manufacturing and logistics it - june 2013

The European magazine promoting the effective use of IT in supply chain applications

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JUNE

201

3

The European magazine promoting the effective use of IT in supply chain applications

Special Report:PLANNING/FORECASTING/S&OP

Cover story special feature:WINTERBOTHAM DARBY (FOOD & BEVERAGE)

Also in this issue:Fast tracking the journey to Integrated Business PlanningBoosting service and profits by segmenting the supply chainTaking mobility to the next levelSerious businesses require serious business tools

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June 2013 3ITMANUFACTURING&LOGISTICS

In this edition of Manufacturing & Logistics IT we have attempted to cover as many

bases as possible within the field of planning-related software and associated

processes. And with our extensive 9-page special technology report, followed by a

generously sized planning section comprising many standalone articles, we trust we

have succeeded in leaving very little out of the mix. As you might expect, a sizeable

proportion of this month’s content focuses on plotting the development of some of the

more recent concepts and technologies that have enhanced the planning space in

recent times. Among these we include the growing importance of mobility, Big Data

and the Software as a Service (SaaS)/Cloud deployment model.

One other topic we thought we would put on the table while discussing various

themes with our industry commentators was that of Best of Breed. We did this with a

mild level of apprehension as this subject has, of course, been spoken and written

about since many of us were considerably more youthful. And because of this you

might think the debate revolving around Best of Breed versus the more functionally

varied and integrated suites available has largely run its course. However, this would

appear to be far from the case when giving planning-related solutions vendors the

opportunity to argue the case for the more specialist offerings available in this

technology space. For example, TXT e-solutions’ Patrizia Calvia believes that, while

ERP systems have built their value proposition around integration and lower TCO – a

scenario that she points out is changing with the uptake of Cloud – competitive

advantage from Best of Breed typically comes from stronger process and vertical

specialisation: solutions that are not only technologically advanced but designed

around the specific needs of each sector and backed-up by strong consulting

capabilities. “In many cases, specialisation also means strong ability to innovate,

identify and respond quickly to emerging needs,” she added.

Specifically with reference to planning & scheduling systems, Preactor’s Mike Novels

makes the point that, of course ERP and MES companies and others are constantly

improving their scheduling capabilities; but so are the ‘Best of Breed’ companies. “Our

experience is that end users do not want a ‘vanilla flavoured’ application for

scheduling, they want one that can be tailored to meet their specific needs and ‘Best

of Breed’ solutions are better able to offer this,” he remarked. For Logility’s Karin

Bursa, Best of Breed planning & scheduling solutions will always offer a greater depth

and breadth within their own functionality sphere than solutions from an ERP provider.

And to provide a change management consultancy perspective, Hugh Williams of

Hughenden Consulting believes the Best of Breed vendors are the ones who are going

to be pushing the boundaries of expertise in the area of planning. However, his

perception is that if some of the big ERP vendors are asked often enough for

something then they often go and find that expertise by buying it and then

incorporating it within their existing solutions. “The ERP vendors are not always the

developers of the new planning-related technology, while the Best of Breed vendor’s

are,” he said.

Of course, because this is predominantly a planning-related systems and processes

edition of MLIT, you could be easily forgiven for feeling that spokespeople for other

core manufacturing systems, such as ERP and Supply Chain Management, have been

rather shut out of the debate. This may be the case in this edition; however, we plan to

invite the Supply Chain Management systems vendor community to discuss issues

such as integrated functionality in our October report. And we’re sure another ERP

report won’t be so far away either. Continue to watch this space.

A question of pedigree

Ed HoldenEditor

June 2013 ITMANUFACTURING&LOGISTICS


Manufacturing and Logistics IT June 2013The European magazine promoting the effectiveuse of IT in supply chain applications

Editor:

Ed Holden

Contributors:

Hugh Williams, Hughenden Consulting

Richard House, FuturMaster UK

Matt Parker, Zebra Technologies Europe

Ian Patterson, Box Technologies

Publisher:

Dean Taylor

Designer:

Ian Curtis, First Sight Graphics

Production:

Carolyn Pither

Circulation:

Carole Chiesa

IT Manager:

Peter West

Accounts:

Sarah Schofield

Published by:B2B Publishing LtdLatimer House189 High Street, Potters Bar, Herts EN6 5DA, UKTel: +44 (0) 1707 664200Fax: +44 (0) 1707 664800Email (publishing):[email protected] (editorial): [email protected]

Printed by: The Magazine Printing Companyplc, www.magprint.co.uk

No part of this publication may be reproduced in anyform without written permission from the publishers.No liability is accepted for any action arising fromthe contents of this publication; readers are advisedto check any manufacturer’s or supplier’s claim forproducts. The publishers do not endorse opinionsexpressed in any article by an outside contributor.While every care is taken over photographs andillustrations, which are returned when requested,no liability can be assumed by the publishers forthe loss of such materials.

ISSN:1463-1172

June 2013ITMANUFACTURING&LOGISTICS

CONTENTSCover Story - Food & Beverage Special Feature

5 Winterbotham Darby

Special Technology Report 8 Planning, Forecasting, S&OP

Manufacturing 17 Exel EFACS E/8 – a global solution for global supplier Nordson DAGE

Gartner: Worldwide SCM software market grew 7.1 per cent to reach $8.3 billion in 2012

Gartner: Analytics will be central for business reinvention

Feature-rich and user-friendly CMMS from Shire Systems

Planning 24 Hughenden Consulting: Power to the people

Marc Cain goes live with TXT: one solution to integrate production and global suppliers

Luggage brand Delsey adopts TXT’s PLM solution to improve global planning

Ad van Geloven selects TXT for Sales & Operations Planning

Quinteq: Fast tracking the journey to Integrated Business Planning

Logility: Cutting edge supply chain thinking takes shape at Seco Tools

FuturMaster: Making Integrated Business Planning a reality

Sivaco leverages Preactor to improve production operations

ToolsGroup: Demand sensing telemetry stirs up the supply chain at Costa Express

Broner's MES and Integrated scheduling solution goes live at Sahaviriya Steel Industries UK

