Jun 3, 2025
How to Increase Supply Chain Collaboration and Reap the Rewards
Boost efficiency and resilience with smarter collaboration.
Efficient supply chains are essential to many companies’ business models. The ability to source the necessary materials, receive them in a timely manner and move them downstream with minimal disruption has a bearing on productivity and profitability. However, nine out of ten supply chain professionals who responded to a McKinsey study said they had encountered challenges during 2024.
A report by Deloitte found that companies are responding to supply chain disruptions by aiming to “restructure their supply base to optimize logistics and delivery performance, reduce costs, and take advantage of industrial policy.” This, they hope, will lead to “the development of a resilient, yet efficient supply chain.”
But an organization cannot unilaterally conjure this result. It requires supply chain collaboration, working together to increase agility in the process and develop a streamlined process through clear communication and engagement.
This article explains what collaboration in the supply chain looks like and how it benefits businesses, as well as methods for forging better working relationships with suppliers.
Key takeaways
Businesses are restructuring their supply bases, seeking to cut costs and improve logistics through greater collaboration
Strong collaboration enables improved forecasting, reduced stockouts, and better demand planning
Integrated technology platforms like ERPs and SCM systems are essential for breaking down silos and supporting seamless information flow between partners
Joint planning processes across the supply chain enhance flexibility and reduce waste, creating a more agile and efficient response to market changes
Measuring collaboration success goes beyond cost savings, including metrics like partner satisfaction, joint innovation initiatives, and environmental and social performance.
What is supply chain collaboration?
Supply chain collaboration is the process of working together with different stakeholders across the supply chain to achieve shared goals and improve efficiency and performance. It involves building strong, open relationships with suppliers, manufacturers, vendors, distributors, retailers, and other stakeholders, built on close communication, joint problem-solving, better coordination, and the sharing of resources and data.
Close collaboration has been expedited in recent years by developments in technology that allow for the secure and timely sharing of information across supply chain entities, with advanced analytics available to assess the success of your supply chain collaboration efforts.
Business benefits for supply chain collaboration
There are many reasons to implement greater collaboration in your supply chain. These mutual benefits for you and your trading partners include:
Improved forecasting and demand planning through shared real-time data and insights, leading to more accurate inventory levels and reduced stockouts or overstocking
Enhanced efficiency and cost savings by aligning processes, sharing resources, and reducing duplicate efforts across the value chain
Increased flexibility, enabling faster and better coordinated responses to disruptions, market changes, and customer demands
Greater risk reduction due to partners jointly assessing vulnerabilities with a better understanding of the overall chain and being able to create effective mitigation plans
More robust trust and loyalty between partners thanks to better communication, providing a basis for long-term growth together
Better informed decision making thanks to increased transparency over the supply chain network and improved real-time data sharing
Improved sustainability thanks to shared knowledge and resources, as well as greater visibility, leading to more ethical approaches at each level of the supply chain.
How to increase supply chain collaboration
Establish clear communication channels across all partners
The key element of good collaboration is communication. Being able to interact with your supply chain partners easily allows you to develop working relationships and ensure that everyone understands what is expected, with the ability to clarify anything that is unclear.
Set up shared digital platforms to allow for easy access to key stakeholders within each organization for updates and urgent issues. Set up regular check-ins with supply chain entities to help you coordinate more easily, resolve challenges efficiently and forge stronger partnerships.
Set shared goals and KPIs
Each of the trading partners in your supply chain should work towards the same objectives to ensure your efforts are aligned and truly collaborative. Set goals for your supply chain efforts using key performance indicators (KPI) relating to improving service levels, boosting sustainability, improving delivery times, reducing costs, or any other overarching mission.
Agreeing on these priorities upfront makes it easier for partners to support each other and make decisions that benefit all parties in the supply chain.
Encourage transparency and data sharing
Supply chain visibility is essential for building trust and maintaining oversight on the actions of all stakeholders. Encourage your external partners to share relevant data, including on inventory management, demand forecasts, and production schedules so that you have a real-time view of what’s happening and where potential disruptions might occur.
You can keep an eye on sustainability matters, including how suppliers treat employees and whether they are taking the correct steps over sourcing materials that could otherwise create a negative environmental or societal impact.
Invest in integrated technology platforms
Technology is what has driven the ability to collaborate with supply chain partners more easily than ever before. Integrated platforms, such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems or supply chain management (SCM) tools, ensure that your suppliers have access to the same, up-to-date information they need to make informed decisions that move goods along the supply chain with the least friction possible.
They allow for partners to share real-time information, to automate some parts of the process, and provide supply chain insights you can analyze to understand where the current blockages are and where you can make efficiency gains.
Develop joint planning processes
An efficient way to run supply chain functions is by aligning your processes for various aspects, rather than having each entity create its own way of working that does not integrate effectively with the others.
