get the products back home!
First off let&#;s start with 6 generic questions to ask about shipping furniture
62.How long will it take you to package the furniture?
63.What is the timeframe it will take you to ship the furniture?
64.What materials will you be using to package the furniture?
65.From what port will you be shipping the furniture from?
66.What type of container will you be using?
67.What guarantees can you give on the safety of the furniture?
68.Before shipping can I inspect the furniture to ensure it is the quality I paid for?
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Shipping furniture by itself is a headache and there are some questions which you need to confirm directly with the shipping company you choose.
Check up How to Import Carpet from China-A Complete Guide
Hopefully, after you have read all of those questions you&#;ll be inspired to do more research and hopefully will have a lower chance of being buying from the wrong furniture supplier. To sum up, remember to do your research, and don&#;t be afraid to ask some more difficult questions.
What do you think of our comments? Do you think we have missed any questions? If so leave them in the comments below and we will add them to the list.
Simonsense is a furniture supply chain management company that specializes in furniture. Simonsen&#;s has had over 10 years of experience in the furniture industry and supply chain market to help their customers find the best possible deal in terms of price and quality. Contact Simonsense today for a free one-hour consultation and see how we can help your business today.
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New customers, new suppliers, and new technologies are","noIndex":0,"noFollow":0},"content":"One of the most exciting and challenging aspects of supply chain management is how quickly things change. New customers, new suppliers, and new technologies are added to supply chains every day. In order for supply chain managers to meet their goals of delivering value to customers while maximizing profits, they need to always be looking for ways to improve. This list provides ten questions that you should ask to make sure your supply chain is meeting your customers' needs, giving your company a competitive advantage, and keeping pace with technology trends.\r\n<h2 id=\"tab1\" >Who are your key customers?</h2>\r\nOne big challenge for supply chain managers is that they're often disconnected from the company's customers. Sales and marketing departments make deals and entice customers to buy; then it's up to the supply chain folks to make the products and deliver them on time. Although supply chain managers have a set of production targets, they often have no idea who their customers are.\r\n\r\nAlthough all of your customers are important, your key customers are the ones that are most important for your supply chain. Key customers buy in large quantities, are expected to buy more in the future, or are influential in your industry. As a supply chain manager, you should learn who these key customers are and what makes them important to your business so that you can focus your improvement efforts on profitably meeting their needs.\r\n<p class=\"article-tips tip\">Two common ways for supply chain managers to collaborate directly with key customers are through routine meetings and process improvement projects.</p>\r\n\r\n<h2 id=\"tab2\" >What do your key customers value?</h2>\r\nYour supply chain creates value by addressing your customers' needs. There are many ways to gather data about the things that your key customers expect and are willing to pay for including:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Analyzing industry trends</li>\r\n \t<li>Conducting surveys</li>\r\n \t<li>Interviewing customers</li>\r\n \t<li>Attending conferences</li>\r\n \t<li>Sponsoring focus groups</li>\r\n</ul>\r\nAs you gain new insights about what your customers value, use this information to improve the metrics for your supply chain. Ensuring that your supply chain is performing in terms of metrics that matter to your key customers helps you capture new customers, sell more to your existing customers, and introduce new products and services that address needs that aren't being met.\r\n<h2 id=\"tab3\" >How could your supply chain create more value?</h2>\r\nCompanies can become comfortable &#; even complacent &#; about the relationship they have with their customers. This attitude is dangerous, of course, because what customers want and how much they are willing to pay will change over time.\r\n\r\nThere is often pressure to lower your prices to make your products more competitive. You should always be looking for ways to improve supply chain efficiency because this can allow you to lower prices without sacrificing profits. However, you should also be looking for opportunities to increase revenue by reaching new customers or making your product or service more valuable to your current customers. For example, selling products online can be a good way to connect with new customers, and profitably fulfilling to online sales often involves significant changes to a supply chain.\r\n<h2 id=\"tab4\" >How do you define supply chain management?