After COVID-19, most companies will be cash poor, margin hungry, and riveted on boosting supply chain resilience. They say, “forewarned is forearmed,” but what specific actions should we take? Join Rod Sherkin, President of ProPurchaser, and Kelly Barner, Owner of Buyers Meeting Point, as they team up to share their insights on the challenges our profession will face and the solutions we can implement to thrive in a post COVID-19 world. Kelly will kick off this discussion by explaining how some of today’s “best practices” may no longer be best, e.g.: building just-in-time supply chains, supplier rationalization, and pursuing low prices. Rod will continue the presentation with practical advice to prepare you for what’s coming – how to keep the focus on cost containment while building resilience into your supply chain. He explains how to: · Make suppliers’ costs transparent. · Use this knowledge to negotiate competitive pricing and attract the best, most reliable suppliers. The goal of this webinar is to help supply chain professionals prepare for the future. You may be pleasantly surprised at how effective you can become at driving enterprise costs lower and your career prospects higher.

ERPs are pivotal in streamlining operations; however, not all ERP solutions provide adequate inventory optimization functionality. SMBs need functionality that provides inventory visibility, automated processes to reduce excess stock and avoid stockouts, precise forecasting capabilities, and predictive analytics to minimize supply and demand risks. Customizing your ERP can lead to expensive challenges in the long term, especially when performing automatic upgrades. Consider using best-in-breed inventory solutions from Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) to enhance ERP functionality without unnecessary complexity, ensuring long-term adaptability and efficiency To balance inventory and costs, businesses need to understand what tools are fit for purpose to help achieve inventory optimization, financial success, and market competitiveness.   From this discussion, the audience will have a better understanding of: – The functionality of ERPs – How to assess if ERPs deliver on inventory goals and capabilities – Identify missing gaps for better inventory planning and optimization – What key features to prioritize when selecting an inventory add-on solution – Rearview vs front window when it comes to forecasting and risk in your ERP – How to measure ROI – how best-of-breed solutions like Netstock show ROI when integrated with an ERP