When supply chain teams are showing significant disengagement, technology that reduces manual input and improves employee productivity can be a game changer. A Gartner study from the first quarter of 2023 showed that just 25% of supply chain employees are completely engaged in their work. Luckily, workflow automation tools can help shippers achieve reliable efficiencies.
Automated workflows are a massive driver of productivity across an enterprise. Automation tools handle hundreds of tedious, repetitive supply chain tasks, leaving logistics teams more time to collaborate and strategize. With increased oversight and standardized best practices, supply chain workers can better respond to disruptions and boost employee satisfaction.
Customize processes to enforce accountability and teamwork
Workflow automation tools produce granular supply chain data, enabling end-to-end visibility across a team’s workload. This information is crucial for supply chain managers tasked with making complex decisions, increasing collaboration and optimizing work allocation.
- Workflow optimization: Managers can assign supply chain tasks to individual team members and monitor progress from one centralized platform. They can even set workload indicators and status signals. Greater transparency into the distribution and progress of tasks helps ensure no worker is taking on too much, promotes teamwork and accountability, and simplifies task hand-offs.
- Process standardization: Automated workflows cement the same reliable processes into workers’ everyday. Supply chain teams can customize workflows to meet their company’s specific needs and ensure everyone understands the plan—producing consistent results across diverse shipments and localities.
- Data insights: Data is integral to improvement. That’s why workflow automation tools provide in-depth, real-time analyses of logistics data, such as the amount of time it takes to complete various tasks. These insights help managers pick out current problems and prevent future bottlenecks.
- Widespread compliance: Supply chain teams can set rules to ensure proper compliance across everyday tasks, such as limits on third-party payments and shipment costs. When anyone exceeds a set threshold, the software will trigger approvals and reviews from senior management before the action can continue. These safety measures reduce errors and enhance control.
Gain full supply chain control with key visibility features
Workflow automation platforms like CTSI-Global’s Honeybee TMS keep shippers in the loop at all times through real-time operational insights. Easily digestible graphics, reports, and notifications break down complex data and give every employee and supply chain manager a clear picture of shipments, ongoing tasks, and team performance. The best workflow automation tools include the following features:
- Flowcharts and dashboards
- Password restrictions, data encryption, and other security measures
- Task assignments with fulfillment times
- Notification alerts for managers and relevant team members
- Reports on team performance
Widespread transparency empowers everyone at the company to identify improvement areas and take initiative to solve for inefficiencies. The result improves performance and decreases incident response and resolution times.
Give employee productivity the boost it needs
In a period of high employee disengagement, the right technology can make supply chain workloads more efficient, visible, and gratifying for everyone involved. CTSI-Global’s Honeybee TMS uses leading technology from JIRA to deliver customizable workflow automation and remove frustrating blindspots. Combining the power of Cleo integrations and Azure Cloud hosting, Honeybee TMS is a user-friendly platform that gives supply chain teams the technological boost and team support needed to increase productivity and employee satisfaction.
Contact us today to see how automation can give your team an efficiency overhaul.
