Archive for the ‘Forecasting’ Category:
New solution from Oracle to help shippers expedite their invoicing
Oracle has come out with a new solution designed to expedite financial settlement and billing which will help the shippers gain more speed and transparency in invoicing. This is being termed as the industry’s ‘first comprehensive” approach to managing Enterprise Application Documents. This announcement was made at “Oracle OpenWorld” and aims at helping the shippers expedite business processes constrained by critical information tied up in paper forms and electronic documents.
“When your employees can’t see critical enterprise documents like invoices, customer agreements and product specifications while they are working in their CRM and ERP applications, they can feel like they are flying blind,” said Andy MacMillan, Oracle’s vice president, product management. “We realized that we needed to take a comprehensive approach to managing Enterprise Application Documents that would work both in the context of CRM applications that require flexible, ad hoc access to customer and product documents and with ERP applications that have high volume, transactional requirements.”
“We realized that just providing ad hoc or transactional support wouldn’t let our customers empower all their users and reap the productivity gains possible through a truly unified approach to Enterprise Application Documents,” added MacMillan.
Oracle’s Enterprise Application Documents approach is enabled by the integration of Oracle content management products, part of the Oracle Fusion Middleware product family, and Oracle Applications. With this integration, Oracle is providing its Applications’ customers with a set of content management services that makes all paper-based and electronic documents — including invoices, HR forms, product specifications and customer contracts — directly visible, searchable and manageable from within Oracle Applications.
Subscribe to the comments for this postLG aiming to globalize its Supply Chain network
Last month, at the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals conference, LG’s Chief Supply Chain Officer Didier Chenneveau revealed the fact LG had been making dramatic supply chain strides with the goal of becoming a top three company in each of its markets. Some of the broader supply chain steps taken by LG include:
* An increase in outsourced manufacturing .
* Improved cost visibility across the organization
* Globalization of its supply chain.
* A move to a more demand-driven supply model with more accurate forecasting.
Among the specific strategies taken up by LG’s supply chain team are:
* Creation of 10 metrics across various areas to track progress and report to the CEO on them twice a year
* Standardize on one ERP system (Oracle)
* Standardize on one financial system
* Consolidate the various WMS/TMS instances
* Standardize RFPs and contract terms and conditions across the company
* Improve sales forecast accuracy from 30% in 2008 to its current level of 40% with the goal of 60%
* Make English the standard language across the company’s supply chain to facilitate better communication
* Standardize job titles in the supply chain
* Rationalize the more than 41,000 SKUs LG carried in 2008.
LG Electronics has been taking these steps with a goal of outsourcing more manufacturing as it moves from a mostly Asian manufacturer to a global consumer electronics giant.
The objectives of Supply Chain Management
The Term Supply Chain Management came into existence in 1980s with an objective of addressing the needs of consolidating key business processes, from the original suppliers to the end users. Here, original suppliers refer to those identities which provide products, services and information that add value for customers and other stakeholders. Thus Supply Chain Management requires that companies and corporations involve themselves in a supply chain by exchanging information regarding market fluctuations and production capabilities.
The idea is to optimize the entire supply chain network by providing all the relevant information to every relevant company in the supply chain instead of companies seeking to sub optimize based on a local interest. This helps in improving the entire supply chain scenario with better planned overall production and distribution. This not only leads to cost reduction but also quality final product, thus increasing sales to the benefit of all the units involved. Thus the concept of competition between two companies fades and rather it is the betterment of a supply chain.
Thus, the main aim of supply chain management is to enable best utilization of resources like including distribution capacity, inventory and labor to fulfil the needs of the customer. In order to meet its objective of matching demand with supply with the minimal inventory, the SCM includes liaising with suppliers to eliminate bottlenecks; sourcing strategically to strike a balance between lowest material cost and transportation, implementing JIT (Just In Time) techniques to optimize manufacturing flow; maintaining the right mix and location of factories and warehouses to serve customer markets, and using location/allocation, vehicle routing analysis, dynamic programming and, of course, traditional logistics optimization to maximize the efficiency of the distribution side.
Experts from J.P. Morgan offer Supply Chain tips
Business is all about risk and unpredictability. The global trade management experts at J.P. Morgan offer some tips to importers and exporters to prepare better for natural disasters, port strikes, and other factors beyond their control and to decide what emergency planning considerations should be in place to better ensure that a company’s supply chains operate in tough times. Some of the suggestions from these experts include:
In making your initial sourcing and fulfillment decisions, certain risk items should be considered. These include political risks of the country, physical and geographic risks like availability and proximity of primary and alternative logistics networks for all modes, historic weather/natural disasters, labor union action and so on and also economic and market risks like fuel prices, currency exchange and inflation.
