Trending December 2023 # Automated Proofreading Software: We’ve Ranked 6 Best # Suggested January 2024 # Top 12 Popular

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Automated Proofreading Software: We’ve Ranked 6 Best

Proofreading software can increase the accuracy of the process by using up-to-date technologies capable to find even the smallest errors.

The list below provides suggestions of some of the best proofreading tools on the market that can benefit everyone, from academics to regular students.

Content is everywhere. Whether it’s an online business or a blog, in video or word format, powerful content is what keeps them running. To create effective content, the writer must focus on quality. While it should be original content with a solid subject matter, it should also be error free.

To write content free of errors is not humanly possible and therefore, many users prefer using an integrated spell-checker. However, these built-in tools are only as effective.

These software programs ensure clean and effective content in the minimum possible time. So, here’s a quick list of some of the best automated proofreading software for high-quality content.

Grammarly simplifies the entire writing process with its AI-based technology. After checking the content for even the smallest of mistakes, it generates a bold and clear copy minus any errors.

Whether the content is for a blog or a website, or for Gmail, Twitter, LinkedIn, it makes corrections to any type of text.

The correction level offered is beyond just grammar and spelling check. The software also highlights the style, tone, and also offers suggestions for the right words. It’s a perfect tool to eliminate errors, as well as for the right sentence structure.

From grammar, spelling, vocabulary, or punctuation to conciseness and formality, it covers all.

Best of all, Grammarly can be added to Chrome for free, for instant correction. Grammarly is also available as an extension on Edge on Windows 10.

The premium version comes with extra features such as tone suggestions, readability checks, and repetitive patterns detection.

Grammarly proofreading

If you want to have the best online grammar spelling teacher you must take Grammarly into consideration.

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Ginger Grammar Checker is another leading automated proofreading software that helps users write better English while correcting texts, efficiently.

It can be used for grammar and spelling mistakes, and for words used wrongly, and does it with unbeaten perfection. The software refines the content just as would someone would do it manually.

From mistakes in syntax to punctuation errors, Ginger Grammar Checker ensures error-free English writing. It offers correction for a wide range of grammatical errors. Unlike the usual free grammar check tools, Ginger offers suggestions for corrections apart from pulling up the mistakes.

Whether the errors are related to singular vs plural, or there are mistakes in tenses, the software uses innovative technology to identify and correct with perfection. It offers one of the easiest and fastest ways to check grammatical mistakes.

Ginger Grammar Checker

Download Ginger for seamless grammar checking on all possible applications on your PC.

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Quillbot is a web-based paraphrasing tool with an integrated Summarizer and Grammar Checker. It guarantees ease of access from any place with an Internet connection.

The software is intuitive, you don’t necessarily have to be familiarized with such tools before using it. The paraphrasing tool can be used in different modes, depending on the nature of your text and desired results.

The free version offers a Standard Mode, a Fluency Mode and a Creative mode. These options are really helpful in setting the tone of your text and giving it the proper structure for your specific needs.

The Summarizer is another great feature that comes in handy, along with the word flipper which allows you to replace words with their synonyms.

Another important element that contributes to the quality of your work is the possibility to use extensions and add ons. Quillbot offers a Google Chrome extension and Microsoft Word and Google Docs add-ons.

Scrivener is an all-in-one type of tool for writers. It is a word processor that doubles as a task organizer, so you can easily manage all writing-related tasks without using any other tool.

When it comes to spellchecks, Scrivener offers you two options: automatic and manual spellcheck. The automatic function can be your best bet because it generates suggestions as you write.

However, if you want to insert an already written text, or the automatic feature distracts you from keeping a good workflow, you can check your spelling manually. Just select the text and then select the spelling option within the edit mode.

If you need a proofreader for tedious, large projects, Scrivener may just be your best bet. It can help you create layouts, and it also allows you to focus on one section at a time.

You can work on whatever text level you prefer. For instance, if you want to focus on one paragraph, you can edit it separately in another window. Once you’re finished, all edits are saved in your main document and you can move on to the next section.

Scrivener also comes with a sticky-notes planning tool that can be used for quick ideas and reminders.

The notes and the main word processor can open simultaneously, so you can see all the important points you need to include as you write.

Scrivener has a free version and a full, licensed version. It is compatible with Windows 7 PCs and higher.

Scrivener

Create ready to publish materials with perfect spelling using this powerful text editor that takes care of everything from font size to paper outline!

Free trial Visit website

For those working with PDFs on a daily basis (especially for business users), Nuance is a perfect choice. It helps businesses to regulate their PDF processes in each department and for any use.

It helps them build, convert, and collect industry-level PDF documents with high-level perfection, and with cloud and DMS connectivity. It also comes equipped with plenty of useful features that help users edit, search, and share PDF files, securely.

The software allows users to convert paper content to PDF more precisely. It basically generates high-quality and more professional-looking documents without any errors.

Nuance is also a great solution for on-the-go writing as it can also be used as a dictation tool. It is highly accurate in speech-to-text production. You can use this feature to create documents from scratch, fill out forms, or write emails.

It can be used as a mobile and desktop app keeping all your documents in sync so you get to edit them wherever you are.

Nuance

Nuance is not only the perfect regulator for PDF documents but also a great automated grammar checker.

Check price Visit website

The software is easy to use and comes with a remodeled design and proven enhanced efficiency levels. It’s redesigned from scratch to boost performance and offer added details on individual errors.

The best part is, the packages for this software come equipped with plenty of features and updates on content. It offers superior quality proofreading skills by correcting the smallest of mistakes including spelling mistakes, word choices, and style mistakes.

The products offered by the brand are based on NLP (Natural Language Processing) technology. It features exclusive and patented AI and algorithms for content evaluation.

The products are available as browser-based text editors, and specialized OEM versions developed for integration with 3rd party service providers.

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Creating error-free text content is no more a challenge, especially with these applications around. So, get one of these super-effective automated proofreading software programs today, and improve your English writing skills.

Impress your clients and get noticed for your writing prowess.

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6 Best Customer Service Software Solutions For 2023

Learn how customer service software tools can help automate, organize, and simplify your customer service efforts.

If you’re actively marketing your business, you need an equally active customer service program. After all, you can’t build your business without happy customers.

In this post, we’ll explore how customer service software tools can help automate, organize, and simplify your customer service efforts.

If you specifically want to know how to use social media channels to offer customer service, check out our post on social customer service. Here, we’ll look at tools you can use to support your customers both online and offline.

Bonus: Get a free, easy-to-use Customer Service Report Template that helps you track and calculate your monthly customer service efforts all in one place.

What is customer service software?

Customer service software is any software tool that helps a business manage, track, or streamline its customer service efforts. That could mean anything from a simple chatbot all the way through to a complex customer relationship management solution that integrates with sales and IT.