Communicate with your partners to work together on production schedules, inventory management, and demand forecasts, for example. Synchronise your approach to work together on meeting the needs of your customers, avoiding waste, preventing stockouts, and creating a more efficient and intuitive workflow.
Review performance
Ensure that everyone is working together effectively by conducting regular performance reviews and feedback sessions. This creates an environment that values continuous improvement, helping you communicate your expectations clearly to your supply chain partners.
Discuss successes with your partners, pinpoint areas for improvement, and share ideas in a collaborative manner for how to improve your processes across the whole chain. Working together to refine processes and address concerns is beneficial to all parties in improving efficiency and productivity.
Encourage cross-functional and cross-organisational teams
Within each of the organizations in your supply chain, you have a resource of expertise that you can utilize for success. Rather than having these teams and individuals working in silos, encourage people from different functions and organizations to share advice and best practice.
Combining sales, procurement planning, and logistics expertise, for example, creates a richer pool of ideas and solutions. Diversity can drive innovation and allows you to benefit by approaching problems from a different angle, thanks to input from external parties.
KPIs and metrics for measuring collaborative success
Measuring the progress of a collaborative approach is essential to understand where you are being successful and where you need to improve. Here are some metrics to track for understanding supply chain performance:
Service level improvements: Measures how effectively collaboration enhances order accuracy, on-time deliveries, and overall fulfilment
Cost-to-serve reductions: Understand how effectively you have streamlined processes, reduced waste, and cut the total cost of delivering products to customers
Time-to-market acceleration: Evaluates how well partners work together to shorten the cycle from product development to launch
Partner satisfaction scores: Assesses how satisfied partners are with the collaboration, revealing insights into relationship strength and areas for improvement
Supply chain resilience: Measures the supply chain’s ability to quickly recover from disruptions and how collaborative efforts strengthen overall agility and reliability
Joint innovation initiatives: Tracks the number or success of co-created solutions and products, highlighting how partners work together to drive continuous improvement
Environmental and social performance: Monitors progress towards meeting your sustainability goals through collaboration, such as reduced carbon emissions or fair labor practices
Forecast accuracy: Assesses the precision of joint demand forecasting efforts, showing how well partners share data and plan together.
Collaboration challenges and barriers
Here are some of the challenges you may face when implementing supply chain collaboration and an outline of how you might overcome them.
Challenge | Explanation | Resolution |
Fragmented structures | Functions and partners work in silos, with little communication or alignment | Promote the idea of creating cross-functional teams or setting shared goals that encourage collaboration |
Traditional mindsets | Outdated views might lead to some stakeholders resisting change to the way they work | Implement change management, including training programs aimed at showing the benefits of close collaboration |
Lack of transparency | Partners hesitate to share critical data, fearing security risks or misuse | Implement a secure supply chain collaboration platform, carrying out pilot programs to demonstrate how it will work going forwards |
Misaligned KPIs and incentives | Different goals or metrics along the supply chain make it difficult to align priorities and measure success | Develop shared KPIs and incentives, agreed by all parties, that reward collective outcomes |
Regulatory and compliance complexities | Navigating various regulations in different industries and jurisdictions adds complexity and risk to the process | Establish a joint compliance framework that all partners must agree to adhere to. |
Managing geopolitical and trade challenges | Global disruptions, such as tariffs, sanctions, conflicts, and other such issues, can negatively affect your ability to source materials from around the world. | Create scenario plans and alternative routes to mitigate risks, using real-time visibility to preempt issues. |
FAQ
How does collaboration differ from traditional outsourcing?
Effective collaboration involves mutual, long-term partnerships with shared goals and joint value creation, while outsourcing typically focuses on cost-cutting and transactional arrangements.
How can companies measure the ROI of supply chain collaboration initiatives?
Companies can measure ROI through KPIs like service level improvements, cost-to-serve reductions, time-to-market gains, and partner satisfaction scores.
What integration challenges do organisations face when onboarding new supply chain partners, and how can they overcome them?
Common challenges include data incompatibility, differing processes, and cultural misalignment, which can be overcome through upfront integration planning, clear communication, and rolling out intuitive shared technology platforms.
Conclusion
Although supply chain collaboration is a complex goal to achieve, the benefits it brings are significant. From more efficient processes to the ability to pivot and change plans when you spot disruption, by working together you build a more resilient approach to sourcing materials. However, clear and consistent communication is essential, as is the ability to easily share documents and data with your partners. This is where Beebolt comes in. Intelligent task management keeps all supply chain activities on track across all parties and you can easily exchange data and use analytics tools to identify cost-saving opportunities and highlight any potential bottlenecks before they slow your processes down. Sign up for an account today and find out how to create effective collaboration.