Ensure that there is efficient communication throughout the supply chain among the team members who are responsible for the decision making during a crisis.
Keep alternatives open. Use the services of multiple carriers at all times who use different ports of dispatch. Have the ability to diversify transportation. Transportation routes may be disrupted so it is important to have alternate means of transportation.
Keep a track of and constantly monitor each country/region for threats and trends which will impact your supply chain: Weather, port and transportation strikes, fuel prices, currency exchange, inflation, labor rates, pending legislation (i.e., trade sanctions, quotas, anti-dumping duties, Free Trade Programs), political elections that may alter the country’s view of trade.
Keep your supply chain flexible so that it not only has the capacity to keep up with a large increase in demand, but also that the pipeline can be slowed down in case of demand drop to avoid a build up of unnecessary inventory.
Have a solid cross-trained workforce that can react fast. If part of your supply chain is directly affected by the disaster, it is important to have people that can keep the operation running as best as possible.
Keep a backup of all trade-related documentation in electronic format somewhere offsite. If all records are lost in the actual site, they are easily and readily obtained from a different location.
Conduct a risk assessment of your existing supply chain. If you are uncertain as to how your supply chain will hold up in times of trouble, hire outside global trade experts to assess risk and help strengthen your supply chain.
These tips are very helpful in increasing the productivity of supply chains and making them more adaptive to changing times.
SCOPE West elaborates on best supply chain practices
SCOPE West, a conference and exposition for senior logistics and supply chain executives focused on supply chain best practices during its two-day event. The event saw presenters from leading manufacturers, retailers, and distributors who spoke about supply chain challenges they had faced and how they overcame them.
Some of the main excerpts from the conference include:
H.J. Heinz Co. has developed a performance management program that links quality control practices like Lean and Six Sigma with best practices in manufacturing, supply chain management, and customer service. The worldwide initiative uses a formal communication methodology that’s customizable for different languages and cultures.
Lennox International, a manufacturer of heating and cooling systems, dealt with highly seasonal demand by using software to analyze the impact of inventory availability on customer service. The company achieved its goal of providing specified service levels at the lowest inventory cost, optimized by SKU for individual service locations.
To encourage continuous improvement, manufacturing conglomerate United Technologies has developed the “Achieving Competitive Excellence” (ACE) program, which certifies and rewards its own business units and its suppliers for excellence in service, supply chain management, and more. The company estimates that ACE adds more than $2 billion annually to its bottom line.
TMW Systems expands its fuel SCM applications
TMW Systems Inc., is one of the largest developer and integrator of customer-driven solutions that help companies in the transportation services while improving profitability and gaining a better return on information. TMW customers include 3PLs and shippers, private and for-hire trucking, brokerage, construction, ready-mix concrete, municipal fleet, heavy-duty repair and waste management operations.
Now, TMW Systems, has announced a growing portfolio of fuel supply chain management applications designed to meet the unique needs of fuel supply chain operations for convenience stores and other retail gasoline and diesel outlets. The fuel supply chain applications from TMW manage more than 11,000 tanker trucks delivering fuel across North America.
TMW Fuel Supply Chain Transport Management System now offers eight powerful modules that can be purchased separately or as an integrated system which will serve the needs of diversified petroleum marketers, convenience store chains, vertically integrated oil companies and fleets dedicated to fuel transport.
“We brought TMW’s enterprise-class asset utilization technologies and their proven efficiencies to this high-touch, high-value service industry with several new applications designed to streamline fuel order management, improve order and replenishment forecasting and optimize driver shift-based scheduling for added productivity,” David Mook, COO and CTO of TMW Systems, said. “We knew that petroleum marketers and jobbers as well as oil companies could really benefit from these smart, cost-effective applications to manage inventory at dozens or even thousands of locations and to efficiently manage company trucks or contracted carriers in fulfilling orders in the very dynamic world of retail fuel supply.”
ELSC offers two prestigious awards to Safexpress
The Express, Logistics and Supply Chain Conclave 2009, held on 17-18th September at Taj Lands End in Mumbai has honored Safexpress with two highly prestigious Awards for the ‘Best Supply Chain Company of the year’ and the ‘Best Logistics Provider of the year’.
These Awards were decided on the basis of a Research conducted by A.C. Nielsen and were put forth to the ELSC Advisory Council comprising luminaries from Top Supply Chain & Logistics companies across Asia, who eventually chose the winners from the nominated finalists on the basis of specific performance parameters.
This prestigious event of the Supply Chain & Logistics industry in India aims to bring together all the top Industry Leaders at a common meeting point so that they can share their knowledge about the emerging trends in the Asian Supply Chain, issues that are affecting the industry and understanding the Supply Chain opportunities and efficiencies at the time of Global Economic slowdown.