Supply Chain 41 JDA: Boosting service and profits by segmenting the supply chain

Printing & Labelling 44 Zebra Technologies Europe: Taking mobility to the next level

Automatic Data Capture 46 Box: Serious businesses require serious business tools

GS1 US introduces traceability readiness programmes for seafood and dairy, deli and

bakery industries

Arteria Technologies named ‘Cool Vendors in the SAP Eco System, 2013’ by Gartner

WMS 49 Vanderlande Industries integrates automated material handling system in new Reno

e-commerce facility for Urban Outfitters

BCP: Health Store picks the right solution

Food & Beverage Winterbotham Darby

June 2013 5ITMANUFACTURING&LOGISTICSwww.logisticsit.comwww.logisticsit.com

Winterbotham Darby is an

award winning, privately

owned supplier of chilled

and ambient products to

the major supermarket

chains in the UK. Working both in

partnership with manufacturers across

Europe and its own production facility in

the UK, products are manufactured,

packed and delivered 24/7 to meet the

ever changing demands of the UK

consumer. Supplying fresh products means

that planning and logistics are key to

ensure food reaches customers in the best

possible condition. Developing consumer

trends since 1962, Winterbotham Darby is

based in Redhill, Surrey and its UK

manufacturing site Deli Solutions is in

Clitheroe, Lancashire.

Approximately 60 per cent of the

company’s warehousing and distribution

activity is in-house, while the other 40 per

cent is managed through third party

service providers. Some 20 per cent of the

company’s products are manufactured and

packed at Deli Solutions, with the

remaining 80 per cent manufactured by a

number of specialist strategic partners

across Europe. Product ranges include

continental meats, pate, olives, antipasti,

pasta and continental morning goods.

Supply chain management

When Winterbotham Darby’s supply chain

director, Jim Browne, first joined the company

five years ago its manufacturing and supply

chain activity predominantly relied on a

Lakeview ERP system, a separate WMS and

Excel spreadsheets. “Today, we still have our

Lakeview ERP system, but have substantially

replaced or enhanced the rest of our IT

supply chain system portfolio,” he explained,

adding: “Over 2 years ago the business

recognised the need to further invest in our

supply chain management systems. A

solution was needed that would give us a

solid platform to support future growth whilst

An IT infrastructureto savour Manufacturing & Logistics ITspoke with Jim Browne, supplychain director at high-qualityfoods provider WinterbothamDarby, about the company’swide-ranging IT infrastructureand how this ensures thecompany continues to provide itsretail customers with a first-classproduct and delivery service.

enhancing our forecasting, inventory

management, supply and production planning

capability. Key areas we were targeting for

improvement included; service level, forecast

accuracy, production efficiency and inventory

management (stock turns). Additional to this,

we were looking to create end-

to-end visibility across our

supply chain by linking the

demand and supply planning

activities carried out at our

head office in Surrey to the

production planning activities

at our manufacturing site in

Lancashire.

After evaluating a number of

different solutions Winterbotham Darby made

the decision to go with FuturMaster.

“FuturMaster offered us the end-to-end

visibility we were looking for through its

demand planning, supply planning and

production planning modules,” explained

Browne, “but additional to this it offered

some comprehensive reporting capability

against key metrics that would enable us to

meet some of our key objectives.”

Winterbotham Darby initially went live with

FuturMaster demand planning in November

2011 after a three-month implementation

period. This was followed by FuturMaster

supply and production planning , which both

went live in May 2012 after an

implementation period of five months.

“FuturMaster provides us with all the modular

functionality we need as a fast-paced quality

foods business,” Browne remarked. “This

functionality is also very rich and very

flexible. For example, being able to

incorporate date information within our

supply planning calculations – i.e. data

related to the life of individual products we

have in stock – is very important for us. This

is one of the key supply planning benefits we

get from FuturMaster.”

Today, a large amount of Winterbotham

Darby’s demand planning activity revolves

around product promotions. “Historically, our

forecast has been largely based on historic

sales data,” Browne pointed out. “However,

in recent times UK weather has become

more of key driver due to the greater

unpredictability and sustainability of weather

and temperature patterns. And this has a

direct impact on consumers’ buying habits. If

the sun is shining we are likely to sell more

products. So, being able to react to

changing weather patterns as quickly as

possible means we are better able to supply

goods faster and thereby capitalise on

periods of increased demand. Again,

FuturMaster provides us with the means to

do this more speedily and efficiently.”

Another benefit of FuturMaster for

Winterbotham Darby is its promotional

management capability. “FuturMaster has

provided us with a platform to build a

comprehensive promotional database,” said

Browne. “It automatically forecasts future

promotions based on Promotional Mechanic

& Feature Space. This has helped to greatly

enhance the way our business manages

promotions.”

Hands-on service and support

Additionally, Browne sees the benefit of

FuturMaster being a relatively small

company. “This means they have been able

to provide us with a very hands-on level of

service and support,” he said. “They were

very helpful when we were just a prospective

customer, and proved to be particularly

helpful during system implementation,

customisation, go-live and beyond.

FuturMaster staff were always visible on site,

both at our Surrey and Lancashire locations,

and were very tolerant to a number of further

changes we wanted to make during and

after implementation. They were also more

than happy to make a number of last-minute

adjustments to the systems just before we

went live.”

In order to best anticipate and plan for

demand, Browne explained that

Winterbotham Darby not only

plots forecast against weather

patterns within very short

timeframes, but also

collaborates closely with its

customers in order to gauge

their anticipated demand for

different types of products. “It

comes back to ensuring we

have the capacity to fulfil orders

within very short timeframes,”

he remarked. “A weather forecast is only

good for a maximum of five days and, in

reality, probably considerably less. This

means having a big time window in which to

react to demand is something of an

unattainable luxury. Over the past two years

we have changed how we operate Deli

Solutions in terms of the people and system

resources in place. Deli Solutions now

benefits from a greater level of automation

and flexible capacity. Also, a considerably

enhanced level of daily interaction takes

place between Deli Solutions and

Winterbotham Darby Food & Beverage

June 20136 ITMANUFACTURING&LOGISTICS www.logisticsit.comwww.logisticsit.com

Over 2 years ago the business recognised the need tofurther invest in our supply chain management systems. Asolution was needed that would give us a solid platform tosupport future growth whilst enhancing our forecasting, inventorymanagement, supply and production planning capability.”