Obviously, a small business doesn’t need the same software tools as a multinational corporation.

But they do have something in common. The most important function of all software-based customer service tools is to improve the service experience for both customers and customer service agents. (Or for the small business owner if you’re a one-person show.)

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Why use customer service software?

As we explain in our post on customer service metrics, there’s a lot of important data to track in any customer service program. As your business grows, it simply becomes impossible to manage and track your service efforts without software.

Without software, customer requests can be missed, or you might take too long to reply. And you have no way to track your response times or customer feedback to see how you’re doing and look for ways to improve.

As your business grows, customer service becomes increasingly complex. For example, you might need a ticket system to manage support requests for multiple agents and departments.

But even when you’re small, you could use the help of customer service tools. They make the job easier, allow you to automate simple and repetitive tasks, and free up your time for more complex cases or working on other areas of your business.

Simply put, you should use customer service software because it helps you deliver better customer service. And customer service is a real concern for consumers, especially when making purchases online. 60% of Internet users said they are concerned about bad customer service online.

Source: eMarketer

On the flip side, 94% of U.S. consumers aged 18 and up said they are very likely to purchase more from a company with very good customer service. Compare that to 72% for a company with “okay” customer service and only 20% for a company with very poor customer service.

Types of customer service software

Now that you understand why you might want to use customer service tools in your business, let’s look at some of the different types of customer service software options.

Customer relationship management (CRM) software

Customer service is all about relationships. A customer relationship management (CRM) tool allows you to track all the interactions your company has with a customer, so you can learn about them as your relationship grows.

In addition to basic contact details, a CRM tool will track purchase history, product preferences, and all the contacts the customer has with members of your team, in any department.

An effective CRM tool improves customer service by giving support agents all the information they need to serve the customer most efficiently and effectively.

For example, they’ll be able to see:

which products and versions the customer has

how often they buy or update

whether they’ve had any previous interactions with other agents or members of the sales team

Rather than having to start from scratch to learn about the customer’s challenge or question, the agent can jump directly into resolving the issue or providing a detailed and customized answer. The agent’s job is easier and the customer walks away satisfied.

Messaging and live chat software

Being able to chat with a human agent in real time is one of the most valuable customer service offerings for consumers. In fact, it was the highest value customer service feature in the Insider Intelligence Canada Mobile Banking Emerging Features Benchmark report.

Source: Insider Intelligence

Half of small and medium-sized businesses reported an increase in the use of online messaging platforms to build customer relationships in 2023. Most of those businesses said it was customers’ preferred communication channel.

Live chat and messaging can take place through your existing social media platforms. Or you can use software tools to enable live chat within your own website or app.

Social media inbox software

A social media inbox allows you to see interactions with customers across different social platforms in one place. Someone might ask a public question and follow up with a private message. A social inbox will thread them together so you can see the full conversation.

And if a person messages you on more than one platform, you’ll be able to see both messages so you can ensure a consistent response.

A social media inbox also allows larger teams to spread the workload. You can assign messages to specific team members across the company. Even better, it allows you to create a database of saved replies to common questions. This can increase response time or provide the basis for a custom reply.

Customer service ticketing software

Customer service ticketing software allows you to create a unique case — or ticket — for each customer support request. This allows the customer to track the progress of their case. It also ensures the right people can tackle the issue at hand.

Customer support managers can track the progress of a ticket. Teams can close a ticket when the issue is resolved. This way the team always knows how many support requests they have to tackle. They can then provide customers with an estimated time for resolution.

Like a social media inbox, customer service center software collects all communication in one place. Each ticket shows the context to get the customer’s request resolved quickly and effectively.

Customer service software for small business

Small businesses need the same kinds of tools as larger businesses do, just on a scaled-down level. Most of the best customer service software tools offer inexpensive plans for smaller businesses. Some even offer basic functions for free.

When pricing out customer service software tools for your small business, look for plans labeled “professional” (as opposed to “enterprise”). These generally have enough features for a growing small business.

Here are our top customer service software picks.

With Hootsuite Inbox, you can bridge the gap between social media engagement and customer service — and manage all of your social media messages in one place. This includes:

Private messages and DMs

Public messages and posts on your profiles

Mentions

Emoji reactions

… and more.

The all-in-one agent workspace makes it easy to

Track the history of any individual’s interactions with your brand on social media (across your accounts and platforms), giving your team the context needed to personalize replies

Add notes to customers’ profiles (Inbox integrates with Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics)

Handle messages as a team, with intuitive message queues, task assignments, statuses, and filters

Track response times and CSAT metrics

Book a free demo

Plus, Inbox comes with handy automations:

Automated message routing

Auto-responses and saved replies

Automatically triggered customer satisfaction surveys

AI-powered chatbot features

Zendesk is an online help desk platform, customer service ticketing software, and CRM. It gives customer service agents all the tools they need to respond to customer requests from multiple channels.

Zendesk also allows your team to contribute to an ever-growing knowledge base. This provides self-serve customer service, empowering customers to find their own solutions 24/7.

Source: Zendesk

Customized pop-up boxes in multiple languages encourage customers to reach out. Meanwhile, an integrated help desk helps keep everything organized.

Freshdesk is a customer service management software that allows your team to offer service and support through multiple social channels and by phone.

You can also coordinate in-person service calls with simple appointment scheduling and real-time updates.

Source: Freshdesk

Hubspot is a CRM platform with a built-in ticketing system and live chat features. It includes tracking and reporting on metrics like response time and ticket volume.

Automatic ticket routing helps ensure the right person is assigned to each customer service request. Chatbots answer the most common questions.

Source: Hubspot

Salesforce is a CRM that is specifically designed to enable work across teams within companies to best serve the customer.

That means team members from IT, sales, marketing, support, and any other relevant department all have access to the same customer information and can help get your customers the support they need.

Source: Salesforce

Psstt: If you already use Salesforce Social Studio and are looking for a replacement, we can help!

Best practices for choosing and setting up customer service software

Now that you understand the options, how do you choose the right customer service software for your business?

1. Understand your needs (and your team’s needs)

This is fundamental to any choice you make for your business. As we mentioned above, a small business doesn’t have the same requirements as a massive enterprise. But think about more than size when choosing your software.

For example, do you do most of your marketing online? Through social media? Through your website? Are your customers likely to have technical requests that require another department to get involved? Do you talk to customers over the phone, or only through digital channels? Do you tend to get the same questions, or the same kinds of questions a lot?

Think about which customer service tasks currently take up the most of your time, or cause the biggest management headaches. Then think about what kinds of tools could make your life easier.

2. Understand your customers’ needs

Think of customer service as an extension of your marketing efforts. After all, it’s a lot easier to retain and resell to an existing customer than it is to bring in a new one.

