Industry News Digitalization in procurement – the eighth BME e-solution conference in Düsseldorf On March 14 and 15, 2017, the eighth e-solution conference sponsored by the German Association for Supply Chain Management, Procurement and Logistics (BME) was held in Düsseldorf. This event is one of the largest gatherings for e-procurement and e-sourcing in the German-speaking world. (more…)
Industry News Supply chain excellence: Digitalization is a long way off for aerospace SMEs 150 people attended the fourth “Supply Chain Excellence” forum that was held in Gilching on March 9, 2017. It was certainly the right location – close to the German Aerospace Center and the special operations airport in Oberpfaffenhofen. The forum was organized by bavAIRia e.V., which joined together with other regional aviation associations and clusters, the German Aerospace Industries Association, partners from industry, and SPACE Deutschland to form the Initiative Supply Chain Excellence (SCE). (more…)
Industry News · SCM Insights · Technology The Internet of Things is becoming intelligent and collaborative Artificial intelligence is the topic of the hour. This was not any different at Bosch Connected World. Nearly 3,000 IoT enthusiasts talked about business models and innovations relating to the Internet of Things in Berlin on March 15 and 16, 2017. The top three topics were artificial intelligence, automation and openness. (more…)
SCM Insights Three steps to digital service procurement At many companies, the procurement of services – either on the basis of an e-catalog or via a free-text order – is still characterized by many inconsistencies. Internal ERP systems often support demand analysis and the approval process by the manager who oversees the budget in the SRM system. But there is often a discrepancy between the content of the order request from what should actually be ordered. In practice, the offer is often sent to the requisitioner by the service provider in an e-mail message or as a paper document – and then not included in the order request. Why does this happen? Because adding all the individual items from the offer to the order request involves a lot of work for the requisitioner. And he tries to avoid this effort. (more…)
Industry News Productivity and efficiency remain key challenges for the aerospace industry With a focus on implementing technology and innovation, the 16th Annual PNAA Conference in Lynnwood, Washington, featured more than 600 participants and over 350 companies from 10 countries addressing global developments and regional concerns of the aerospace supply chain. (more…)
Industry News Industry 4.0: An evolution, not a revolution “Get IoTized” – this was not the official motto of the conference held by the Competence Center Aerospace (CCA) in Kassel, Germany, on February 28, 2017, but it appeared to be the leitmotif of all the presentations at the event. This began as early as the welcome by German Economics Minister Brigitte Zypries, who is, among other things, a strong advocate for the expansion of broadband networks particularly in industrial parks in rural areas of the country to create a technical foundation there for Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things. (more…)
Industry News Digitalization should not be regarded as an expense but as an investment in the future February 15 saw the conclusion of “Forum Automobillogistik” (Forum Automotive Logistics), a joint event organized by the German Federal Logistics Association (BVL) and the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA). More than 500 experts and executives from the automotive and logistics industry met in Bremen for two days. The regularly occurring event was hosted by Mercedes-Benz AG, which provided the customer center located at its plant for this purpose. Together with Dr. Joachim Damasky, Managing Director of VDA, Prof. Dr. Wimmer, the Board Chairman of BVL, welcomed the participants under the motto “Smart instead of reactive – on the path to digital dimensions”. (more…)
SCM Insights Go or no-go? The business case provides the answer Every supply chain project begins with a close check of its economic efficiency. After all, investments in a new solution should not only pay off, but also lead to noticeable cost reductions over the medium and long term. And it is this savings potential that must be determined in advance - precisely, comprehensibly, and with a solid foundation - because without a specific business case, top management will not provide the necessary budget approval. But what exactly are the decisive factors to calculate the success of a SCM solution? (more…)
SCM Insights · Technology Visibility & Analytics – Full transparency in the supply chain Many companies are determined to improve their use of information from individual internal and external IT systems as a way of meeting the challenges of a digital supply chain.Traditionally, planning, procurement, logistics and transport management have been separate processes. Whereas material planners determine how many parts are needed for production during the manufacturing process and order them while keeping an eye on safety stocks, suppliers use their own systems as do the transport service providers. What is delivered when and in which quantity can usually not be determined until the goods receipt. (more…)
SCM Insights · Technology Looking into the future: Predictive analytics in supply chain management As a branch of business analytics, predictive analytics is focused on making projections about relevant events in the future. Although not known by this particular term, the discipline itself has long been used to manage supply chains.The VMI process is a good example of a long-standing predictive analytics approach. When regulating supply using VMI, the customer defines inventory thresholds that suppliers are not allowed to exceed or fall short of over the course of their deliveries. (more…)