– Jim Browne, Winterbotham Darby.

“

Jim Browne: A focus on reliable andefficient customer service.

Winterbotham Darby’s head office in Surrey.

This helps us to maximise output when

needed, often within very short time periods;

all of which is underpinned by our the end-

to-end visibility from FuturMaster.”

Warehouse management

Winterbotham Darby has been using Chess’s

Empirica warehouse management system

(WMS) for the past five years. And, as with

FuturMaster, Browne pointed out that one of

the reasons the company chose Chess was

because it recognised that Chess was a

small, reputable UK-based company which

was able to provide on-going help, support

and guidance whenever required, in order to

adapt the solution’s functionality or integrate it

with other newly acquired solutions. The latest

news on the WMS front is that the company

has just gone live with Empirica at Deli

Solutions in order to manage raw material and

packaging storage. “At Deli Solutions, the

WMS has also been integrated with

FuturMaster,” Browne pointed out. “This

enables them on a daily basis to accurately

manage raw material purchasing based on

actual stock held use by dates.”

Production weighing control

Accuracy and efficiency is key at Deli

Solutions, which relies on a Marco weighing

system to control deposit size. Browne

explained that the nature of the company’s

products demands careful manual assembly

and Marco gives it this control. “The Marco

Yield Control System oversees and controls

our manual packing process, minimising give

away whilst maintaining pack consistency and

improving pack speed,” said Browne. “Our

operators find the equipment very easy to use

and minimal training is required.”

Operational equipmenteffectiveness

Additionally, Deli Solutions benefits from an

Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) system,

which was designed and installed by Gemba

Solutions. This provides the company with real-

time data to help drive the effectiveness of the

business on a minute-to-minute basis. The

system is fully integrated into the existing

production lines and this allows Deli Solutions

to monitor and demonstrate across the

business how efficient and effective each

production line is.

Voice-directed picking

One major enhancement to Chess’s Empirica

WMS approximately 18 months ago was the

introduction of a Vocollect Voice-directed

picking solution. “We implemented Vocollect

because we had significant step change in one

of our warehouse facilities when we moved to

Pick by Branch for a particular retail customer,”

explained Browne. “Part of the change

involved moving from picking onto pallets to

picking onto roll cages. And, of course, each

roll cage represented one branch. So we were

moving from picking bulk orders for 4 depots

to picking for up to 300 stores on a daily basis.

Because of this change, we moved from using

barcode scanners to using Vocollect Voice-

directed picking technology in order to improve

productivity and make it a more efficient and

accurate operation.” Browne added that the

company still uses barcode scanners for

receiving pallets in and for doing

replenishments into pick locations; however, all

the actual order picking tasks are now done

using the Vocollect solution.

Electronic Point of Sale

In order to have the best possible visibility of

current buying trends, Browne points out that

the company monitors sales information that its

customers store on their electronic point of sale

(EPoS) systems on a daily basis. It then feeds

that data directly into FuturMaster in order to

produce as accurate a forecast plan as

possible.

Human Resource Management

For Human Resource Management,

Winterbotham Darby uses a standalone

system called Simply Personnel. This system

stores all the personnel information which

would be on an employee record and

actively supports the people management

processes such as absence and annual

leave recording through its line manager and

employee self-service capability.

Other IT solutions in Winterbotham Darby’s

armoury include WinDar IT systems

comprising a single domain Microsoft Active

Directory Client/Server environment running

predominantly HP-based equipment using

VMware’s vSphere hypervisor.

Future plans

As for possible future deployment, Browne

explains that the company is currently

evaluating advanced promotions

management (APM) from FuturMaster. “This

functionality would link in very well to the

level of promotional activity we are involved

in at the moment,” he remarked. Another big

step for Winterbotham Darby from a pure

business perspective is its plans to take its

successful business model in the UK and

start to export to countries in Europe from

the Deli Solutions site. “Currently, we are

almost 100 per cent UK focused,” said

Browne. “However, 80 per cent of our

volume comes in from Germany, Belgium,

the Netherlands, Spain, France and Italy. So

because we have trucks coming into the UK

from the Continent it makes sense that these

trucks could be refilled within the UK and

then sent back to their countries of origin in

order to supply a select number of retail

outlets in those territories. Our initial target

export markets will be Belgium, the

Netherlands and Spain.”

“We’ve come a long way over the past few

years in terms of IT infrastructure,” said

Browne. “But the investments made have

underpinned a platform for future growth

and will deliver the returns targeted. The

tangible benefits flow through to an

improved customers set of solutions, and at

the end of the day, it’s all about serving our

customers in the most reliable and efficient

manner possible.” n

Food & Beverage Winterbotham Darby


8 ITMANUFACTURING&LOGISTICS

From a technology perspective, as well

as from a process standpoint,

planning-related activities and

methodologies within the worlds of

manufacturing, logistics and retail

have done anything but freeze in time. Just some

of the many key talking points over the past few

months and years have included the interest in

Software as a Service (SaaS)/Cloud computing,

the concept of Big Data, the influence of mobile

applications and the demand for more

sophisticated graphical interfaces. Mike Novels,

chairman & managing director of the Preactor

Group, believes many of these trends have been

driven by the increasing sophistication in Apps

designed for smartphones and tablet platforms.

“Users want a similar level of sophistication in the

applications they use in their company,” he said.

So let’s survey some of the current discussion

points in more detail, looking first at some of the

key developments from a process standpoint.

Here, Patrizia Calvia, product marketing

manager at TXT e-solutions, highlights 3 main

innovation streams:

• “The Integration of strategic and financial

planning with more classical supply chain

planning processes: More than ever, the

physical and financial supply chains need to

be tightly connected. Key processes such

as Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) and

supporting technologies are fast evolving to

include financial planning, trade-off

evaluations and risk management best

practices. This can make a big difference to

the company’s bottom line, for instance, by

making sure financial targets are met by

knowing early on what will be the most

profitable scenarios.