So, you need to understand how your customers want to talk to you. If they want to chat with you on social but you only offer support through live chat on your website, you might be missing opportunities to resolve issues in the early stages.

Some detailed audience research will help on this front.

3. Think about your future growth

The customer service software tools you choose will become the basis of workflows across your company. You don’t want to have to change everything later because you chose a customer service solution you’ll quickly outgrow.

As you evaluate tools, look for room to grow. Can you add additional users as your team grows? Can you upgrade to a higher-level solution from the same provider if things really take off? Does the customer support software integrate with other tools you might need to add later as well as ones you already use?

4. Consider reporting capabilities

One of the key benefits of social media software is that it allows you to collect valuable data. You can use that data to develop a solid understanding of your customers, your team, and even your own products and services.

Your customer service software solutions should also allow you to gather information on team performance, so you can establish a baseline response time and satisfaction level.

This allows you to spot customer service superstars and look for ways to share their expertise. You can also spot team members who may need additional training or support.

So, rather than thinking only about the tasks customer service software will allow you to perform, think about the data it will allow you to acquire.

5. Check for free trials

Many customer service software tools offer free trials for a limited time or with a limited set of features. These allow you to see the product interface and get a sense of how intuitive it is to use and how well it will suit your needs.

For larger businesses, get in touch with the software’s sales team to talk them through your specific needs so they can explain how their tools are a good fit.

6. Review the support documentation

Check out the online help docs for the solution you’re considering before you commit. Is the help documentation thorough and easy to understand? Does it seem to address common use cases and clearly walk you through setup options?

7. Review your needs regularly

Customer service needs change over time. Check in regularly with your customer service team to make sure your software tools are keeping up with their evolving requirements.

Use customer satisfaction surveys to make sure customers are happy with your tools too.

Save time building an efficient customer support system with Inbox by Hootsuite. Quickly respond to questions and complaints across a variety of channels, create tickets, and work with chatbots all from one dashboard. Try it free today.

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Save time on social messaging with automated responses, smarter workflows, and friendly chatbots — all in the Hootsuite Inbox.

Best Kids’ Tablets In 2023: Reviewed & Ranked

Many parents buy tablets to entertain kids on long journeys as well as at home. Others might want them for educational reasons, or communication with friends and family.

Some tablets are designed for very young kids, from 3-6, and those aimed at older kids may not suit younger children.

Conversely, when kids reach around 6 or 7, they no longer want what they see as a ‘baby tablet’ and will start asking for something a bit more grown up.

What is the best tablet for kids?

Right now, we think the best option for the vast majority of kids is the Amazon Fire HD 8. It costs £149.99 / $149.99 and includes three things you don’t get if you buy the non-Kids version of the Fire HD 8.

First is a two-year warranty that covers any accidental damage. So if your child manages to break it, Amazon will replace it. That breakage is less likely because a chunky case is included in the box to protect the tablet. But, if you’re buying it for an older child, there’s the option of a more grown-up-looking Fire HD 8 Kids Pro. That’s the same price, but has a slimmer, more age-appropriate case and a more grown-up interface as well (shown above).

Finally, with both tablets you get a year’s subscription to Amazon Kids+ which lets your child play games, read books (including audiobooks), watch videos and other things – including educational apps – that usually cost money.

The best thing about these tablets is that they provide a safe walled garden that does a great job of making sure your kids don’t see anything they shouldn’t. But, you can remove some or all of these restrictions as they get older, reverting to the regular Fire tablet interface designed for adults when, say, they turn 13… if they’re still using the tablet at that point.

Although Amazon Fire tablets are not Android tablets and don’t have the Google Play store or any Google apps on them, Amazon’s Appstore still has a lot of popular apps that kids love, and they can watch YouTube (if you let them) via a web browser.

Older kids might well ask you to buy them an iPad. That’s one reason we’ve included latest iPad mini and iPad 10.2 here. The latter is cheaper than the iPad mini, and neither are what you’d call budget tablets. If price is a problem, you can find a refurbished iPad mini on Apple’s website, but there are more and more websites popping up which sell refurbished tablets as well as phones.

A couple of places to look include Back Market and Music Magpie (UK) / Decluttr (US)

Just don’t buy one that’s too old, though, as really old ones may not support some apps or might have poor performance. Another issue is that they’re quite fragile. But, you can always buy a protective iPad cases and Apple’s App Store has the widest selection of apps and games, many of which are free.

Apple gives you relatively good parental controls: you can disable Safari (to prevent web browsing), restrict music, videos, apps and games to the appropriate age level, and Screen Time lets you enforce time limits for certain apps, as well as a Downtime during which they can’t use it at all.

Android tablets

If you’re not going to buy any of the models already mentioned, you could go for a standard Android tablet intended for adult use. Then you’ll have to install a parental control app to ensure kids don’t see things in apps or online that you’d rather they didn’t. When kids are using tablets, keep in mind how much screen time is healthy for children.

The best tablets for kids

1. Amazon Fire HD 8 – Best overall tablet for kids

Pros

Affordable

USB-C charging

Cons

So-so cameras

Best Prices Today:

The Fire HD 8 Kids has a bigger, better screen than the Fire 7 – Amazon’s cheapest kids tablet – and it’s also around 30 percent faster. There’s also more RAM, more storage and you can expand that by up to 1TB using a microSD card.

Simply put, this means your child won’t complain that you’ve bought them a tablet that’s too small and slow.

The Fire HD 8 has stereo speakers and a convenient USB-C port for charging.

You have the option of the standard Fire HD 8 or a Plus model which costs £20 / $20 extra. For that, you get wireless charging and an optional dock which, in addition to charging the tablet wirelessly, enables Show Mode. This means it works just like an Amazon Echo Show and, with Alexa on-board, you can use it for video calls, music videos and watching Amazon Prime videos. However, that stuff works only if you’re not using a child profile, so it’s kind of irrelevant.

It’s worth knowing that the regular non-Kids edition of the Fire HD can work as a kids’ tablet because the software is identical. For the extra money, the Kids versions come with a bumper case, a year’s subscription to Amazon Kids+ and a two-year warranty that covers accidental damage.

If there’s one thing that your child won’t love, it’s the cameras. The photos and video they produce are well below what kids expect these days. But for the money, the Fire HD 8 is hard to beat.

2. Amazon Fire 7 – Best budget tablet for kids

Pros

Inexpensive

Good size for younger kids

Cons

Poor camera quality

Relatively small screen

The Fire 7 is best known for being the cheapest tablet around that’s worth buying.

The 2023 model is still the current one and has double the storage of its predecessor, a slightly better front camera and a choice of three colours.

It’s no hotrod in terms of performance, but it’s still the best tablet you can buy if you’re on a budget.