</h2>\r\nMany people use the term \"supply chain management\" when they are really talking about the procurement, logistics, or operations functions. To be effective in improving your company's supply chain, you need to have a broader perspective. For example, a project that reduces procurement costs can end up increasing costs for logistics and operations. As a supply chain manager you should look across all three of these functions and identify the best end-to-end solution. You should also look beyond your own company and understand the effects that a change could have on your suppliers and your customers.\r\n\r\nDriving down costs and improving performance in a supply chain requires alignment across functions and between companies, and that means everyone needs to think about how their decisions affect the rest of the supply chain. Supply chain management should be viewed as the process of synchronizing the activities within your company and aligning them with your customers and suppliers.\r\n<h2 id=\"tab5\" >What information do you share with suppliers?</h2>\r\nYour suppliers need to get certain information from you to maximize their value in your supply chain. Many companies try to position themselves as strategic partners with their customers but then maintain a guarded, arms-length relationship with their own suppliers. It's also important to make sure that you are sharing information in a useful way. If the data you share is hard to interpret or changes too frequently, it can cause confusion.\r\n\r\nHere are two tips for successfully sharing information with your suppliers:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><strong>Share all the information you can.</strong> Decide what information to share with suppliers and what information to hold back. Some business information certainly needs to be protected, but not all of it requires the security of state secrets. In fact, you're probably better off to share every piece of information that could be useful for a supplier unless you can identify a genuine risk from disclosing it.</li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Ask suppliers what they want.</strong> Talk with your suppliers to find out what information they want from you and how (and whether) they're able to get it. In many supply chains, one company assumes that another company is getting the information that it needs, but that may be incorrect. The information could be hard to find or interpret, or it could be going to the wrong person in the company. The easiest way to identity and resolve gaps is to have a conversation with the supplier.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\nSharing information with suppliers can help both your company and the supplier create more value.\r\n<p class=\"article-tips tip\">Many retailers have begun sharing sales and inventory information with their suppliers in order to reduce the bullwhip effect. When suppliers have access to information about supply and demand in retail stores they can do a better job of planning for future needs.</p>\r\n\r\n<h2 id=\"tab6\" >How do you compare with competitors?</h2>\r\nYou can find out a lot about how well your own supply chain is doing by benchmarking against other companies, including your competitors. You can do benchmarking informally by researching public information about your competitors. You also can do formal benchmarking by sharing data between companies or working with a research firm that collects data from many companies and provides them all with benchmarking reports. One advantage to participating in a multi-company benchmarking study is that it can allow participants to see how they're performing relative to other companies without having to reveal their identities.\r\n<p class=\"article-tips warning\">Although sharing non-financial data with other companies for benchmarking studies is usually perfectly legal, it's illegal to share some information that could stifle competition. For example, you probably can share information about your inventory turns, but you probably can't share information about your prices. Before sharing any information with someone who works for one of your competitors, make sure that you understand what you can and can't discuss.</p>\r\n\r\n<h2 id=\"tab7\" >What changes could increase revenue?</h2>\r\nThere are basically only three ways to increase revenue, and each of them depends on effective supply chain management:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Raise prices.</li>\r\n \t<li>Sell more stuff to current customers.</li>\r\n \t<li>Attract new customers.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\nTo raise prices, you need to be providing more value than your competitors. As long as you can deliver the product your customers want, when they want it, and where they want it better than your competitors, then you can charge more money.\r\n\r\nIf you are looking for ways to increase revenues by selling more stuff to current customers and attracting new customers, here are some specific goals that supply chain management can pursue:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Distribute your products through new channels.</li>\r\n \t<li>Improve customer experience and increase brand loyalty.</li>\r\n \t<li>Adapt your product, package, and processes to the needs of new customers.