• “The ability to extend planning solutions to

actively support decision-making through

sophisticated Scenario Based Planning

capabilities. What-if/risk scenarios and

assumption management capabilities are

strong innovation areas. Different functions

explore and compare different planning

options, easily visualise impacts on other

levels including the financial realm (financial

‘what-if’), and ultimately ‘socialise’ those

scenarios to find consensus.

• “The convergence of analytical and planning

capabilities. The ability to concurrently plan

and analyse the process through correlated

KPIs helps the timely identification of

possible issues; enables fact-based

decision-making and ultimately to have a

clear understanding of the cause and effects

at all levels, including impact on financial

metrics and the P&L.”

Karin Bursa, vice president of Logility, is seeing

two main themes that are driving big supply

chain benefits: S&OP and multi-echelon

inventory optimisation (MEIO). “Far too often

S&OP initiatives are still driven with

spreadsheets,” she said, “and companies are

realising they cannot obtain the full benefits of

S&OP until they turn to advanced solutions to

enable a closed loop, iterative process that will

instil greater accountability across the

organisation.” Bursa added that, at the same

time, she sees tremendous opportunity to

leverage more effective inventory optimisation

techniques instead of the simple rules such as

days of supply that many companies use today.

“The benefits of MEIO are quickly being

achieved by mid-sized and Fortune 500

The fullview

Manufacturing & Logistics IT spoke witha number of spokespeople from the supply

chain planning vendor community about someof the key developments and innovations that

are currently enhancing and broadening theplanning, forecasting and S&OP landscape.

Special technology report Planning, Forecasting, S&OP

www.logisticsit.comwww.logisticsit.comJune 2013


Special technology reportPlanning, Forecasting, S&OP

companies as they

identify ways to more

profitably balance

cost and service,” she

continued.

Bursa also observes

that, today,

companies have the

opportunity to replace

inventory with

information. “In order

to compete it is not

just a matter of reducing costs, you must provide

superior service that will drive future business,”

she remarked. “The key is the ability to improve

service while managing costs with more

precision. Supply chain solutions, such as

Logility Voyager Solutions, excel at this.”

Additionally, Bursa perceives that supply chains

are growing increasingly more complex –

number of SKUs, global reach, increasing

customer expectations – and the processes of

the past cannot keep up with this change.

David Williamson, country manager UK and

Ireland at Transporeon, observes that one of the

key current talking points within the

transportation planning space is track & trace.

He points out that this is already a well-

established concept, but there are lots of

different ways that companies can seek to have

better visibility of their vehicles and vehicle loads;

and some are more effective than others. “For a

transportation management company it’s almost

like a badge of honour to say it has track & trace

capability, but the question has to be asked how

do they, and retailers, really benefit from this?

Most retailers rely on a multitude of suppliers, all

with their own systems. So the challenge at the

moment is how to overcome this complexity.”

The best solutions, according to Williamson, are

Cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS)

interfaces that are able to take in and provide

information from a multitude of suppliers. He also

points out that with a SaaS interface the user

doesn’t have to commit to upfront capital

expenditure. “You’re only paying for what you

need, so it has a massive benefit from a cost

perspective too,” he said.

Barry Drummond, sales director of FuturMaster

UK, believes the changes within the planning

space are primarily technology-led. “Many

customers now require significantly more

analytics,” he said. “However it’s not just about

being able to do analysis on sales or on

financials that happened last month, it’s more

about having the right data available to make

effective business decisions today. Customers

want to be able to drive those analytics on a

more real-time basis. Therefore there are more

conversations about analytics shifting to that

level rather than pulling data out of a warehouse

where it’s being aggregated up on a monthly or

weekly basis rather than a daily or minute-by-

minute basis.”

Drummond also points out that many

FuturMaster customers now want to build

scenarios in terms of the demand plan; for

example, analysis based around what the impact

on sales might be if it turns out to be a hot, cold

or wet Easter period and what the difference

between these scenarios might be. “This need

requires a responsive planning system that can

turn around these types of scenarios within

minutes and hours, and not relying on

spreadsheets that look at weekly buckets within

the context on each of these scenarios,” he said.

Richard House, managing director of

FuturMaster UK, considers that the ability to

make better use of things such as EPoS data

from large numbers of stores is increasing. Also,

he observes that S&0P has moved into

Integrated Business Planning (IBP). “It’s all about

presenting information in ways that can pull out

the key messages for decision-makers quicker

and easier,” he said. “The capability of modern

supply chain planning & forecasting software is

increasingly able to do this within a single tool

rather than spread the information across a

series of spreadsheets. And in the consumer

goods space, there is a shift towards the more

accurately managing the efficiency and

profitability of promotional activity. This is driven

partly by the economy, but also by the changing

nature of the retailers and their demands for

more promotions to be run in store. This is

putting more pressure on manufacturers that

supply the major retailers because when you run

a promotion it changes the dynamics of the

whole sales & operations process; everything

from sales and finance to production planning

and supply. Again, this is where IBP can prove

very effective.”

Danny Halim, vice president, industry strategy, at

JDA Software Group, believes there are two

main areas of development currently taking

place. “First, there’s a lot of investment being

made by companies of all sizes around strategic

alignment or Integrated Business Planning (IBP),

which is an evolution of S&OP,” he said. “JDA

sponsors several workshops in the UK and

across Europe where we are seeing that even

many the larger more sophisticated companies

Patrizia Calvia,product marketing

manager,


are still missing that

strategic alignment

and don’t fully realise

that it’s not just about

sales consensus or

driving towards

operational efficiency

– with today’s world of

ever more complex

supply chain planning

it’s much bigger than

that.”

Halim added that many companies are still using

lots of different types of software for their

planning and forecasting tasks, which means

they are often relying on a lot of approximations.

“This may be fine if these companies are in the

right niche of the industry in terms of providing

the best products for specific industries,” he

remarked, “but the question I would put to them

is how sustainable is that going to be with all

those disconnects in place? So I think IBP needs

to be carefully considered.” The next

development Halim is seeing is one that is

emerging as an effective extension of IBP;

supply chain segmentation. “But this concept is

really much more than just further development

of IBP,” he stressed, “it’s also about being able

to serve specific customers’ expectations as

efficiently as possible while also optimising your

profit margins. Without the right structures to

operate this segment supply chain it is difficult to

determine how best to improve these service

levels and your own bottom line.”