The Kids Edition comes with the same benefits as the Fire HD 8 and HD 10, but costs double at £99.99/$99.99, so isn’t quite as tempting as the standard Fire HD 8 which is simply a better all-round tablet.

3. Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Pro – Best for entertainment

Pros

Good size for older kids

More powerful processor

Cons

Relatively expensive

Although it’s quite a lot more expensive than the Fire 7 and Fire HD 8, Amazon’s biggest tablet has a sharper screen, better battery life and the potential for faster charging if you use a 15W charger (a 9W charger is supplied).

Performance is pretty good for the price, but it’s still obviously a budget tablet and that’s evident from the plastic build and mediocre cameras (yes, even on Amazon’s best tabelt).

For entertainment, however, it’s a great device with decent speakers and a headphone jack (which all three Amazon tablets have).

We think the Kids Pro version is the best option if you’re going to spend this much, but the regular Kids Edition offers an identical tablet with a chunkier case that offers better protection, and is still a good option for younger kids under 7-8.

Whichever option you choose – and that will really come down to how old your child is – they come with a year’s subscription to Amazon Kids+ and the two-year warranty that covers accidental damage.

Read our full

4. Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 – Best Samsung tablet for kids

Pros

Android tablet with Google Play

Good battery life

Cons

Screen isn’t the best quality

Slow charging

Best Prices Today:

If you’re looking for an affordable tablet for your child that runs Android and has all the usual Google apps, and the Play Store, then the Galaxy Tab A8 is hard to beat at this price. You’ll often find it for the same sort of price as the Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids edition.

However, the difference here is that this isn’t specifically a kids’ tablet. That means no case, no special warranty, no included kids content and, importantly, no special interface that prevents your child from accessing the full internet and other content that might not be suitable. You can, however, choose to set the A8 up under a child profile and use Google’s Family Link app to put content and screen time restrictions in place: it’s just a bit more work.

It might called the A8, but this tablet has a 10.5in screen and great speakers, so it’s ideal if you’re after a bigger tablet. It’s not really powerful enough to play the most demanding games, but it should be ok for Roblox and other more sedate games that kids like to play.

You can expand the 64GB of storage using a microSD card and the cameras are a bit better than those on Amazon’s tablets. A full charge using the included charger takes around four hours, which is pretty slow.

5. Realme Pad Mini – Best Android tablet for kids

Pros

Premium, compact design

Great battery life

Affordable

Cons

Poor cameras

Slow charging

Limited update support

Small Android tablets are few and far between, especially from established brands like Samsung or Lenovo.

Realme might not have the same strong brand name and, despite being new to the tablet market, the company’s Pad Mini is a decent choice for kids. It’s nicely designed and has a 8.7in screen, all for a sensible price.

There are a couple of drawbacks. One is its low-resolution display. Kids may not mind the mediocre performance, but the real challenge is buying one. It still isn’t available from Realme’s official online store in the UK. You can buy it from Amazon UK, but it isn’t available at all in the US.

Read our full

6. Apple iPad 10.2in (2023) – Best tablet for drawing and writing

Pros

Great app store

A ‘proper’ tablet

Cons

Expensive

Best Prices Today:

Older kids will certainly appreciate being given an iPad, but it’s a much more expensive option than any Amazon tablet.

Nevertheless, the 9th-generation 10.2in model (the 2023 version) is relatively good value at this price, which is a bit cheaper than the 2023 version. The base model now has 64GB of storage, but as even it isn’t expandable. The next step up – 256GB – is a lot more money.

There’s a newer 10th-gen model, but this is a lot more expensive.

You may want to look out for refurbished 8th- and even 7th-generation iPad 10.2 models; but bear in mind base models had only 32GB of storage, which isn’t really enough, even for a kid’s tablet.

Getting back to the software, the iPad 10.2 will get software updates for at least the next few years, and (like the 7th- and 8th-gen models) supports the Apple Pencil, which kids love to use.

Read our full

7. Apple iPad mini 6 – Best premium tablet for kids

Pros

Great performance and screen

Apple Pencil 2 support

Cons

Really expensive

Best Prices Today:

You’d be forgiven for assuming a smaller iPad would be cheaper, but the new iPad mini is a lot more expensive than the 10.2, and even the 10th-gen iPad.

The mini now shares the same design as the rest of the iPad range and has a slightly larger screen than previous iPad minis at 8.3in.

Base models still have 64GB of storage, despite the higher price, and support for the Apple Pencil 2 – which may not be important for kids.

If anything, the iPad mini 6 is overkill for kids, but if money is no object, it’s still a great device.

Read our full Apple iPad mini (2023) review

Amazon Fire Kids Edition vs Fire Kids Pro: what’s the difference?

The hardware you get and the price you pay is the same for both: it’s the bundle and software that’s different.

Kids Editions come with a chunky, rugged case, a two-year warranty that covers accidental damage, plus a year’s subscription to Amazon Kids+ which gives them access to a fairly good range of apps, games, videos and books.

Fire Kids Pro tablets come with a slimmer, more grown up case with a flip-out stand which puts the tablet at a suitable angle for watching videos hands-free. They, too, have the same two-year warranty and Kids+ subscription, but the content is tailored to kids from 6-12.

There’s also a new, more grown-up interface that older kids will appreciate. It includes a hand-curated web browser, and you can also enable a filtered browser that’s more suitable for pre-teens.

It’s handy to know that even the standard versions of the three Fire tablets come with good parental controls, the hand-curated safe web browser and the kid-friendly interface, so you can save money if you don’t want the case, warranty or Kids+ content. This means you do not necessarily need to buy the Kids Edition, especially if your child is already around 7 or older.

Conversely, the kids’ tablets also have the full adult interface (and Alexa), so when your children grow out of the restricted child-friendly interface, they can ditch the bumper case and start using it like a proper tablet.

What to look for in a kids’ tablet

You might see a specially designed kids tablet that isn’t in the list here. The biggest problem with these is that they often have a very limited selection of apps and games. As kids get a bit older and want to have the same apps as their friends, you might find you have to buy a new tablet because they’re just not available outside of an iPad or Android tablet.

We still rate Amazon’s range of Fire tablets highly, even if there are still some apps – particularly social media – which you can’t get on them. But if your child is older than around 8 or 9, we’d recommend going down the iPad or Android route if your budget allows.

Specifications

Two of the main things you should consider are battery life and screen size.

Many kids’ tablets last around half the time of an iPad – which is about five hours. They can, of course, use their tablet while it’s charging, but it’s worth avoiding any that don’t charge over USB as this makes it awkward to power them on long car journeys. Amazon Fire tablets do charge via USB.

Younger kids might struggle with the size and weight of a 10in tablet, which is why the Amazon Fire 7 is a good choice all round. Its 7in screen is just the right size for small hands.