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\nThink about ways to increase revenue for your company and then get your supply chain team on board with those initiatives.\r\n<h2 id=\"tab8\" >What changes could lower costs?</h2>\r\nSupply chain management decisions drive most of the costs for every company, so be on the lookout for opportunities to reduce the amount of money that you spend. Following are some supply chain savings to look for:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><strong>Increase transportation capacity utilization.</strong> By squeezing more valuable products into every shipment, you make better use of the money that you spend on transportation and lower your overall costs.</li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Increase supply chain velocity.</strong> By increasing the rate at which products move through your supply chain, you increase your return on investment. Inventory velocity can be measured with inventory turns. Shipment velocity can be measured with order lead times or transportation lead times. End-to-end supply chain velocity &#; how long it takes for a product to get to your customer &#; can provide important insights about where your products get stuck along the way.</li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Reduce order variability.</strong> Variability in order patterns is a well-known driver of costs in supply chains. Variability causes companies to build up inventory, which is expensive. Inventory swings amplify as they move up the supply chain, causing the bullwhip effect. Finding ways to make smaller orders more frequently and reduce variability can translate into significant savings by reducing both inventory and the chance of lost sales from stockouts.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\nEfforts that you make in each of these areas have direct and indirect benefits. The direct benefits are money added to your bottom line. The indirect benefits are reductions in waste and a better utilization of the capacity throughout the supply chain.\r\n<p class=\"article-tips remember\">Often, 80 percent of a company's expenses are tied directly to supply chain decisions. Every dollar saved in the supply chain becomes profit for your company.</p>\r\n\r\n<h2 id=\"tab9\" >What affects your supply chain now?</h2>\r\nSupply chain technology is evolving quickly, and no supply chain manager can afford to ignore it. To stay competitive, keep your finger on the pulse of supply chain technology. Here are a few good ways to stay informed:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Read supply chain magazines and blogs.</li>\r\n \t<li>Attend supply chain conferences and trade shows.</li>\r\n \t<li>Subscribe to reports by supply chain consultants and analysts.</li>\r\n \t<li>Stay active in a professional association.</li>\r\n \t<li>Maintain communications with technology vendors.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\nYou may not need to learn the ins and outs of every new technology that comes down the pike, but you need to have a sense for how new technologies can help you deliver more value to your customers, either by increasing revenue or reducing costs.\r\n<h2 id=\"tab10\" >What will affect your supply chain in the future?</h2>\r\nYou may have heard the saying \"A leader needs to have a microscope in one eye and a telescope in the other.\" Using your telescope to look at the future of supply chain management can make the field fun and exciting or terrifying and risky.\r\n\r\nImagine telling your wristwatch that you want a taco, and a few minutes later, a drone will deliver that taco. That scenario sounds silly, but all of the technology that you'd need for that supply chain is available today. All it would take to make that supply chain a reality is a viable business plan.\r\n\r\nThere will be lots of opportunities to transform supply chains using technology in the next few years, and by recognizing those opportunities early you can get a competitive advantage. Try to imagine ways that each step in your supply chain could be done differently using technology, and look for opportunities to create value in new ways.\r\n\r\nIn many cases, the technology doesn't change what is happening, but it does change how it happens. For example, right now you probably go to the grocery store and pick out your bananas. However, many grocery stores will allow you to place orders through a website and pick them up at the curb. You are still buying bananas, but how you buy them is starting to change. The time that your customers save by ordering online instead of shopping in the store is valuable to those customers.\r\n\r\nIn other cases, new technologies could make an existing supply chain obsolete. For example, imagine a world of autonomous cars that are shared or rented on demand. Rather than buy cars from a dealership, customers may sign up for subscriptions to a car-on-demand service through a website. This new technology could make car dealerships, and their supply chains, obsolete.