Arjen Heeres, chief operations officer at Quintiq,

observes a number of developments, such as

added functionality. “What we see as a growing

market trend, and what Quintiq provides to its

customers, is a move from single solutions such

as scheduling or capacity planning solutions to

more integrated systems – what we call a

platform,” he said. “Here, the different business

operations are collected; these could be different

operations in the supply chain, or different

functional operations such as sales, finance and

production. So there is more integration, which

means more and more business control is being

provided to the user.”

Heeres added that, today, it is not just about

generating the best schedule – which remains

an important concern – it is also more about

managing a company’s different operations. For

example, a company might operate five factories

with different logistics flows, supplying to

different goods. It may have two or three big

customers that the company needs to connect

with, so it would need more full business control.

“The company needs to know, for instance, what

the consequences would be if something

unforeseen happened somewhere within the

whole supply chain, and know how to react to

that in order to ensure the whole chain is quickly

optimised again,” he said.

Bill Harrison, president of Demand Solutions,

reflects that supply chain planning is not a new

discipline, but for forward-thinking organisations

there is always the opportunity for innovation and

performance differentiation. “We firmly believe

that organisations can differentiate themselves to

their customers and their stakeholders by

improving their supply chain performance

compared to their peers,” he said, adding that

two of the areas that Demand Solutions is in

frequent discussions today with our customers

are Social Supply Chain and Integrated Business

Intelligence. “We believe there is an opportunity

to leverage something we refer to as the Social

Supply Chain to create a disruptive impact on

the performance and efficiency of the supply

chain,” said Harrison. “The technology exists

today to create networked interaction among all

the key participants needed to investigate,

evaluate and resolve issues within the supply

chain – in real time. Companies no longer have

to rely on email but can create interactive social

environments for conducting business.

Implementing a Social Supply Chain will result in

improved decision making in a shorter period of

time. Demand Solutions is a leader in this area,

and has integrated Social capabilities into its

DSX product suite.”

Hugh Williams, managing director of Hughenden

Consulting, makes the point that within

manufacturing there are three critical elements –

processes, systems and people – that work

together to execute an effective planning regime.

He adds that, while sourcing the right IT systems

plays a key role, as does planning process

optimisation, one thing that sometimes receives

less attention is the part people need to play.

“Without people fully understanding why

changes have been made to the company’s

operational process, why new IT systems or

functionality have been brought in, and how to

operate them efficiently, then the company isn’t

going to get the best value from its investment in

change management. After all, it’s the people

who need to put new processes into action, and

use the new software systems. And this is all a

very relevant debate within the world of

planning.” Williams also considers that these key

elements of processes, systems and people

should revolve around not just individual IT

systems, but also concentrate on important

overarching business and operational concepts,

such as S&OP, which sets out to improve overall

efficiencies for a company from both a

sales/business and an operational perspective.

Martin Woodward, managing director of

ToolsGroup UK, points out that, for a lot of

people ToolsGroup talks to, forecast accuracy is

still top of the list; things such as what can be

done to improve their statistical forecast and how

causal events could be incorporated into the

equation. “Because forecasting comes at the

beginning of the planning process it is

sometimes seen as the root of all evil for

everything that happens subsequently,” he said.

“But I think what is needed is more real-world

information fed into their forecasting; such as

point of sales data from the end customer. In this

way, the forecast is likely to be more accurate,

which, in turn, will ensure the planning process

can run more smoothly.”

Woodward also observes that modern solutions

are enabling more players to take part in the

planning process. “Because of increasing

planning and

forecasting

complexities, we are

seeing more system-

enabled people; more

people in contact with

each other, with better

planning visibility,” he

said. “However, the

scope of the planning

operation and the

cycle time of the

planning itself has

Karin Bursa, vicepresident,

www.logisticsit.comwww.logisticsit.comJune 201310 ITMANUFACTURING&LOGISTICS

Martin Woodward,managing director,



increased, so there’s a critical point at which if

you spend too much time planning by the time

you’ve concluded your plan the window of

opportunity for executing it and benefiting from it

has gone.”

Big Data From a highly sophisticated data gathering and

control perspective, the theme of Big Data has

been receiving a lot of press lately. And,

according to Calvia, Big Data is certainly

impacting the world of planning applications in

the same way it is having a positive effect

elsewhere in the business environment.

“Enterprises are becoming more and more

information intensive,” she said. “The need is not

only to deal with high volumes, but with a large

variety of unstructured information, such as those

deriving from social networks. Opportunities

come from the ability to sense, understand and

translate all this into valuable information for new

product introduction, assortment and portfolio

management decisions. A possible scenario is,

for example, one where comments from social

communities help identify how new products are

perceived and which ideas work best, so that

this information can be brought back into the

process to refine the re-forecasting plan in-

season. This is certainly placing increased

emphasis on analytics, such as sentiment and

behavioural ones.”

Product promotions are a big focus in the world

of planning and forecasting, observes

Woodward, and this is an area where Big Data

can play a constructive part: “With promotions

there is really only a limited amount about past

demand history that dictates what’s going to

happen in the future,” he said. “So if you have a

promotion at a certain point in time and you’re

looking for a sales uplift it’s an indicator but not a

great indicator of what’s going to happen during

the next planned period of promotion. There’s a

lot of things that need to be taken into account

and the science until now has looked at multi-

regression analysis as the best way of collecting

data around all the things that are happening.

But this has been limited by the ability to collect

that data and process it quickly and accurately.

However, with Big Data companies are better

able to analyse unstructured data and look for

significant correlations, which can help

determine likely sales patterns.”

Drummond also references the benefits Big Data

affords to product promotions activity. “More

people now want to be able to do cross-

functional analysis just as quickly as more

traditional modes of analysis,” he said. “They

want to understand, for example, what the

impact of advertising will be when they run a

promotion versus when they don’t run a

promotion. So they are linking up both marketing

and planning information and doing detailed

analysis between the two. They are also looking

at financial-related information. When they run a

promotion they want to know what the impact will

be on trade spend, where it’s being used most

efficiently, where it’s getting the biggest returns

etc. So they are looking at bigger datasets

across different functions and then performing

analysis on this data.”

