Archive for the ‘Outbound/fulfillment’ 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.
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.”
BuBuGao to deploy Manhattan Associates’ WMS to improve its SC efficiency
Acknowledged as one of China’s top 100 ChainGlobal supply, TBetter Life Commercial Chain Share Co Ltd (BuBuGao) is a leading operator of supermarkets and department stores in China operating more than 100 stores in Hunan and Jiangxi Province and employing over 30,000 staffs. Manhattan Associates(R) excels in providing global supply chain excellence to more than 1,200 customers worldwide that consider supply chain optimization core to their strategic market leadership.
Now Manhattan Associates, Inc. has announced that Hunan-based BuBuGao has chosen Manhattan Associates to improve supply chain efficiency and data integrity through the deployment of Manhattan Associates’ Warehouse Management Solution (WMS).
This solution will be implemented in BuBuGao’s warehouses across the Hunan and Jiangxi Provinces enabling the company to streamline operations, reduce costs and
most importantly ensure data integrity throughout its supply chain. Manhattan Associates will enable BuBuGao to optimize its entire replenishment process by automating time-consuming steps such as order preparation, stock checking and data analysis.
Peng Xiong, IT director of Better Life Commercial Chain Share Co Ltd said, “Data accuracy and integrity is essential and must not be compromised. Manhattan Associates’ system will give us centralized control over our operations and significantly improved data visibility and accuracy. With its complete inventory management capabilities, we will be able to track data on every unit and improve the accuracy of every order we fulfill. In addition, the rock-solid stability and rich functionality of the WMS will enable us to reduce the man-hours and costs associated with distribution planning, improve our retail operations and ultimately increase overall customer satisfaction levels.”
“We provide our customers with proven, value-added distribution management and warehouse optimization technologies that support mission-critical business needs,” said Jeff Baum, Manhattan Associates’ senior vice president, International (Asia Pacific). “With our WMS, BuBuGao will be able to replace its legacy systems with a centralized platform that enables warehouses to share information and allows workflows to be integrated across the company.”
A study on Success and Sustainability in the Supply Chain
According a report from BPM Forum and E2open released on July 20, nearly two-thirds of the supply chain and operations professionals have marginal or no visibility across all tiers and levels of their supply chain. In addition 78% of companies feel that the synergy and accountability in their global trading network is suboptimal.
The report which was titled as “Acceleration of ECO-Operation: Achieving Success & Sustainability in the Supply Chain,” surveyed more than 125 supply chain, operations, finance and executive professionals around the world to measure and quantify just how companies are managing the complexities of supply chain demands, distribution costs and environmental concerns.
The study which was conducted in Q2 2009 scrutinized the various tiers of supply and demand chain networks to find out their progress in achieving ECO-Operation, or optimal visibility, collaboration, and sustainability.
He study revealed that the major reason of companies not achieving their bottom line benefits was lack of leadership, visibility and standardized sustainability metrics. 42% of companies do not consider their carbon and energy footprint as including their entire extended supply chain, and only 55% say their customers would agree. More than half of respondents say that their competitors use green or ECO-Operation practices for competitive advantage. An overwhelming 85% of respondents say they are actively involved in new programs that drive operational efficiency, CSR and cost-savings across supply and demand chains.
“Unifying and controlling complex, globally-distributed value networks in turbulent, unpredictable times requires real-time operational insights down to the product level, accurate sourcing and sell-through intelligence, and relentless dedication to eliminating waste in all areas of the go-to-market process,” said Donovan Neale-May, executive director of the BPM Forum.
CSCMP’s Annual report shows decline in logistics industry
CSCMP’s 20th Annual “State of Logistics Report®” released by the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) shows that the US logistics industry is finally facing the blow of recession. The report has tracked and analyzed all the costs associated with moving goods through the US supply chain since 1998 and has included key metrics in US logistics such as transportation and inventory-carrying costs, freight volumes, and revenues.
Founded in 1963, the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals is the leading
worldwide professional association dedicated to education, research, and the advancement of the supply chain management profession.
According to the report which was released at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, after rising over 50% during the previous five years, business logistics costs fell to 9.4% of US Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2008. This number is down from 10.1% in 2007.
Total US logistics costs dropped to $1.3 trillion last year, a decrease of $49 billion from
2007. Interest rates plummeted to over 50% lower in 2008 than they were the prior year.
In 2008, inventory-carrying costs plunged 13% due to both a 2.2% drop in
inventories and an 11.2% decrease in the inventory-carrying rate. Warehousing costs, however, rose 9.5%.
Transportation costs were only up 2% over 2007 levels. Trucking, which comprises 78% of the transportation component, increased 1.3% compared to 4.4% for rail, air, and ocean modes.
Rick Blasgen, CSCMP president and CEO said, “The economy will eventually recover, and when it does, those companies that use the statistics and industry insight contained in this report will be better prepared for the business boom ahead. This research details ways that company leaders can capitalize on the recovery when it occurs, such as restructuring their distribution networks to maximize efficiency and minimize miles, investing in technologies to facilitate ‘green’ transportation, and improving real-time data flows to increase visibility and enhance productivity.”
Visibility Corporation Praises VendorServer
As outlined by Visibility Corporation, leveraging VendorServer can lead to significant costs savings. Also, vast improvements can be achieved through improved supplier collaboration. By using the browser interface, there has been a reported improvement in managing the Requisition to RFQ Process.
Users who are verified as secure are able to create and process requisitions based on MRP demand, BOM, MRO or new part quotations. Further, buyers are able to build RFQs on-line from user requisitions, new part numbers and previous POs or RFQ line items and also attach additional documentation for clear communication with the suppliers. This helps in faster processing of the RFQ requirements with improved accuracy. i-newswire reports:
According to Stephen Carson, Executive Vice-President with Visibility Corporation, “By taking advantage of the dramatic strategic and tactical business advantages that VendorServer offers, significant costs have been reduced and immense improvements have been achieved through improved supplier collaboration.” Carson emphasized, “Visibility VendorServer provides complete buy side supply chain management in a real-time Web environment. Quotation requests, RFQs, purchase order entry and management, supplier quote assessment, comprehensive workflow, and document management are some of the business enhancements offered.”