\r\n\r\nThe only way to measure risks and identify opportunities that come from technological innovation is to stay in touch with trends. Understand the value your supply chain provides to your customers and what additional needs aren't being met; then keep an eye out for new technologies that could help you meet those needs.","description":"One of the most exciting and challenging aspects of supply chain management is how quickly things change. New customers, new suppliers, and new technologies are added to supply chains every day. In order for supply chain managers to meet their goals of delivering value to customers while maximizing profits, they need to always be looking for ways to improve. This list provides ten questions that you should ask to make sure your supply chain is meeting your customers' needs, giving your company a competitive advantage, and keeping pace with technology trends.\r\n<h2 id=\"tab1\" >Who are your key customers?</h2>\r\nOne big challenge for supply chain managers is that they're often disconnected from the company's customers. Sales and marketing departments make deals and entice customers to buy; then it's up to the supply chain folks to make the products and deliver them on time. Although supply chain managers have a set of production targets, they often have no idea who their customers are.\r\n\r\nAlthough all of your customers are important, your key customers are the ones that are most important for your supply chain. Key customers buy in large quantities, are expected to buy more in the future, or are influential in your industry. As a supply chain manager, you should learn who these key customers are and what makes them important to your business so that you can focus your improvement efforts on profitably meeting their needs.\r\n<p class=\"article-tips tip\">Two common ways for supply chain managers to collaborate directly with key customers are through routine meetings and process improvement projects.</p>\r\n\r\n<h2 id=\"tab2\" >What do your key customers value?</h2>\r\nYour supply chain creates value by addressing your customers' needs. There are many ways to gather data about the things that your key customers expect and are willing to pay for including:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Analyzing industry trends</li>\r\n \t<li>Conducting surveys</li>\r\n \t<li>Interviewing customers</li>\r\n \t<li>Attending conferences</li>\r\n \t<li>Sponsoring focus groups</li>\r\n</ul>\r\nAs you gain new insights about what your customers value, use this information to improve the metrics for your supply chain. Ensuring that your supply chain is performing in terms of metrics that matter to your key customers helps you capture new customers, sell more to your existing customers, and introduce new products and services that address needs that aren't being met.\r\n<h2 id=\"tab3\" >How could your supply chain create more value?</h2>\r\nCompanies can become comfortable &#; even complacent &#; about the relationship they have with their customers. This attitude is dangerous, of course, because what customers want and how much they are willing to pay will change over time.\r\n\r\nThere is often pressure to lower your prices to make your products more competitive. You should always be looking for ways to improve supply chain efficiency because this can allow you to lower prices without sacrificing profits. However, you should also be looking for opportunities to increase revenue by reaching new customers or making your product or service more valuable to your current customers. For example, selling products online can be a good way to connect with new customers, and profitably fulfilling to online sales often involves significant changes to a supply chain.\r\n<h2 id=\"tab4\" >How do you define supply chain management?</h2>\r\nMany people use the term \"supply chain management\" when they are really talking about the procurement, logistics, or operations functions. To be effective in improving your company's supply chain, you need to have a broader perspective. For example, a project that reduces procurement costs can end up increasing costs for logistics and operations. As a supply chain manager you should look across all three of these functions and identify the best end-to-end solution. You should also look beyond your own company and understand the effects that a change could have on your suppliers and your customers.\r\n\r\nDriving down costs and improving performance in a supply chain requires alignment across functions and between companies, and that means everyone needs to think about how their decisions affect the rest of the supply chain. Supply chain management should be viewed as the process of synchronizing the activities within your company and aligning them with your customers and suppliers.\r\n<h2 id=\"tab5\" >What information do you share with suppliers?</h2>\r\nYour suppliers need to get certain information from you to maximize their value in your supply chain. Many companies try to position themselves as strategic partners with their customers but then maintain a guarded, arms-length relationship with their own suppliers. It's also important to make sure that you are sharing information in a useful way. If the data you share is hard to interpret or changes too frequently, it can cause confusion.\r\n\r\nHere are two tips for successfully sharing information with your suppliers:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><strong>Share all the information you can.