Supply Chain for Start-ups

Supply Chain Fundamentals

Supply chains should be simple.  Whether you are a start-up, a rapid growth or a large organisation, you;

  • Design a product
  • Source components for manufacture
  • Convert those components into products
  • Ship the products to your end customers and collect the case
However, starting with a new product, the decisions to be taken and processes required, are far from simple.

Some of the questions startup companies ask themselves include:

 

  • Moving from a design stage to selecting a manufacturer?  What should I be looking for?
  • What specifications do the manufacturers need?
  • How do I know what lead times to expect?
  • Which certifications will my product need?
  • What information needs to be on my packaging?
  • What channels will I use to sell my product?
  • Are there implications to those channel decisions?
  • What should I look for in a warehouse and logistics provider?  Which providers have experience in dealing with companies such as mine?
  • How do I set up my own e-Commerce site?  Is it simple to sell on Amazon?
  • How do I manage Sales Tax, VAT, Currencies, Languages?
  • Are there rules to shipping to retailers?  What is a routing guide?  How do I comply?
  • What is the best way to manage returns?
  • How do I manage customer support?

From an early stage, decisions will need to be made around resources, structure, partners and processes. These decisions will impact on costs, lead times, working capital requirements and customer experience.

How can we help?

For many companies, whether startup or rapid growth, the question frequently asked is ‘where to start?

There is often a belief that current systems, processes and even partners will not scale to match the growth ambitions of the company.  Resources can continue to work hard, but may not have the knowledge of how to scale, or the bandwidth to manage the changes required.

PerformanSC brings experienced resources in areas across the supply chain, working with existing teams to put the initial processes in place, select appropriate partners and develop performance reporting and management tools.

This practitioner-led approach provides hands-on support through the most critical phases, while transferring knowledge to the sustaining team.

PerformanSC provides a range of options for engagement, to meet the needs of start-up and rapid growth companies:

  • Formal assessment of existing supply chain resources, processes, partners and performance, in the form of an intensive engagement over a number of weeks.  This provides an overview of improvement opportunities and a priority of supply chain areas, that require action.
  • Multi-discipline practitioner support for your existing team on a retainer basis, to provide access for your team to experienced resources across the supply chain functions.  This provides support to the team as they make critical decisions and establish supply chain processes.
  • Targeted support to address a particular need, such as logistics and warehouse partner selection, sales and operations planning or systems evaluation.

We encourage companies who may be interested in support, to connect with us to discuss their requirements. From those initial discussions, we can jointly determine the most appropriate path forward.

If you have a project you would like to discuss, please do not hesitate to contact us
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