Rather than looking at processor speeds and RAM, read our reviews to find out if a tablet is fast enough to keep up with your kids. Gigahertz ratings aren’t a helpful guide in this respect.

Storage

A third important aspect is storage. If the tablet you’re considering has no microSD card slot (such as an iPad), you’ll have to start deleting apps, music, photos and more when the internal storage is full. It pays to get as much storage as you can, but it’s still a bonus to be able to expand that storage. Memory cards are cheap and even if a tablet doesn’t let you install apps on it, you can still use it for photos, videos and music.

Consider 32GB of storage the absolutely minimum, and 64GB the minimum we’d recommend. If you can afford more, great – your kids will thank you later. (They won’t, of course. But they also won’t moan that they’ve run out of storage.)

Finally, think about how they’re going to listen to any videos. Almost every tablet has Bluetooth, and you can get good, cheap Bluetooth headphones for kids. If they already have headphones that connect using a wire, then make sure you check if the tablet you’re about to buy has a minijack socket: some don’t.

Quick Guide To Proofreading

Proofreading means carefully checking for errors in a text before it is published or shared. It is the very last stage of the writing process, when you fix minor spelling and punctuation mistakes, typos, formatting issues and inconsistencies.

Proofreading is essential for any text that will be shared with an audience, whether it’s an academic paper, a job application, an online article, or a print flyer. Depending on your skills and budget, you can choose to proofread the text yourself or to hire a professional.

Proofreading example

In the publishing industry, proofreaders usually check a printed “proof copy” of the text and mark corrections using specialized proofreading marks. In other fields, though, professional proofreaders often work with digital texts and make corrections directly using the track changes feature in Microsoft Word or Google Docs.

Proofreading vs editing

Editing and proofreading are different steps in the process of revising a text. Editing can involve major changes to content, structure and language, but proofreading focuses only on minor errors and inconsistencies.

Often a text will go through several stages of editing before it is proofread. The table below shows some common steps in the editing process.

The four stages of editing and proofreading

Type of editing What it involves

Step 1: Content editing Revising an early draft of a text, often making significant changes to the content and moving, adding or deleting entire sections (also known as developmental or substantive editing).

Step 2: Line editing Revising the use of language to communicate your story, ideas, or arguments as effectively as possible.

This might involve changing words, phrases and sentences and restructuring paragraphs to improve the flow of the text.

Step 3: Copy editing Polishing individual sentences to ensure correct grammar, a clear sentence structure, and stylistic consistency, often following the rules of a specific style guide (such as APA or MLA).

Copy editors don’t change the content of a text, but if a sentence or paragraph is ambiguous or awkward, they can work with the author to improve it.

Step 4: Proofreading Carefully checking for any remaining errors, such as misspelled words, misplaced punctuation, and stylistic inconsistencies.

In print publishing, proofreaders are also responsible for checking the formatting (e.g., page numbers and line spacing).

Do I need to go through every stage?

It depends on the type and length of text. You don’t need to strictly follow the division of tasks shown above, but a good piece of writing will nearly always go through a similar process of revising, editing and proofreading.

In the traditional publishing process, the stages are clearly divided, with different professionals responsible for each revision. A separate proofread of the final print version is necessary, especially because new typographical errors can be introduced during production.

However, in texts that don’t need to be formatted for mass printing, there is often more overlap between the steps. Some editorial services combine copy editing and proofreading into a single stage (sometimes called proof-editing), where grammar, syntax and style are addressed at the same time as minor spelling and punctuation errors (e.g., commas, quotation marks and parentheses).

Receive feedback on language, structure, and formatting

Professional editors proofread and edit your paper by focusing on:

Academic style

Vague sentences

Grammar

Style consistency

See an example

Proofreading tips and tricks

Basic proofreading skills are important for anyone who writes. For everyday texts, such as business reports, blogs, or college papers, there are some techniques you can use to proofread efficiently and effectively before sharing your work.

Edit your writing first

Before you get to the final stage of proofreading, make sure you’ve thoroughly revised and edited your work. There’s no point spending time fixing minor errors if you might later remove whole sections or rewrite paragraphs. Only proofread once you’ve got a completed final draft that you’re happy with.

Take a break from the text

When you’ve been reading and rereading the same words for hours or days, it becomes much harder to notice common mistakes. Before proofreading, set your work aside for a while so that you can look at it with fresh eyes.

Ideally you should wait at least a day or two before final proofreading, but if you’re on a tight deadline, even a half hour break can help.

Proofread a printout

Seeing your words on a printed page is another useful strategy for noticing things that might have escaped your attention on the screen. If the final version will be printed, this is also a good chance to check your formatting is correct and consistent on the page.

Use digital shortcuts

While reading from print can help you spot errors, an online proofreader can help you fix them efficiently. Most obviously, run a spell check—but don’t rely on the computer to catch every mistake.

If you notice that you’ve repeatedly misspelled a particular word, inconsistently capitalized a term, or switched between UK and US English, you can use the Find and Replace function to fix the same mistake throughout the document.

Learn from your mistakes

Pay attention to the errors that keep recurring in the text. This can help you avoid them in future.

Knowing what to look out for is the most challenging part of proofreading. You’ll probably notice obvious typos, but subtle mistakes in grammar and punctuation can be harder to recognize. The table below shows some of the most common errors to look out for.

What to watch out for when proofreading Choosing a proofreading service

If you lack confidence in your written English, or if you just want to ensure you haven’t missed anything in an important document, you might want to consider using a professional proofreading service.

There are two main options: you can hire a freelance proofreader, or you can send your document to a proofreading and editing company. There are various things to consider when choosing a service.

Do you only need proofreading or also editing?

It’s important to have a clear idea of how much work your text requires. People often think they only need proofreading when, in reality, the text would benefit from some level of editing as well.

If you send a proofreader a document full of grammar mistakes, confusing sentences, and difficult-to-follow paragraphs, they might decline the job or recommend a different service.

Should the proofreader be specialized in your type of document?

Many different types of documents require proofreading: from literary novels to technical reports, from PhD dissertations to promotional flyers. The best choice of service is usually one that’s specialized in your type of document.

While proofreaders and copy editors generally don’t need expert knowledge of the text’s content, the process will be smoother if your proofreader is familiar with the rules and conventions of the genre you’re working in.

How much does proofreading cost?

The cost of proofreading varies widely. The price depends partly on the proofreader’s location and level of experience, the type and length of text, and the turnaround time. Rates are usually calculated per word or per hour. If the service also focuses on formatting, it may be priced per page.

How long does proofreading take?

You should try to leave plenty of time for editing and proofreading, but if you have a hard deadline, it’s important to find a service that can deliver on time.

Most companies offer various choices of deadline, but it’s best to plan a minimum of 24 hours for proofreading. The price will generally be lower if you can wait longer to have your document returned.