</strong> Decide what information to share with suppliers and what information to hold back. Some business information certainly needs to be protected, but not all of it requires the security of state secrets. In fact, you're probably better off to share every piece of information that could be useful for a supplier unless you can identify a genuine risk from disclosing it.</li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Ask suppliers what they want.</strong> Talk with your suppliers to find out what information they want from you and how (and whether) they're able to get it. In many supply chains, one company assumes that another company is getting the information that it needs, but that may be incorrect. The information could be hard to find or interpret, or it could be going to the wrong person in the company. The easiest way to identity and resolve gaps is to have a conversation with the supplier.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\nSharing information with suppliers can help both your company and the supplier create more value.\r\n<p class=\"article-tips tip\">Many retailers have begun sharing sales and inventory information with their suppliers in order to reduce the bullwhip effect. When suppliers have access to information about supply and demand in retail stores they can do a better job of planning for future needs.</p>\r\n\r\n<h2 id=\"tab6\" >How do you compare with competitors?</h2>\r\nYou can find out a lot about how well your own supply chain is doing by benchmarking against other companies, including your competitors. You can do benchmarking informally by researching public information about your competitors. You also can do formal benchmarking by sharing data between companies or working with a research firm that collects data from many companies and provides them all with benchmarking reports. One advantage to participating in a multi-company benchmarking study is that it can allow participants to see how they're performing relative to other companies without having to reveal their identities.\r\n<p class=\"article-tips warning\">Although sharing non-financial data with other companies for benchmarking studies is usually perfectly legal, it's illegal to share some information that could stifle competition. For example, you probably can share information about your inventory turns, but you probably can't share information about your prices. Before sharing any information with someone who works for one of your competitors, make sure that you understand what you can and can't discuss.</p>\r\n\r\n<h2 id=\"tab7\" >What changes could increase revenue?</h2>\r\nThere are basically only three ways to increase revenue, and each of them depends on effective supply chain management:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Raise prices.</li>\r\n \t<li>Sell more stuff to current customers.</li>\r\n \t<li>Attract new customers.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\nTo raise prices, you need to be providing more value than your competitors. As long as you can deliver the product your customers want, when they want it, and where they want it better than your competitors, then you can charge more money.\r\n\r\nIf you are looking for ways to increase revenues by selling more stuff to current customers and attracting new customers, here are some specific goals that supply chain management can pursue:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Distribute your products through new channels.</li>\r\n \t<li>Improve customer experience and increase brand loyalty.</li>\r\n \t<li>Adapt your product, package, and processes to the needs of new customers.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\nThink about ways to increase revenue for your company and then get your supply chain team on board with those initiatives.\r\n<h2 id=\"tab8\" >What changes could lower costs?</h2>\r\nSupply chain management decisions drive most of the costs for every company, so be on the lookout for opportunities to reduce the amount of money that you spend. Following are some supply chain savings to look for:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><strong>Increase transportation capacity utilization.</strong> By squeezing more valuable products into every shipment, you make better use of the money that you spend on transportation and lower your overall costs.</li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Increase supply chain velocity.</strong> By increasing the rate at which products move through your supply chain, you increase your return on investment. Inventory velocity can be measured with inventory turns. Shipment velocity can be measured with order lead times or transportation lead times. End-to-end supply chain velocity &#; how long it takes for a product to get to your customer &#; can provide important insights about where your products get stuck along the way.</li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Reduce order variability.</strong> Variability in order patterns is a well-known driver of costs in supply chains. Variability causes companies to build up inventory, which is expensive. Inventory swings amplify as they move up the supply chain, causing the bullwhip effect. Finding ways to make smaller orders more frequently and reduce variability can translate into significant savings by reducing both inventory and the chance of lost sales from stockouts.