Novels maintains that the use of BI tools to

analyse Big Data is becoming more common;

adding that Preactor has a standard application

to convert scheduling data into data cubes for

use by BI tools. Bursa points out that, today,

companies can collect an enormous amount of

data through an ever-growing number of

channels. “The abundance of demand signals,

point-of-sale, for example, can be highly useful if

a company has the capability to utilise this

information,” she said. “Big Data is only good

data if it can be transformed into meaningful

information and leveraged to improve forecast

accuracy and supply planning. One of the

primary hurdles for companies is the ability to

make the leap from raw data to useable

information. We find

many companies

are still saddled by

legacy systems

which limit the

number of demand

signals that can be

considered. More

still rely on static

and cumbersome

spreadsheets which

cannot provide a

complete picture or

tell you how demand is changing.”

To Williams, Big Data is a reflection of just how

complicated supply chains have become. “The

whole map has changed in the sense that there

are now more factories, more markets, more

routes to market and more products,” he

remarked. “Because of this, the volume of data

available is now enormous compared with what it

used to be. But Big Data isn’t purely about

massive amounts of data, it’s about prioritisation

of data; focusing on the information that is of

most value to your planning-related processes.”

Halim observes that companies can now obtain

huge amounts of data from different sources,

even internally. However, he believes the key

question is how do they rationalise all of this data

and determine what is of true value and what

isn’t? “So they need a software platform that is

able to optimise all of this information and actually

make the most valuable data usable,” he said.

“Most of the Big Data in the market is related to

consumer market trends, and the end goal for

manufacturers, suppliers and retailers is to

understand what specific individuals are buying,

what they might want to buy if a particular type of

product was in front of them, or what they have

bought in the past. So, it’s about using Big Data

to put in place a localised execution plan, and a

supply chain planning strategy that can support

that localisation process.”

Williamson remembered visiting a company that

was expected to regularly produce 58 different

KPI reports from different sources. He then

explained to the company that the same level of

information, if not more, could be provided by a

Transporeon transportation management

Barry Drummond,sales director,

…for the moment at least, it seems to be very much more aboutpeople wanting to know if SaaS is available as an option so that if theylater decide to go down that avenue they can.”

– Barry Drummond, FuturMaster.

“

www.logisticsit.com



system in a single instance. “So, I think the

point about the Big Data concept is that there is

lots of data everywhere, so it’s all about how

you get hold of the most valuable data quickly

and easily,” he said. “This isn’t a big concern

for us because this process of providing the

most important information happens

automatically in our system.”

For Heeres, Big Data in an important trend in the

world of supply chain planning for a number of

reasons. “There is a massive amount of data

coming from many different sources. For

example, there might be very large amounts of

GPS coordinates coming from a company’s

2000 or so truck drivers driving around the

country. But what’s important is being able to

determine what the most critical information is for

your planning operations, and be able to filter out

the data that isn’t so important. So Big Data is

really about pulling out the right information from

the massive amount of data available.” Also,

added Heeres, an organisation’s collective

workforce might execute thousands of tasks

each day and the company might want to

analyse the workforce’s tasks and behavours in

order to improve efficiencies. “Here, Big Data

can be a valuable way of capturing trends and

then being able to analyse them for business

advantage,” he said.

Harrison reflects that Demand Solutions

customers have access to huge amounts of

data. The challenge, he believes, is how to distil

and act upon the insights that is held there. With

this in mind, Demand Solutions has introduced

the idea of Native Business Intelligence in its

software, where sophisticated BI/Analytic tools

are made available to allow customers to have

visibility to core analytics pre-built for targeted

vertical industries, as well as empowering the

flexibility to mine the data with powerful, flexible

tool. “Where things really start to get interesting is

when the insights from our supply chain data

repositories are shared and operated upon in a

powerful Social network,” added Harrison.

Another example of leveraging Big Data,

according to Harrison, is a new capability

Demand Solutions has added to its DSX

software, called Predictive Lead Time. “With

Predictive Lead Time we can now capture every

single order and receipt at the item and location

level,” he said. “With this data we can analyse

delivery performance, and even forecast future

lead times based on past experience, taking into

account seasonal influences.”

Uptake of SaaS/Cloud And, within the planning-related software space,

has the Software as a Service (SaaS) model,

and the Cloud concept in general, had any

notable level of impact on the market so far?

Drummond points out that FuturMaster is often

asked to offer the option of a SaaS subscription-

based alternative to the on-premise planning

solutions model; however, the uptake has been

rather low. “So, for the moment at least, it seems

to be very much more about people wanting to

know if SaaS is available as an option so that if

they later decide to go down that avenue they

can,” he said.

House considers that a possible stumbling block

to SaaS within the planning space is that most

customers understandably want a solution that is

very tailored and configured around their specific

requirements. “Therefore, a Cloud-based model

could be seen as being less effective,” he said.

“Even though our own architecture is Cloud-

ready, the Cloud model isn’t really what most

customers want. Some users may be attracted to

the subscription-based model where you

manage the system for them in the Cloud, but

there is still the question of customisation, and

also some continuing concerns around security

and reliability. They understandably want the

systems to be completely risk-averse.”

Novels comments that Preactor is not seeing

substantial levels of interest in the SaaS/Cloud

model. However, he believes it would be naïve to

think end users will not demand a choice of ‘on

premise’ or ‘in the Cloud’ in the future.

“Increasingly, ERP companies are offering this

and we are already seeing browser-based

scheduling applications appearing in the

market,” he said, adding that, certainly, a hybrid

model will be required in the future.

Williamson reflects that if you look at the

European market there is large uptake for

Transporeon’s SaaS-based transportation

planning interface solutions in the retail sectors in

Germany, France,

Poland, the Czech

Republic and others.

However, he observes

that there is

considerably slower

deployment in the UK.

“But we are gaining

traction in the UK as

more and more

companies open their

minds to the concept,”

he said. “Then they

will realise it has so

Richard House,managing director,



many benefits for so

little expenditure.