For very long documents, it might not be possible to complete the job in 24 hours, especially if you also need editing services. For combined proofreading and copy editing, you can expect an experienced editor to complete around 10,000–15,000 words in a single day.

How can you check the quality and reliability of the service?

Like everything on the internet, the quality of proofreading services varies widely. Do your research before you choose one. There are a few things you can check:

Online reviews: are they rated on independent review sites (e.g., Trustpilot) or freelancer platforms (e.g., Upwork)?

Qualifications: do they have professional training and experience? If you’re using a company, how do they select and train proofreaders?

Customer service: are they easily contactable and responsive to inquiries?

Complaints policy: what happens if you’re not happy with the job? Can you get a refund or a second edit?

Choosing a proofreading service

Type Advantages

Automated proofreaders

Free or relatively cheap

Instant proofreading

Unreliable for catching all mistakes

Risk of introducing new errors if not used carefully

Freelance proofreaders

You can choose exactly who you work with

You can discuss and negotiate the job directly

No quality control

Often longer turnaround times

Proofreading companies

Upfront pricing (usually by word count)

Fast turnaround and guaranteed deadlines

Standardized training and quality control

Services are usually fixed and non-negotiable

Often no direct contact with the proofreader

Recommended proofreading service

Scribbr offers proofreading services for students and academic editing services for all sorts of study-related documents, including essays, papers, theses, dissertations, reports, and proposals.

The basic service combines proofreading and copy editing at a rate of $0.017 per word. You can choose between a 24-hour, 3-day, or 7-day turnaround time.

Scribbr is rated 4.7 on Trustpilot, with 3,184 reviews so far.

Frequently asked questions about proofreading

What is the difference between proofreading and editing?

Editing and proofreading are different steps in the process of revising a text.

Editing comes first, and can involve major changes to content, structure and language. The first stages of editing are often done by authors themselves, while a professional editor makes the final improvements to grammar and style (for example, by improving sentence structure and word choice).

Proofreading is the final stage of checking a text before it is published or shared. It focuses on correcting minor errors and inconsistencies (for example, in punctuation and capitalization). Proofreaders often also check for formatting issues, especially in print publishing.

How can I get better at proofreading?

Whether you’re publishing a blog, submitting a research paper, or even just writing an important email, there are a few techniques you can use to make sure it’s error-free:

Take a break: Set your work aside for at least a few hours so that you can look at it with fresh eyes.

Proofread a printout: Staring at a screen for too long can cause fatigue – sit down with a pen and paper to check the final version.

Use digital shortcuts: Take note of any recurring mistakes (for example, misspelling a particular word, switching between US and UK English, or inconsistently capitalizing a term), and use Find and Replace to fix it throughout the document.

If you want to be confident that an important text is error-free, it might be worth choosing a professional proofreading service instead.

How much does professional proofreading cost?

The cost of proofreading depends on the type and length of text, the turnaround time, and the level of services required. Most proofreading companies charge per word or page, while freelancers sometimes charge an hourly rate.

For proofreading alone, which involves only basic corrections of typos and formatting mistakes, you might pay as little as $0.01 per word, but in many cases, your text will also require some level of editing, which costs slightly more.

What qualifications do you need to become a proofreader?

There are many different routes to becoming a professional proofreader or editor. The necessary qualifications depend on the field – to be an academic or scientific proofreader, for example, you will need at least a university degree in a relevant subject.

For most proofreading jobs, experience and demonstrated skills are more important than specific qualifications. Often your skills will be tested as part of the application process.

To learn practical proofreading skills, you can choose to take a course with a professional organization such as the Society for Editors and Proofreaders. Alternatively, you can apply to companies that offer specialized on-the-job training programmes, such as the Scribbr Academy.

Cite this Scribbr article

McCombes, S. Retrieved July 19, 2023,

Cite this article

Ryzen 5000 Review: The Best Consumer Cpu We’ve Ever Seen

The $800 Ryzen 9 5950Xand $550 Ryzen 9 5900Xhave so utterly destroyed Core i9 that we’re still stunned by the severity of the sweep. But at the same time, we really shouldn’t be surprised, as this has been building ever since AMD first showed off its Zen core in Aug. 2023—just across the street from where Intel was ironically wrapping up its 20th and final Intel Developer Forum.

There’s a lot to unpack with these new CPUs, but we understand if you want to skip to “the good stuff.” So read on if you want to hear about AMD’s path to glory over the past few years, or feel free to jump ahead to these upcoming sections:

Before Ryzen. After Ryzen.

You can see just how disruptive Ryzen has been by looking at the table below, which summarizes the last five years of consumer desktop computing history. At the top you can see the calm, blue waters of Intel, whose only competition was itself, testing the limits of just how much it could charge a consumer for a CPU (Hint: it was $1,723).

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Before Ryzen. And After Ryzen.

From there it’s just been one duck and weave after another. As Intel’s chip architecture languished at 14 nanometers, AMD has literally danced around its rival’s aging body in the ring. AMD goosed its process, slightly improved its performance, and then cut prices even further with its Ryzen 7 2700X.

You can see that with every iteration of Zen and Ryzen, AMD has backed Intel into a corner. The last few reasons to consider Intel desktop chips were narrow, but they were real: single-threaded performance and gaming performance.

AMD

For the cores themselves, AMD improved integer performance, floating point performance, and branch prediction. Latency, however, received one of the biggest upgrades, with a redesign of the core complex (CCX), the basic building block of the chip.

Unlike Intel which fashions its CPUs from a monolithic piece of silicon, AMD assembles Ryzen from multiple “chiplets.” This gives AMD far more flexibility in yields and construction. Zen 3, for example, uses the same IO die that contains the PCIe 4.0 lanes and memory controller as Zen 2. This let AMD get its newest cores into existing sockets and motherboards without disturbing everything underneath it.

AMD

With previous Ryzen chips, each CCX was constructed of four x86 cores, which were connected to a second CCX to make a core chiplet die (CCD). This design lead to a latency cost when the cores had to communicate outside of the 4-core CCX. AMD said it has measured this latency in a range from 78ns to 95ns. With the unified 8-core CCX, the latency is essentially eliminated.

AMD

This savings in latency and increase in cache size is what AMD credits for much of its huge gains in gaming. In fact, AMD engineers said the impact of the large L3 on today’s games was “eye-opening.”

The new Zen 3 cores also feature more aggressive clock gating that can put a core to sleep when not in use. The clock gating helps increase boost clocks of the Ryzen 5000 and also saves power. AMD said a sleeping core uses no power and generates no heat, which contributes to Ryzen 5000’s performance and power efficiency.

