Manufacturing Solutions

Supply Chain Intelligence

The development and manufacturing of products has become increasingly complex in today’s global economy. Typically, multiple communities of suppliers are involved, and these communities are geographically dispersed. To work together effectively, manufacturing partners must have tools for managing inventory across the supply chain. With a closely-managed inventory, the delivery of products can be automated based on predicted rates of end-customer sales and achieve greater efficiency and profitability.

Ideally, executives, managers and even front-line staff should be able to monitor and report on the actual productivity and business value of vendor and partner engagements, and implement appropriate course corrections. In turn, an organization can practice consistent, efficient quality control over the fulfillment of vendor commitments, and record findings in such a way that it is easy for business managers to evaluate vendor performance, negotiate terms, or initiate new business alliances. Reliable demand-planning capabilities also help to control costs and align vendors firmly behind a manufacturer’s business goals.

However, when planning systems are decentralized, it can be difficult for staff, from executives to floor supervisors, to identify problems in the production line or respond quickly to a change in customer demand. Without global visibility, it is extremely challenging to track stock volume accurately and deliver shipments on time. The results are high costs to house and manage overflow stocks and poor customer satisfaction in delivery execution.

Solution Description

A powerful business intelligence solution, however, can give people across your supply chain visibility into customer demand and the delivery of goods — helping them make faster, better business decisions and take the best course of action when adjustments are necessary. With features such as automatic notification, they easily can keep tabs on inventory, helping sustain optimal item levels without tying up funds in the warehouse. Your team can plan purchasing at favorable terms and in a timely manner, controlling costs and ensuring that your organization meets its customer commitments. And they can connect closely with operations to make sure manufacturing has the materials it needs to deliver products on time.

Jelly Belly Candy Company

"With the Panorama and Microsoft solution, we have much better data visibility. The information is right there on the laptop for everyone to see. You can drill down in real time and you can get the information that you need. As a result, we've slashed the time of our product review meetings by about 75 percent!"

Dan Rosman, Director of Information Technology
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