More and more

people are also

recognising the

benefits of linking

everyone in the supply

chain in real time and

providing complete

visibility through the

use of a single

modular integrated

solution assessable in

the Cloud,” he said.

Heeres also observes limited uptake, but thinks it

will have a greater impact over time. “I think

uptake differs regarding what kind of market

segment you’re looking at,” he added. “If you

focus on very small companies with very

standardised solutions, then I think the market is

more open to SaaS because it is more logical to

run it in the Cloud. Many of the larger companies

have bigger projects and larger rollouts and they

often have their own internal data centre servers.

But many of these companies do ask us if we

are Cloud-enabled and Cloud-ready; which we

are. They want to know if we can support Cloud

in the future. That’s important to them.”

Bursa points to SaaS and the concept of the

Cloud as something that is continuing to grow,

with some industry analysts anticipating that it

will become a US$3.3 billion market for supply

chain over the next few years. “To meet our

customers’ needs we offer a choice of

deployment options including SaaS, hosted or

on-premise,” she explains. “Every customer has

unique challenges and for some a SaaS or

hosted deployment is preferable, whereas others

turn to on-premise implementations. It is not

about one method cannibalising

another…Logility offers the flexibility to deploy

our software how our customers want it – SaaS,

hosted or in-house. We also provide a variety of

services and training to help customers be more

successful.”

Calvia observes that business volatility and the

strong call for slashed lead times are driving

uptake of the Cloud for planning applications.

“Opportunities are in terms of stronger

connectivity and new collaborative models

(inside and outside the organisation with

customers and suppliers), speed of deployment,

reduced operating costs, as well as scalability,”

she said. “In processes such as forecasting,

where a strong collaboration is needed across

functions and geographies, the ability to

physically distribute the application and to allow

easy global access and visibility can have

positive impacts on the responsiveness and

quality of the process. Nevertheless I would not

consider the Cloud model to be a ‘threat’ to on-

premise. Planning processes are not standard

ones. Solutions are typically sold and

implemented in customer-specific ways. A Cloud

strategy needs to be a corporate strategy and

be specific to each

business. The most likely

scenario is probably the

one where hybrid Cloud

and on-premise

approaches will co-exist,

with enterprises

leveraging the benefits

that both models can

bring – depending, of

course, on their

business, and the

process specifics.”

Harrison believes SaaS is coming to the Supply

Chain Planning market, but is not yet the

dominant or driving force. “There are many

potential drivers to SaaS, but it is not right for

everyone,” he believes. “At Demand Solutions,

we want to offer our solution in the way that will

offer the best value to our customer, so we have

both on-premise and SaaS offerings.” Harrison

believes there are many different drivers to SaaS.

“For example, some companies look to SaaS for

an economic benefit, while others view SaaS as

a technological decision,” he said. “SaaS,

however, is a valid option for some companies,

but not all. For one thing, SaaS is not always less

expensive on a 3-year or 5-year total cost of

ownership basis. Additionally, there have been

noteworthy issues with the security of data stored

in the Cloud with some highly publicised security

breaches. The Supply Chain Planning function

works with very sensitive information – including

customer lists, sales, pricing, etc. Not every

company is comfortable moving this sensitive

data to a SaaS environment. As a result, within

the Supply Chain Planning space, we believe it

likely that both SaaS and On Premise will

continue to exist for many years.”

Woodward reflects that five years or so ago the

trend was very much that ToolsGroup customers

purchased perpetual licences for on-site

installation. “Since then this has almost

completely changed to a SaaS model where, at

least for the initial installation, nearly everything

we do is provided as a service,” he said, adding

that the reason for this change is agility.

“Companies can get set up very quickly, they

can then access the services very quickly, and it

doesn’t dictate what where the final solution

actually lies. So for the

past few years,

particularly over the past

couple of years, we have

focused mainly on getting

people set up and running

and using our Application

as a Service. Then, we

have sometimes migrated

this back into their own

data centre. So SaaS

doesn’t constrain you from

doing some things on

premise; it can be a

hybrid very easily. Because of the agility and

flexibility of the Cloud, SaaS is a very easy way

for people to get started, to try the app out

before they decide to make a more major

investment.”

Williams doesn’t notice many end users

having the SaaS versus on-premise

discussion about the planning process. “We

know there are a

number of vendors

who can provide

S&OP solutions in

the Cloud as well as

continue to produce

solutions for on-site

installation,” he said,

adding that

Hughenden

Consulting also

hears the debates

about the

Danny Halim, vicepresident, industry

strategy,

Some mobility applicationsare being used by their own staff– smartphones, scanners, RFIDetc., but they also need to ensurethat there are applications thathelp their customers to shop.They need to further improvetheir customers’ in-store andonline shopping experience.”

– Danny Halim, JDA.

“

David Williamson,country manager UK

and Ireland,



advantages and

disadvantages of

both deployment

models within the

vendor and analyst

communities.

“Nevertheless, we

don’t often hear this

talked about very

much by customers.

They may well be

having these

discussions directly

with system suppliers, but because

Hughenden Consulting is mainly concerned

with change management related to people

within the workplace, they may not see SaaS

as a directly relevant topic to discuss with

us.”

Compared with the on-premise model, Halim

believes that Cloud will be the way to go in the

future. “JDA is committed to delivering our

solution in the Cloud,” he said, “and all of our

solutions – especially the ones that have been

released as part of our JDA 8 solution – are all

Cloud-ready. So the Cloud concept has a real

influence and impact on many of the innovation

strategies for many

software solutions at the

moment.” Halim adds

that it also has an

impact on the way

many users are

determining their go-

forward strategy in

terms of IT infrastructure

requirements. “But it’s a change management

issue, it’s not just about the IT infrastructure but

there are also a lot of organisational

considerations to take into account,” remarked

Halim. “Many users are currently not ready to just

move everything to the Cloud; particularly the

more mission-critical company-sensitive

information they rely on. And this could include

planning functionality. So I think going forward

companies will increasingly have a roadmap in

place in terms of what applications they want to

move to the Cloud and what they want to keep

on premise. JDA is ready to accommodate them

in whatever model they require; whether that’s

on-premise, SaaS or a hybrid model.