The chip is so efficient, AMD said, it has recorded a 2.8X improvement over an Intel Core i9-10900K, as well as massive performance gains over the previous 7nm Ryzen 3000 CPUs, without drawing any additional power. While AMD doesn’t say, we’d guess this would also contribute a lot to a laptop version of the chip.

AMD

Ryzen 5000 Performance: How We Tested

Mature System Builders strongly cautioned. Some benchmark results may seem inappropriately lopsided for nerds under 13 (pre-teen ages) who have never witnessed a benchmark battle this decisive.

For this review, AMD sampled its top two chips: The 12-core Ryzen 9 5900X and the 16-core Ryzen 9 5950X. For comparisons, we used Intel’s newest 10th-gen Core i9-10900K, as well AMD’s mid-summer Ryzen 9 3900XT.

The AMD CPUs were tested in an MSI MEG X570 Godlike motherboard, while the Intel CPU was installed in an Asus Maximus XII Extreme board.

For cooling, we used NZXT X62 280mm liquid coolers, with fans and pumps manually set to their maximum speed. Both were built in cases with the case doors off, and small exterior desktop fans blowing air over the motherboard and graphics card.

To ensure the results are fair, the vast majority of our tests were retested. For a few tests where the OS, graphics driver are unlikely to move the needle that much, we reused results and noted them as such.

AMD

Ryzen 5000 Rendering Performance

For this test, we mix in results from previous reviews. As Cinebench R20 is nearly a pure CPU test, the results don’t move much even with OS, driver or BIOS updates. In the chart, the red represents the two new Zen 3-based Ryzen 5000 chips, the green represents Zen 2-based Ryzen 3000 chips, and the blue represents various Intel chips.

As a CPU test, Cinebench R20 performance increases with more CPU cores, but holding higher clock speeds matters, as does the actual efficiency of the cores.

But no one really cares about red-on-red performance—nerds only want to see red-on-blue. There, it’s the total knockout you expected. With Intel stuck in the mud at 14nm, the best it can field in a smaller consumer socket is 10 cores in the Core i9-10900K. The rightfully “more expensive” Ryzen 9 5950X justifies itself with 63 percent more performance. More in its price range, the Ryzen 9 5900X outruns the 10-core Core i9 by 36 percent.

What’s jaw-dropping, though, is that even Intel’s $980 18-core Cascade Lake-X Core i9-10980XE gets crushed by the 16-core Ryzen 9 5950X, by 19 percent. Perhaps even more embarrassing, it’s really only about 1 percent faster than the $550 Ryzen 9 5900X. And yes, the 12-core Ryzen 9 5900X is within 5 percent of the performance of a 16-core Ryzen 9 3950X.

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Our next multi-core test uses V-Ray Next to measure CPU performance using an Academy Award-winning rendering engine. The results again should surprise no one: The 16-core Ryzen 9 5950X comfortably sits in front of the 18-core Intel CPU, and the 12-core Ryzen 9 5900X comes impressively close to the older 16-core Ryzen 9 3950X. The Ryzen 9 5900X again destroys the 10-core Intel chip by an astounding 42 percent.

IDG

Our last multi-core modeling test is the Persistence of Vision Raytracer, which dates all the way back to the Amiga. It’s been updated since then by a global team of volunteers. Like most 3D modelling programs, it scales up in performance with core count.

While we include historical scores in some other tests, we only include the most current results with POV Ray. We did this not because we think POV Ray requires special treatment, but because the results are very consistent. The 18-core Core i9-10980XE doesn’t come out on top, nor does the 10-core Core i9-10900K. If someone found a multi-core rendering test where Intel came out on top over Ryzen, it would be actual news.

IDG

You can see that below: The same Core i9-10900K that’s 6.6 percent faster than the Ryzen 9 3900XT is 14.5 percent slower than Ryzen 9 5900X, and 16 percent slower than Ryzen 9 5950XT.

IDG

We’ll see how this manifests itself in gaming, where single-threaded performance still matters, but we can’t overstate this enough: This is simply a stunning turn of events. AMD wipes out the only remaining justification to buy an Intel desktop CPU today.

IDG

Ryzen 5000 Content Creation Performance

Core counts above 16 tend to yield diminishing returns, but down here with “just” 16 cores and below, core counts matter. The 12-core Ryzen 9 5900X decreases encode times over the 12-core Ryzen 9 3900XT by 20.7 percent. That’s impressive as hell, and pretty close to AMD’s promise of 20-percent improvement over its previous design.

IDG

While HandBrake is a free and popular encoder, we also wanted to look at tasks powerful CPUs get used for: video editing and photo editing. For that we use the latest version of Adobe Creative Cloud Premiere Pro and run the CPUs through workstation builder Puget System’s benchmark tests. It breaks the test into various GPU-heavy and CPU-heavy tasks using MultiCam modes, as well as various popular professional codecs. When it’s done, the benchmark produces a score. For our tests, we ran the standard test run.

The 12-core Ryzen 9 5900X, however, opens up a real gap to the tune of 13 percent. Ryzen 9 5950X is slightly faster at 14.3 percent.

IDG

Ryzen 5000 Compression Performance

Next we move on to compression tests using the popular 7-Zip app. The first result is 7-Zip 19.00’s performance compression test. The compression side is sensitive to memory latency, cache performance and out of order performance. The result is no surprise.

IDG IDG

We’ll close off our 7-Zip section with single-threaded results, which favor AMD’s chips again. We don’t need to show you the decompress single-threaded performance, because it’s the same, with AMD running over Intel.

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WinRAR single-threaded performance helps remove those pesky questions of latency across cores or CCDs, but the result is the same. While the Core i9 has a 12-percent lead over the Ryzen 9 3900XT, the Ryzen 9 5900X comes in an astounding 71 percent faster than the Intel chip. The higher-clocked Ryzen 9 5950X is slightly faster as well.

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Ryzen 5000 Gaming Performance

So you already knew that AMD rules the day in multi-core performance, and you now know it gives Intel no quarter in single-core either. The one area that’s made potential customers uneasy is gaming performance. Even though Intel years ago ceded multi-core performance, it’s still been able to say truthfully: “Core i9 is better for gaming.” There’s obviously a lot of nuance to that statement, but we’ve generally agreed that when paired with the fastest GPU and a high-refresh rate panel—Core i9 is indeed the better gaming CPU.

Until today. Although the wins aren’t as disruptive everywhere else, we do think there is a clear case for AMD’s claims that the Zen 3-based Ryzen chips are the “best gaming CPUs.”

Now there’s Ryzen 5000, where we see both Zen 3 chips essentially within the margin of error. While we’re really “only” talking about a 2- to 3-percent performance difference between the Ryzen 9 and Core i9, it’s far better than the usual 10- to 20-percent performance hole Ryzen has fallen into before in non-GPU-limited tasks.

