Supply Chain Software & Manufacturing Software

Designed to manage lean principles: Epicor

Lean manufacturing has been an evolving practice in manufacturing for over 20 years. As a result, consumers have enjoyed lower prices, higher quality and more involvement in the overall supply process. Today, with increased global competition and the advent of the internet, customers have more influence than ever before. Customers are demanding greater product flexibility, smaller, more frequent deliveries and higher product quality – all, of course, at a lower price with the same service level expected from a mass-produced, off-the-shelf product. Manufacturers are continuing to become more customer-centric in their approach to the market. This philosophy and lean manufacturing go hand in hand. In order to meet customer demands, manufacturers not only have to concentrate on taking out non-value added processes internally, they also need to ensure they know exactly what their customer wants and when they want it. To this end, manufacturers are widening the scope and focus of lean manufacturing to encompass all processes that contribute to the bottom line.

Five ways ERP can help you implement lean: Epicor

Becoming ‘lean’ has been a goal of most companies over the last few years. Why is lean so popular? It delivers what companies really need in today’s highly competitive world – shorter lead times, improved quality, reduced cost, increased profit, improved productivity and better customer service. But there are about as many definitions of lean as there are companies trying to get there. Before we enter into a discussion of how enterprise resource planning (ERP) can help in a lean initiative, it might be helpful to put lean in perspective and agree on some basic definitions. Lean is a western adaptation of what started out as the Toyota Production System. Viewed by many as models of efficiency and productivity, Toyota has achieved remarkable success through a singular focus on adding value. A simple enough concept, indeed, but difficult in practice because it takes a change in perception and focus that at times may seem counter-intuitive. To become lean, a company must take a hard look at processes and practices to identify those things that truly add value for the customer and eliminate those that do not. The continuous pursuit of waste elimination is the essence of lean.

Competitive advantage via lean inventory management: Barloworld Optimus

Do you remember the days of stockpiling raw materials, loading up the shopfloor with work-in-process, cramming your warehouses and distribution networks with finished goods…all in the name of creating a competitive advantage through higher service levels? Today, effective companies understand that these service levels are a given, and competitive advantage now rests in being able to interpret and react to the ever-changing demands of your customers. In short, success rests on lean, mean and effective inventories. Many senior executives pinpoint excessive inventory levels as a major concern, tying up funds that could be better spent on new product introductions, expanded marketing and sales, modernisation, re-engineering, expansion programmes, new acquisitions and debt reduction. However, even though inventories are under constant analysis and manipulation, permanent inventory reduction opportunities go largely untapped.

Developing world-class lean IT systems: Oracle

This white paper has been written as a result of a research project conducted by the Lean Leaders Circle, a collaboration between Oracle and Cardiff Business School’s Lean Enterprise Research Centre. The project looked at best practices for implementing ERP systems within a lean enterprise. Oracle customers GE Oil & Gas, James Walker and GE Healthcare took part in the project and were instrumental in the development of the tools and best practices described. There was a time when IT and ‘lean’ were considered incompatible. This is clearly unsustainable; whilst companies such as Toyota have long eschewed the use of MRP on the production shopfloor, end-to-end supply chains with complex families of products and services clearly benefit from the clarity that can be achieved through the sharing of real-time information. ‘Real-time’ information is the key phrase here, as the lack of synchronous data along supply chains were a barrier to the real flow of information and customer pull in many EDI-based supply chain systems.

Technology & resource sharing: Exact Abacus

Outsourcing has long been the ‘marmite choice’ of multi-channel retailers. Love it or hate it, there are many compelling reasons to outsource some or all IT, contact centre and fulfilment services. The utopia is to create conditions under which your cost base can ‘flex’ with turnover on a monthly basis – this is particularly attractive to seasonal businesses. Ultimately, outsourcing reduces headcount and enables the business to focus its efforts on strategy, product and marketing. So, there is a mad rush to outsource, right? Wrong. For every company that outsources, there is generally one that is in the process of ‘insourcing’. Insourcers cite any of the following reasons for this.

Dialogue marketing proven to increase revenue: Exact Abacus

I am a left-handed mid-handicap golfer with a fast swing and penchant for ‘rescue’ clubs. Am I likely to respond to an email offering an outstanding deal on a right-handed Driver designed for low handicappers? Would you like to discuss the needs of your customers on a one-to-one basis? Imagine being able to intimately understand the whims of your customer, enabling you to offer a proposition that hits home every time. It sounds utopian, and in practice requires a new take on traditional direct marketing methods which are becoming less efficient and thus less relevant today. The reason for this is that markets, sales channels and customer behaviour are changing rapidly, caused by new information technologies, market fragmentation, growing individualisation of customers and increasing information overload. Originally developed in Scandinavia, the ‘dialogue’ marketing method creates conditions in which a ‘one-to-one’ relationship can be fostered between seller and buyer to specifically meet the multi-everything marketing challenges of the 21st century.