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\nEfforts that you make in each of these areas have direct and indirect benefits. The direct benefits are money added to your bottom line. The indirect benefits are reductions in waste and a better utilization of the capacity throughout the supply chain.\r\n<p class=\"article-tips remember\">Often, 80 percent of a company's expenses are tied directly to supply chain decisions. Every dollar saved in the supply chain becomes profit for your company.</p>\r\n\r\n<h2 id=\"tab9\" >What affects your supply chain now?</h2>\r\nSupply chain technology is evolving quickly, and no supply chain manager can afford to ignore it. To stay competitive, keep your finger on the pulse of supply chain technology. Here are a few good ways to stay informed:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Read supply chain magazines and blogs.</li>\r\n \t<li>Attend supply chain conferences and trade shows.</li>\r\n \t<li>Subscribe to reports by supply chain consultants and analysts.</li>\r\n \t<li>Stay active in a professional association.</li>\r\n \t<li>Maintain communications with technology vendors.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\nYou may not need to learn the ins and outs of every new technology that comes down the pike, but you need to have a sense for how new technologies can help you deliver more value to your customers, either by increasing revenue or reducing costs.\r\n<h2 id=\"tab10\" >What will affect your supply chain in the future?</h2>\r\nYou may have heard the saying \"A leader needs to have a microscope in one eye and a telescope in the other.\" Using your telescope to look at the future of supply chain management can make the field fun and exciting or terrifying and risky.\r\n\r\nImagine telling your wristwatch that you want a taco, and a few minutes later, a drone will deliver that taco. That scenario sounds silly, but all of the technology that you'd need for that supply chain is available today. All it would take to make that supply chain a reality is a viable business plan.\r\n\r\nThere will be lots of opportunities to transform supply chains using technology in the next few years, and by recognizing those opportunities early you can get a competitive advantage. Try to imagine ways that each step in your supply chain could be done differently using technology, and look for opportunities to create value in new ways.\r\n\r\nIn many cases, the technology doesn't change what is happening, but it does change how it happens. For example, right now you probably go to the grocery store and pick out your bananas. However, many grocery stores will allow you to place orders through a website and pick them up at the curb. You are still buying bananas, but how you buy them is starting to change. The time that your customers save by ordering online instead of shopping in the store is valuable to those customers.\r\n\r\nIn other cases, new technologies could make an existing supply chain obsolete. For example, imagine a world of autonomous cars that are shared or rented on demand. Rather than buy cars from a dealership, customers may sign up for subscriptions to a car-on-demand service through a website. This new technology could make car dealerships, and their supply chains, obsolete.\r\n\r\nThe only way to measure risks and identify opportunities that come from technological innovation is to stay in touch with trends. Understand the value your supply chain provides to your customers and what additional needs aren't being met; then keep an eye out for new technologies that could help you meet those needs.","blurb":"","authors":[{"authorId":,"name":"Daniel Stanton","slug":"daniel-stanton","description":" <p><b>Daniel Stanton</b> is known as "Mr. Supply Chain." His books are used by students and professionals around the world, and his courses on LinkedIn Learning have been viewed more than 1 million times. He holds numerous industry certifications, including Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP) and SCPro. 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with competitors?","target":"#tab6"},{"label":"What changes could increase revenue?","target":"#tab7"},{"label":"What changes could lower costs?","target":"#tab8"},{"label":"What affects your supply chain now?","target":"#tab9"},{"label":"What will affect your supply chain in the future?","target":"#tab10"}],"relatedArticles":{"fromBook":[{"articleId":,"title":"The Risk Management Process: Identifying, Classifying, and Scoring Risks in the Supply Chain","slug":"the-risk-management-process-identifying-classifying-and-scoring-risks-in-the-supply-chain","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","operations"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/"}},{"articleId":,"title":"Managing Your Supply Chain in Difficult Times","slug":"managing-your-supply-chain-in-difficult-times","categoryList":["business-careers-money","business","operations"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/"}},{"articleId":,"title":"Managing Risks in the Supply 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