How Pluto7 Can Help You Build A Customer-Centric Supply Chain

Blog / How Pluto7 Can Help You Build A Customer-Centric Supply Chain

The supply chain landscape has evolved beyond mere product delivery. Today, it’s about exceeding customer expectations and delivering exceptional value. This shift necessitates a transformation towards customer-centricity, placing customer needs and expectations at the heart of supply chain design and execution.

What Does It Mean to Be Customer-Centric?

Demand Sensing	Use external data to anticipate customer needs.
Product Development	Shorten development cycles to respond quickly to market changes.
Inventory Management	Optimize inventory levels to meet demand without overstocking. Use predictive analytics for efficient stock allocation.
Supply Chain Planning	Optimize routing and delivery schedules. Improve customer communication regarding order status.
Customer Feedback and Returns	Simplify the returns process. Utilize feedback for continuous improvement.

In the context of the supply chain, being customer-centric means shifting the focus from simply delivering products on time to providing exceptional value to the end consumer. This requires a strategic overhaul that prioritizes the customer’s experience throughout the entire chain of events, from conception and sourcing to production, delivery, and after-sales support.

What’s Stopping Our Supply Chains from Becoming Customer-Centric?

Data Silos	Fear of Disruption	Lack of Actionable Insights
“Disconnected data in separate systems (customer, inventory, supplier) hinders my ability to see the complete picture of our supply chain.”	“What we really need is a way to enhance our existing processes without turning everything upside down.”	“We have all this data, but making sense of it in a way that actually impacts our customer strategy is a constant battle.“

Although the benefits of a customer-centric supply chain are clear, achieving this comes with significant challenges. Here are some of the biggest roadblocks:

Data Deluge and Disconnect:

• Data Volume and Complexity: Building a customer-centric supply chain requires comprehensive data on customers, products, suppliers, and logistics. However, the sheer volume and complexity of this data can be overwhelming.
• Data Silos: Often, data resides in silos across different systems: Example: SAP for operations, Oracle for finance, spreadsheets for reporting, and external systems for logistics data. These disconnected sources hinder holistic insights and unified decision-making for customer-centricity.

Fear of Disruption:

• Change Management Concerns: Adopting new technologies like advanced analytics can raise concerns about disrupting established workflows. There’s a fear that upheaval will outweigh the potential benefits of enhanced decision intelligence.

Lack of Actionable Insights:

• Having a wealth of data is one thing; turning it into actionable insights is another. Many companies find themselves drowning in data but starving for insights. This paralysis by analysis prevents them from identifying and implementing measures that genuinely enhance customer satisfaction and operational efficiency.

Bridging the Gap to Customer-Centric Supply Chains with Pluto7

Pluto7 empowers you to bridge the gap between data and action, across the entire supply chain spectrum. From demand sensing to delivery, manufacturing to returns, and the critical “last mile,” gain the insights you need to delight your customers and achieve operational excellence.

Understanding Your Customers:

• Data Aggregation: Our decision intelligence platforms gather customer data from diverse sources like your CRM, ERP, and even social media, providing a 360-degree view of your customer base.
• Deeper Customer Insights: Leverage advanced analytics to understand customer needs, wants, and buying habits. This enables you to personalize the experience and build stronger relationships, leading to increased loyalty and advocacy.

Demand & Supply Harmony:

• Demand Sensing with Real-World Context: Go beyond traditional forecasting. Pluto7 utilizes Gen AI and analyzes 250+ external datasets to provide demand sensing insights that are aligned with real-time market demand. This includes factors like weather patterns, economic trends, social media sentiment, and competitor activity.
• Improved Forecasting: Utilize machine learning to achieve superior forecasting accuracy, ensuring you have the right products, in the right place, at the right time.
• Inventory Optimization: Optimize inventory levels with data-driven insights. Minimize stockouts and excess inventory across the entire supply chain, leading to reduced costs and improved cash flow.
• Logistics Efficiency: Streamline your transportation and warehousing operations. Pluto7 helps you identify cost-saving opportunities and enhance overall logistics efficiency, including last-mile optimization for faster delivery and lower costs.

Manufacturing Optimization:

• Predictive Maintenance: Leverage sensor data and Gen AI to predict equipment failures and schedule proactive maintenance, avoiding costly downtime and ensuring consistent production output.
• Quality Control: Utilize real-time data analysis to identify potential quality issues early in the manufacturing process, leading to fewer defects and improved product quality.

Returns Management:

• Streamlined Returns Process: Simplify the returns process with data-driven insights to understand customer return trends and reasons. This enables you to improve product quality, address customer concerns, and increase customer satisfaction.

Pluto7’s Decision Intelligence Platforms

Pluto7 offers a number of decision intelligence platforms that can help you build and modify a customer-centric supply chain. These platforms include:

Planning in a Box: Enriches SAP Data with Real-Time Insights 

Planning in a Box integrates seamlessly with your SAP ecosystem, becoming your intelligent supply chain co-pilot. It effortlessly connects to various SAP sources, including:

• SAP S/4HANA and SAP ECC: Access real-time data on production, sales, and inventory levels directly from your core ERP system.
• SAP Integrated Business Planning (IBP): Leverage existing IBP plans and forecasts for a unified view of your supply chain strategy.
• SAP Data Warehouse Cloud (DWC): Combine data from diverse sources, including SAP and non-SAP systems, for a comprehensive view of your operations. Planning in a Box can then analyze this unified data set for deeper insights.

CX Sense: Bridges the SAP-Salesforce Divide

CX Sense focuses on the customer experience, acting as a bridge between your CRM system (like Salesforce) and your supply chain data. It seamlessly connects to:

• Gain a 360-degree view of your customers by integrating Salesforce data on purchase history, preferences, and feedback.
• Tailor your offerings and services to individual customer needs and preferences.
• Leverage AI to anticipate customer needs and optimize your supply chain accordingly.
• Identify potential quality issues early and address customer concerns proactively.

By choosing Pluto7, SAP users gain a powerful advantage:

• Maximize the value of your existing SAP investment by unlocking hidden insights and optimizing your data for strategic decision-making.
• Bridge the gap between customer experience and supply chain operations for a truly customer-centric approach.
• Gain a competitive edge by leveraging the power of AI and advanced analytics to achieve operational excellence and exceptional customer satisfaction.

Contact Pluto7 today to learn how our decision intelligence platforms can help you transform your SAP-powered supply chain.