Supply Chain Planning (PLAN)
Demand Management
In Demand Management, everything starts with the definition of the customer's service level: required reaction time, lead-time reliability, back order and emergency order policies, etc. Of course, this service may vary for specific distribution channels or product groups.
The next step in demand management is putting together a workable forecast. For example, we can assess the possibility of forecasting the customer's demand volumes with the aid of statistical techniques. But again, we look not only at the forecasting techniques themselves, but also carefully consider the forecasting processes underlying them: commercial versus logistic forecasts, forecast responsibility, link with the budgeting cycle, forecast performance, etc.
Finally, the customer order arrives and a reliable lead-time has to be promised. Features such as Available-To-Promise and Capable-To-Promise support this process. Also, the feedback to the initial forecast needs to be monitored through a forecast consumption process.
Supply Chain Planning
Supply chain planning refers to the process of identifying and prioritizing all sources of supply that are required and add value in the supply chain of a product or service. In supply chain planning projects, distribution planning, transportation planning, production planning as well as inventory management are elaborated.
Distribution Planning deals with optimization of the stocks throughout the distribution network. Concepts such as Distribution Requirements Planning (DRP), Fair Share Allocation and Equal Time Supply are evaluated, stock levels at warehouses are assessed, and inventory and replenishment responsibilities (e.g. central versus local) are investigated.
Production Planning in turn focuses mainly on balancing the available capacity of the resources at the plant (e.g. machines, people, tools) with the manufacturing stock. This optimization takes place both in the medium term (Master Production Schedule) and the short term (Production Scheduling).
Furthermore, the suitability of the various production planning concepts, such as Material Requirements Planning (MRP), Just In Time, Theory of Constraints and Project Planning, are evaluated with respect to the specific manufacturing environment.
Finally, Inventory Management applies the ideal inventory parameters, such as order points and lot sizes.
Customer and supplier integration
When optimizing the Supply Chain, companies will have to look beyond their own boundaries: both customers and suppliers play a vital role in streamlining the total network. Customer and Supplier Integration addresses this role more specifically and also looks at the interaction between the customer and supplier in general.
Efficient Customer Response (ECR), vendor or co-managed inventory (VMI), collaborative planning and forecasting are all concepts through which part of these goals can be accomplished. Not only do we advise on the content of those concepts, we also focus on the process of integration itself: what are the power relations, who should participate on either side, how to deal with risk and benefit sharing?
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