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A few notes about the results: In Civ VI Gathering Storm, we used the AI benchmark to determine which CPU is faster making decisions, and a lower score is better. In Gears of War 5, the game refused to run on our Intel Core i9 even after uninstalling the game and reinstalling it. You can still see that the new Ryzen 9s have a very decent performance improvement over the older Ryzen 9.

IDG

If it doesn’t seem like a big deal to be basically slightly faster to about the same as the Core i9, you have to remember that AMD hasn’t beaten Intel in gaming ever. It’s a huge accomplishment for the company. Like single-threaded performance victories in productivity applications, Ryzen 9 basically does every thing Core i9 can do—except it can do it better.

To help put Zen 3 in perspective though, here’s one of the first times we did that, with the 8-core Ryzen 7 2700X in 2023 based on AMD’s Zen+ core.

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Pricing has been one complaint since AMD unveiled its Zen 3 chips. Indeed, the stupidly good value that AMD has offered previously has gotten less stupid. To present that visually, we take the expected retail price of current CPUs and calculate how much the company charges per thread.

This is an overly simplistic look at CPU pricing, but it does give you an easy way to visualize how they compare. Overall, the four new Ryzen 5000 chips have increased in price over previous models, likely because AMD knows it can finally charge premium pricing for the chips.

It doesn’t help that Intel’s CPUs generally haven’t been a great value, and they tend to sell well above their list prices on the street. On the chart below, you can see a few spot-checks on current AMD chips and Intel chips. A green highlight indicates they’re selling at or below the list price, while red is selling above its list price.

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Conclusion

It’s hard to be believe, but it’s been only three years since the original Zen-based Ryzen CPUs were introduced. The original Ryzen reset our expectations of how many cores you could get in a consumer CPU, and it put the world on notice that AMD was back.

Top 6 Supply Chain Collaboration Software In 2023

Supply chain collaboration software reshapes traditional supply chain models to adapt to the fast-paced and complex world of global commerce.

This article offers a guide to finding the most suitable supply chain collaboration software for your business.

Figure 1. Top supply chain focus areas for investments of global brands

Source: Statista

Top 6 supply chain collaboration software compared

VendorsCustomizationIntegrations to SCM platforms*, **# of employees on Linkedin as of April 2023 – Coupa53 – Oracle2,271 – Siemens Teamcenter1,284 – PostgreSQL1,960 – PostgreSQL5,803 – SAP38

Notes (Table 1):

Based on vendor claims: *

Not comprehensive: **

To leverage no-code supply chain software in your business to facilitate data sharing, check out our data-driven list of no-code supply chain software to find the right fit.

How we choose the top supply chain collaboration vendors

The vendors compared in this table

offer low or no-code solutions that can be integrated into other supply chain solutions to help improve collaboration.

employ 25+ employees.

Public data on vendors

We selected the following criteria for the comparison because the data related to them was publicly available and verifiable:

Level of customization

Integrations capabilities

Number of employees

Criteria that require buyer-specific assessment

The remaining criteria can be used to conduct personal evaluations since, for that specific criteria, the answers would differ from business to business. These are:

Scalability

Security and Compliance

Transparency Statement

AIMultiple serves numerous emerging tech companies, including UCBOS.

Top 5 Factors to Consider When Choosing Supply Chain Collaboration Software

When it comes to choosing the right vendor for your business, several factors should be taken into consideration.

1. Level of Customization

No two businesses are identical, and neither are their supply chain needs. A software solution should offer a high degree of customization, allowing you to tailor features according to your unique requirements.

Low or no-code supply chain solutions can help achieve the desired level of customization. With the growing number of citizen developers, it can be beneficial to consider if the vendor’s platform has low or no-code capabilities.

2. Integration Capabilities 3. Number of Employees

It is also important that the vendor offers adequate customer support for its solution. Research1 indicates that small to medium-sized businesses, also known as SMBs, may provide a more individualized and tailored service due to their emphasis on prioritizing customer care.

A minimum company size (ideally 25+ employees) can be considered adequate. It is also important to test their customer service capabilities before making any commitments.

4. Scalability

As your business grows, your software should be able to adapt. Look for a platform that can effortlessly scale with your business, whether you’re adding new products, entering new markets, or increasing your workforce.

5. Security and compliance

Ensure your chosen software complies with industry standards and regulations such as GDPR compliance, ISO 27001 certification, e.g., especially when dealing with sensitive data. Also, check the security features to protect your information from threats and breaches.

What does supply chain collaboration mean?

Supply chain collaboration (SCC) is the strategic alliance of different businesses with the common goal of improving efficiency, enhancing customer satisfaction, and driving profitability. By uniting manufacturers, suppliers, logistics providers, and retailers in a shared platform, companies can streamline supply chain operations, reduce errors, and predict potential disruptions before they occur.

Supply chain collaboration isn’t simply about sharing information—it’s about creating a synergistic network where all participants can effectively communicate, coordinate, and synchronize their efforts to achieve the best outcomes. However, achieving this level of collaboration is easier said than done.

How can sophisticated software help overcome supply chain collaboration challenges?

The complexities of modern supply chains—extending across multiple countries and involving numerous stakeholders—pose a considerable challenge to effective collaboration. This is where sophisticated collaboration software becomes an invaluable tool.

Here is how supply chain collaboration tools can help overcome challenges:

1. Limited visibility

As identified by the previous global Pandemic, lack of visibility into supplier operations is a challenge that supply chain leaders are still working to overcome (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Increasing visibility is the top priority for supply chain leaders 2. Ineffective communication

Real-time communication software, like instant messaging or collaborative platforms, allows individuals and businesses to share information as it arises. This helps eliminate time lags often associated with traditional communication methods such as emails.

Consider the impact of the recent Covid-19 Pandemic as an example. When lockdown measures were imposed, many retail businesses were left with a surplus of seasonal stock because they couldn’t communicate changes in customer purchasing behavior quickly enough to their suppliers.

On the other hand, certain products, like personal protective equipment and home workout gear, saw a sudden surge in demand, yet suppliers were not informed in time to ramp up production. With effective collaboration software, these issues can be avoided.

3. Lack of synchronization

The software allows for real-time demand forecasting and inventory management, reducing stockouts and overstocks.

This is especially useful when a sudden demand spike for a product, such as a popular smartphone, needs to be addressed quickly. In this case, the software’s supplier portal can inform suppliers and other external partners of the demand surge.

4. Inconsistent data

Centralized data management ensures accuracy and consistency, improving overall operational efficiency. For instance, an electronics manufacturer can avoid overproduction caused by inaccurate demand forecasts.

5. Compliance and security risks

The software helps manage compliance requirements and security risks. For example, a pharmaceutical company can meet strict tracking regulations and protect sensitive data using robust security measures provided by supply chain collaboration solutions.