m product launch can be very stressful for your supply chain, especially when it has been over-extended. However, in many cases, the product might still be necessary to grow the business.
So what do you do in such a situation?
In this article, we explore the three principles or items that will help your supply chain management successfully take a new product to the market.
What are these principles?
- Make or Buy Analysis
- Demand Forecasting
- Check for SKU Proliferation
If you can get these principles in place, the product launch becomes very easy for your supply chain.
1. Make or Buy Analysis
The make-or-buy analysis is a very important component of any supply chain planning because it allows for an in-depth analysis of the state of the supply chain.
Make or buy analysis helps you in determining whether or not to take on or outsource certain aspects of the supply chain operation.
When launching a product, in many cases, there are new processes that have to be undertaken. Chances are you will need to source new vendors for raw materials and services.
It is important to determine whether or not your supply chain can handle these processes. To handle it, the supply chain will need the right infrastructure and the right resources.
If these are not in place, it will be challenging to handle these processes successfully. In many cases, the lack of resources is why businesses outsource them.
It could be the warehouse or production aspect of the supply chain operations required to develop and deliver the product to the market.
When deciding on make or buy, it is important to ensure that whatever option you decide on, the necessary resources are available.
2. Demand Forecasting
In any product launch, it is normal to get excited or sometimes worried about the market reception of the product. This is what prompts marketing or market research.
No matter how great the product is, if there is no demand for it, your product is wasted.
On the other hand, if you have a very good product but the demand is more than you thought it would be, your supply chain will end up stressed.
It will be either trying to keep up with the demand or dropping supply to the demand level. Either way, it puts an unnecessary stress on the entire operation.
This is why demand forecasting is very important. With a good demand planning and forecasting system, you can accurately predict the demand for the new product.
Accurate forecasting enables you to prepare your supply infrastructure better to match the demands. This helps prevent overstocking or stockouts in the supply chain.
In order not to miss it, you need to determine what exactly the market wants, how they want it, and what they will pay for it. This is what informs your supply planning.
3. Check for SKU Proliferation
SKU proliferation occurs when the supply chain or business has too many products in its inventory and not enough are selling out.
This is typical in Africa. A business, in its bid to reach more customers and sell more products, will typically invest in many SKUs. But often, they end up with products that arenโt selling as they thought they would.
The reason is usually poor forecasting or lack of research, which is typical among many small businesses. Stacking products without boundaries will only stress the supply chain.
In the case of a product launch, it is important to check the supply chain for products that are now redundant. And look for optimal ways to get rid of them.
This could be through discount sales or giveaway promotions. Getting rid of older SKUs tends to free up space, whether in the warehouse or capital invested in them.
This allows the supply chain to effectively push the new product into the market relatively easily.
Pushing a new product without consulting the supply chain management team can cause problems for the business. I see many businesses do that. Their mistake is that they donโt think the supply chain can help.
They couldnโt be more wrong. The three supply chain principles listed above will be useful in any product launch.
๐ฃ๐๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐๐น๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐น๐ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ๐บ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐. ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ฏ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ปโ๐ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ธ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐น๐ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ต๐ฒ๐น๐ฝ.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ๐ปโ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป๐ด. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐น๐ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ๐ ๐น๐ถ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ป๐ฐ๐ต.
Obinabo Tochukwu Tabansi is a supply chain digital writer (Content writer & Ghostwriter) helping professionals and business owners across Africa learn from real-world supply chain wins and setbacks and apply proven strategies to their own operations. He also crafts social content for logistics and supply chain companies, turning their solutions and insights into engaging posts that drive visibility and trust.