Best practices in transportation management: QAD

Globalisation, rising costs, high customer expectations and increasing risk create serious challenges in supply chain management today. Given these forces, transportation management now plays a key, strategic role in driving supply chain value. Visionary enterprises are implementing transportation management best practices, enabled by technology, to manage their global supply chains profitably. Outsourced manufacturing, global sourcing and the export of finished goods to emerging markets are on the rise, fostered by cultural and economic globalisation. In response, supply chains are increasingly extensive and complex, creating unique challenges and opportunities within transportation and logistics. Climbing energy prices, capacity issues and increasing security requirements contribute to spiralling transportation costs. The complexity of today’s transportation landscape also increases the possibility and cost of delays. However, on-time delivery at the lowest cost is not enough to satisfy customers: consumer e-business has created levels of expectation previously undreamed of, and people now expect the same level of service in their corporate roles.

Multi-echelon inventory optimisation: Manhattan Associates

The optimal deployment of inventory is a vital business function for an enterprise. The well-documented benefits of running a manufacturing, distribution or retailing operation with leaner inventory range from a permanent reduction in working capital to increased sales and higher customer satisfaction. As Forrester Research pointed out in a recent report, the ability to increase inventory turns is a key differentiator between highly successful and more poorly performing companies (ie, Wal-Mart vs Kmart; Dell vs Compaq). Managing inventory can be a daunting task for an enterprise with tens of thousands of products that are located in hundreds of locations. The challenge is even greater when the locations are situated in different tiers or echelons of the enterprise’s distribution network. In such multi-echelon networks, new product shipments are first stored at a regional or central facility. These central facilities are the internal suppliers to the customer-facing locations. This is a common distribution model for many retail chains as well as for large distributors and manufacturers.

Supply chain as a competitive weapon: Manhattan Associates

ERP stands for ‘enterprise resource planning’. Over the last several years, the industry has come to think of this as ‘every reasonable product.’ And for enterprises focused on fulfilment and world-class supply chain performance, this is a mistake. ERP solutions play an important role in supporting the infrastructure and backbone of a business, but they are not designed for the supply chain. If you agree that the supply chain has moved from the distribution centre to the boardroom, then you appreciate that it can be a competitive weapon in your market. Hence, you need a solution that is designed and built to make this happen. At Manhattan Associates, we make ERP better. We understand the complexity involved in making supply chain decisions. We serve the world’s leading supply chain companies and invest more in this area than any other solution provider. Our value proposition is built upon: 1. World-class supply chain expertise. 2. Proven solutions. 3. Easy integration to ERP backbones.

East meets West: Accenture

Increasingly, supply chain companies are taking advantage of the opportunity to source from low-cost countries to help them become high-performing businesses. In essence, this is nothing new: from the late 16th century onwards, Britain, France, Spain and Germany all conducted an active trade with Asia and Africa. Yet in another sense it is new, and takes Western industrial economies into largely uncharted waters. For example, whereas the factories of the past chiefly brought in new materials from overseas, today’s manufacturers are bringing in components, complex finished assemblies, or outsourcing manufacturing altogether, and transferring overseas production lines or even whole factories.

The best SC practices enabled by PM solutions: Simon Bragg, ARC

One of the most important corporate processes for a manufacturer is the setting of targets and performance goals, followed by daily/weekly/monthly reporting of progress against those goals. The targets should reflect best practice in line with the corporate strategy. Systems to measure against targets are strategic, since they enable management to manage effectively, to extract the best performance from their people, partners and productive assets. In addition, they play a crucial role in communicating the organisation’s values, and in aligning different units, employees and constituencies.

Strategy into action: Lawrie Rumens and Andrew Purton, Oliver Wight

Were you involved in your company’s last strategic planning meeting? No prizes then for guessing the answer to the question “Did the earth move for you?”. Strategic planning should be an exciting way of pointing the whole organisation towards a practical way forward. Sadly, the reality for many companies is that it is an academic exercise carried out behind closed doors and completed to satisfy a corporate HQ deadline. It is quite detached from the budget, the business plan, and from day-to-day events and management. It is rarely owned and has little relevance for line managers throughout the business. No-one expects the strategic plan to actually happen.