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Simplify Your Supply Chain With Online Mapping Tools

By Ko Fai Godfrey Ko

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 28Sep2011 Word count: 534 Viewed: 122 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

Ensuring that your business has the supplies needed at all times is a vital consideration for any owner or manager. However, it can also be difficult to achieve. Shipping delays, companies unable to deliver at the promised time, subpar service and many other hassles can make it almost impossible for your firm to do what it does. Whether you represent an auto mechanic that needs a constant stream of parts or a large firm that requires a multitude of supplies and components to assemble your products, online mapping tools can help you simplify your supply chain.

Locate Suppliers Nearby

One of the most common problems with any supply chain stems from the fact that your supplies might have to travel very long distances to reach you. As long as your supplier's infrastructure holds up, everything should be fine. However, the longer the supply chain, the greater the impact of a single event. For instance, a traffic jam in Boise could delay delivery of essential supplies to your Boston business by days, harming your business and putting you in a tight spot. Using online mapping tools can help you identify suppliers closer to you, ensuring that you are able to reduce the length of that supply chain and avoid some of those pitfalls.

Source from Multiple Vendors

When you need parts and supplies, you need to make sure that you have more than one option for getting them. If you're tied to just one single supplier, then you are in for serious trouble if problems develop with that supplier. Using online mapping tools, you can identify multiple suppliers capable of delivering your parts or supplies. When you have options, you have a position of power. You are able to make better decisions and ensure that your company runs smoothly.

Plot Courses

If your product has to go through multiple processes at different locations before it can be delivered to your customer, then you can definitely benefit from online mapping tools. Real-time traffic information helps your drivers to avoid snarls and holdups on the road, while the ability to locate multiple service providers capable of machining, refining, painting or otherwise furthering your production can ensure you have more options. You can search business data by almost any criteria you might choose, including address, zip code and more.

Plot Finishing Services en Route

If you ship partially finished products across large areas, you can use online maps to identify service providers along the way that will be able to finish your product for a shorter to-market time. For instance, if you routinely ship parts from your Atlanta facility for final assembly and distribution in Oakland, you can use online maps to identify assembly facilities along the shipping route that might be able to provide you with faster service and ensure a quicker delivery in Oakland to your customers.

Online maps can help you streamline your supply chain (in both directions) in a wide range of different ways. Of course, you'll need to ensure you're using the right mapping tools to realize full benefits though.

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