Speaking on this occasion, Mr. Vineet Kanaujia, GM – Marketing, Safexpress, who was also awarded with the ‘professional of the year award, said, “It’s a matter of immense pride and honor for us to have received these Awards. We are working very hard to provide the best Supply Chain practices to our esteemed customers who have shown their loyalty towards our services over the last decade. Our company has built and nurtured customers’ trust as well as loyalty through its customized solutions and dedicated services. The business model of the company and the way it operates is what distinguishes Safexpress from its competitors.”
Mr. Kanaujia explained the journey of the success of Safexpress saying, “Our strategy for growth revolves around adding maximum value to its customers at every level, right from providing world-class Warehousing support to managing Time-definite Express Deliveries. Over the years, Safexpress has been relentlessly working towards carving its own niche in the Supply Chain & Logistic space, which has made the company stand out in a league of its own”.
Boeing and Damco sign MOU for development of global SCM tools
Boeing, a unit of the US-based the Boeing Company, and Danish logistics company Damco, part of the A.P. Moller - Maersk Group, have joined hands for the development of industrial and technological logistics tools to assist global supply chain management.
The two companies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding and have released a joint statement saying that this MOU will help them improve efficiency and effectiveness in the multi-billion dollar supply chain optimisation market.
The statement said, “The two companies will explore opportunities to use the Boeing-developed Joint Logistics Command and Control Environment (JLC2E) modelling and simulation tool to expand into commercial markets and incorporate Damco’s expertise in supply chain management.”
It was also explained in the statement that Boeing’s state-of-the-art JLC2E tool allowed defence customers to “experiment and evaluate supply chain tactics, processes and technologies to support current and future complex defence missions”. Also that Damco could benefit from Boeing’s status as the largest exporter in the US through future freight forwarding opportunities as Boeing had shipped more than $350m in aerospace goods and services globally in 2008.
Advanced Supply Chain International completes its rebranding process
Advanced Supply Chain International (ASCI), originally founded as Alaska Supply Chain Integrators, has completed the total rebranding process of its company after a full year with its fully redesigned website, along with a new company name, logo, and corporate slogan. ASCI has shown a growth in its international clientele and expanded global presence getting the honor of being the leading global supply chain provider.
The newly made website of ASCI prides in extensive graphic and user-interface updates, and a number of features and content useful to current and potential customers, job seekers, and the media also featuring white papers, case studies, frequent job postings, and a newsroom.
ASCI VP of Business Development Mike Schwarz said, “While ASCI is extremely pleased with this new identity, our rebranding goes well beyond, signifying an entirely new way of doing business. ASCI is taking a proactive business approach by aggressively pursuing the managed services business sector. Our services exceed those currently offered in the industry, which justifies this highly-competitive approach.”
“We’re proud to launch this innovative site reflecting the new face of ASCI,” said ASCI President and COO, Scott Hawkins, adding, “We’re a cutting edge technology company, and needed a brand and web presence demonstrating such. Although we have adopted a sleeker look and a user-friendly format, our world-class performance and commitment to continuous improvement remain unchanged.”
Why do supply chains collapse?
With the world becoming a global village day by day, the supply chain serving international economies are becoming increasingly interlinked and interwoven with the effect that if one link is severed, then it causes a collapse of the entire chain. The causes for the collapse of the supply chain are many. Some of them cam be listed down as:
With the cut down in consumer spendings, the supply chains suffer due to deprivation of global economies of credit financing. Financial services industry continues to be impacted by the global economic crisis — impacting all aspects and areas of the business and supply management.
Another factor which can lead to the collapse of a supply chain is when a particular supplier decides to go out of business when it cannot weather the storm. Loss of key vendors in the supply chain disrupts the entire chain.
Geopolitical situations like collapse of a government, change in government policies or may be an attack by a terrorist organization to a major seaport, all could lead to the collapse of a supply chain.
If damage is caused to product reputation or a brand connected to a global supply chain, due to unlawful business practices (such as child labor, or poor labor and environmental practices) can lead to the disruption of a supply chain.
Natural disasters like a hurricane or earthquake can have a destabilizing impact on a manufacturer’s ability to procure vital raw materials and meet customer orders. This can lead to a collapse of a supply chain.
Collapse of supply chains can be prevented by taking steps such as quality control, reviewing current practices and identifying areas of potential exposure to risk, adhering to safety stocks of finished goods to minimize the impact of demand variability, managing available capacity within the manufacturing location, and the ability to standardize operations in any location where a manufacturing organization is sourcing the same parts from the same vendor or multiple vendors.