SCM Insights Finance Portal: how to harmonize e-invoicing, dunning and inquiries Paper invoices are still common with some suppliers. But paper-based invoice processes are not only inefficient as the information needs to be keyed in again in the customer system. Moreover, they are also prone to errors, due to typos or missing information.Why you need to move beyond plain digitized invoices (more…)
SCM Insights No more out of supply: how capacity management builds resiliency into supply chains "High demand, low supply": what a nightmare for supply chain managers. And this doesn't just happen in boom times. In economically uncertain phases, too, supply bottlenecks are more than painful for businesses. This can currently be witnessed for the microchip shortage the automotive industry (among others) is battling with.Thus, it is all the more important to safeguard production by having a sophisticated capacity management system for critical components in place. But what does this mean in practice? What is the difference to conventional demand collaboration with suppliers? And which aspects do manufacturers need to consider? (more…)
SCM Insights Pizza Trackers and Control Towers Does anyone else remember in 2008 when Domino’s came out with the Pizza Tracker? You could order a pizza and watch as is it moved from order, to being cooked, to being put in a box and ultimately delivered. It was fun and informative for the customer to follow the pizza’s journey to your doorstep. This was mainly done on a desktop computer since Smartphone apps were in their infancy. What does a Pizza Tracker have in common with a Control Tower? (more…)
SCM Insights Usage Reports: Facts and figures Today in private life people track their own sleep-wake cycle, they count the daily steps they take and log how much they drink on average. These days it’s all about data! Preferably accurate to the decimal point.For us at SupplyOn tangible information is essential as well. Especially when a customer wants to check whether and to what extent its suppliers as well as its business units, plants and regions are using SupplyOn solutions. Only through complete and correct use will the customer and supplier highly benefit from the SupplyOn solutions and become beneficiaries of digitization. For this, usage reports provide the required data. These show customers, whether and how its business partners use the different solutions. Learn more about how you can leverage the tool's capabilities in this article. (more…)
SCM Insights Seven success factors of supplier onboarding There is much more behind the connection of suppliers to the SupplyOn platform than just the technical rollout, which involves sending registration links for logging onto the SupplyOn portal. Rather, onboarding is an overall process consisting of various components. (more…)
SCM Insights How to ensure a supply chain’s mid- and long-term resilience—including practical examples In the last two posts of my blog series, I focused on taking the first steps in dealing with an acute crisis. So far, I have emphasized the importance of integrating supply chain management and risk management, as well as taking ad-hoc measures to counter the impacts of Covid-19. Now, the next step is to take medium and long-term measures to make supply chains resilient in the long run. (more…)
SCM Insights · Technology How to automate transport logistics with multi cloud and RPA Integrated transport management thrives on real-time data exchange between all logistics partners. Once this basis has been established, logistics and transport processes can be automated by intelligent mechanisms. Multi-cloud platforms in combination with automation methods such as RPA (Robotic Process Automation) play a key role in this. (more…)
SCM Insights Four reasons to accelerate your digital transformation in times of Covid-19 The Covid-19 pandemic has put supply chains under pressure. From Fortune 500 companies to SMEs, through all kinds of industries, the impact on operations and planning activities was and remains real. Supply and demand forces have been tremendously shaken by the accentuation of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA) driven by the pandemic.As for digital transformation, the question is not if or what, but when. (more…)
SCM Insights How to successfully steer your supply chain through a crisis: Quick response measures Recently, in the first part of my blog article series "Supply Chain Risk Management - far more than just a way out of the current crisis", I highlighted the importance of linking the two disciplines of Risk Management and Supply Chain Management when managing crises. There is another important aspect to not just surviving times of crisis, but to come out of these strengthened. And that is the time factor.For this reason, the second part of this blog article series is dedicated to the following questions: Where do I start? What ad-hoc measures can I implement to mitigate impact? What can I quickly do to protect my supply chain? (more…)
SCM Insights How to better cope with demand volatility The coronavirus crisis has revealed a long-standing challenge for suppliers even more clearly: How reliable are the demand forecasts they receive from their customers? High volatility and uncertainties in demand forecasting are not limited to pandemic times. Even in the "normal state", the originally reported requirements can differ considerably from the materials actually called off. The decisive question is therefore: How can you improve forecasting and thus also achieve a higher level of planning accuracy? (more…)