viastore Systems Reports Business Practices of Supply Chain Organizations

Grand Rapids, MI -- (SBWire) -- 05/10/2016 --John Clark, head of viastore Marketing and Business Development, recently discussed a new report from APICS and Michigan State University's Eli Broad College of Business. The aptly-titled "Supply Chain Issues: What's Keeping Supply Chain Managers Awake at Night?" investigates the current business practices of more than 50 supply chain organizations and identifies critical issues.

According to Clark, respondents were asked to emphasize both the new opportunities they were evaluating, and the day-to-day challenges they face. The findings were six-fold, including:

- Capacity and resource availability: Especially applicable to firms anticipating an uptick in market share, supply chain managers are looking to expand internal capacity by investing in new technologies to help alleviate strain on their channels and operations without resorting to outsourcing.

- Talent: A universal stressor, supply chain managers are worried about attracting, hiring and retaining skilled personnel at every level of their operations in an era of intense competition for a low supply of qualified workers.

- Complexity: With the ongoing proliferation of stock keeping units (SKUs)—particularly with the trend toward customization and personalization of standard, base products—keeping up with all of those items and their correspondingly increasing volumes is forcing supply chain managers to figure out how their operations can become quicker and more nimble.

- Threats and challenges: Otherwise known as "the circumstances beyond a supply chain manager's control", developing plans to mitigate the potential effect of natural disasters, supplier disruptions, civil unrest, negative social media-driven chatter, and a lack of personnel continuity, is a huge stressor.

- Compliance: Complex and continually changing, supply chain managers struggle to keep up with the local, regional, national and global regulatory mandates from governments regarding trade, environment, customs, product regulations and more.

- Cost and pricing issues: Although these issues affect all companies, healthcare and pharmaceutical firms in particular are feeling the impact of the Affordable Care Act, as well as Medicare/Medicaid restrictions. To combat these challenges, supply chain managers are looking to increase efficiency in order to improve their cost structures.

To read more, go to: http://bit.ly/1TuTbPw

About viastore Systems, Inc.
For over 40 years, viastore Systems, Inc. has been a leading international provider of automated material handling solutions including AS/RS (automated storage and retrieval systems) and conveyor systems, warehouse management systems software, material flow and process controls, and integrated SAP logistics solutions. The company employs over 470 people worldwide and has annual sales of over $140 Million.

viastore's focus is on consulting and planning, together with the implementation and constant improvement of intralogistics solutions with locations in Germany, USA, France, Spain, Czech Republic, Russia, China, Croatia, Turkey, Poland, Israel, Ukraine, Sweden, and Brazil. viastore, headquartered in Grand Rapids, MI, http://www.us.viastore.com. is an integrated and certified partner for all major ERP system database and operating system suppliers such as SAP, Oracle, and Microsoft. viastore earned a return spot on Food Logistics' 2015 FL100+ list of software and technology providers whose products and solutions are key to the global food supply chain. viastore is a proud member of MHI. Read the week viastore blog at blog.viastore.com. Follow viastore on Twitter at @viastoresystems.