Encouragingly, our Cloud business has doubled

over the past three years.”

The impact of mobility And are modern mobility solutions, such as

mobile computers and tablet PCs, having an

impact or influence on planning-related systems?

Novels believes that being able to update and

view data in an APS application in graphical form

and remotely using platforms such as smart

phones and tablets will become the norm in the

coming years. “We had this capability many

years ago, but there was little take-up until

phones became smarter and the tablet arrived,”

he added.

Drummond considers that over the past few

years there has been a mobility evolution. “It

wasn’t so very long ago that we connected to the

network, downloaded data, went off-line to do

some work and used dial-up to get back on the

network,” he said. “We have now reached the

point where we are online and connected almost

all the time, and we can work in a more real-time

collaborative way. For example, field-based

people can visit customers and have

conversations about what’s actually happening

more in real time. A

customer service person

or a key account manager

can sit down with the

customer and say ‘let’s

have a look at this week’s

forecast’, or ‘let’s have a

look at stock versus what

your forecast looks like’,

and actually make the changes in the system at

that moment. This then goes into the whole

supply chain planning process almost

immediately, so things can happen quickly.

Therefore, people can have a view on the most

up-to-date information and can engage in a

dialogue about that, which can result in

immediate changes or results to the supply

chain planning process.”

Williams believes the area of demand sensing is

going to grow, and mobile solutions – such as

smartphones, tablet PCs and other handheld

devices – will increasingly become a facilitator of

this in terms of providing real-time data wirelessly

from customer sites and in the field back to ERP

and planning systems in order for companies to

better anticipate current demand. Bursa also has

no doubt that supply chain mobility is an exciting

opportunity that will keep the enterprise

connected wherever key personnel might be.

“They’ll have access to key supply chain

information on their phones and tablets with

quick access to alerts, current status, customer

analytics, order information, etc.,” she said,

adding that employees will also be able to

update information, resolve issues and drill into

more detail, all at their fingertips.

Williamson maintains that, from a mobility

perspective, the key to real-time updates in the

field is, of course, the driver. “If you link the drive

in probably that is where you get the best

visibility of the vehicle and the vehicle load,” he

said. “You can have GPS tracking etc. on an

individual load, but what you really need is to be

able to capture that type of information from

multiple suppliers in multiple ways in the most

efficient way possible. This can be a challenge if

you and your partners rely on multiple systems.”

Williamson added that with Transporeon,

companies can track a driver’s smartphone on

the transportation management system our

system and have real-time visibility of that

particular vehicle and its load. Companies can

then start looking at ways of building in a route

planner or calculator so they can see where the

driver is and compare this with his intended

destination, and then calculate time differences

and address any potential delivery delays or

other issues.

Woodward has seen that the Bring Your Own

Device (BYOD) trend is changing the way

people are accessing

all kinds of

applications.

“Specifically within our

domain, the

accessibility of point

of sale (POS) data –

being able to feed that

back through the

supply chain – is

enormously

important,” he said.

“We recently finished

Arjen Heeres, chiefoperations officer

What we see as a growingmarket trend…is a move fromsingle solutions such as schedulingor capacity planning solutions tomore integrated systems.”

– Arjen Heeres, Quintiq.

“

Mike Novels, chairman& managing director,


an installation at Costa Coffee where, for us, one

of the most exciting aspects of the project was

that Costa can now sense demand every four

minutes. The company now benefits from

wireless connectivity which is able to feed sales

information back to the head office; providing a

continuous feed of information as to what people

are purchasing. This isn’t quite mobile

computing, but it is valuable distributed data

coming from Costa’s 2600 machines telling head

office what people are buying. The company is

then using that information to provision its

replenishment and optimise the frequency to

make sure the machines don’t run out. So it’s not

just information being relayed wirelessly from

mobile computers and smartphones, it’s also

about this type of remote connectivity that is

making such a big change in the retail space.”

Calvia believes mobility is unquestionably

changing applications and how information is

shared and consumed. She comments:

“Planning processes can now be extended

through mobile to new non-traditional users;

productivity is kept high while on the move;

and even more importantly, relevant data is

made available for decision-making, wherever

that might be. TXT has recently launched its

TXTMobile platform which is a powerful

example of how the frontiers of innovation can

be extended to new processes and

functionality. In Fashion & Retail, a sector

which TXT already serves with an end-to-end

planning solution, TXTMobile adds new

important features

including the ability

to manage collection

books while on the

go, collect orders

and access planning

data right from the

buying conference;

support offsite

meetings with

suppliers and

manage

opportunities; not to mention conduct

assortment planning in-store.”

Heeres also believes mobile solutions are very

important as an extension of the core planning

functionality. He explains that a lot of Quintiq’s

work is concerned with planning optimisation; for

example, planning people activity at airports and

security companies. Heeres maintains that

knowing where people are and what tasks they

are performing is critical, therefore smartphones

or other handheld devices are invaluable in order

for staff to relay automatic identification data to

the back office, and to provide GPS coordinates

so companies know where individuals are

currently located at any one time. “The more

real-time information you have from these

devices the better you can plan and manage

everyday tasks as well as disruptions etc.,” he

said. “For example, if information flows into the

planning system in real time from a user’s

smartphone or other handheld device pointing

out that a task was completed six minutes

behind schedule, this could help to determine

that the late completion was due to the worker’s

regular scheduled break around that time. The

planning system might then suggest that if the

worker’s break was re-scheduled for a slightly

later time for the next day this could have an

impact on the chain of consequences that follow.

So new tasks or new sequences of tasks to be

executed can be sent to these mobile workers

and drivers on a regular basis in order to

improve operational efficiencies.”

Harrison considers that forecast collaboration is

an important part of the supply chain process of

many mature planning organisations. He adds

that this collaborative effort can be either within

the organisation, typically with the sales force, or

between organisations. “In either case, offering

access to the planning systems wherever the

collaborator may be is important,” said Harrison.

Additionally, we have learned that it is desirable

to deploy a very easy to use interface for the

sales team, since planning is not their primary

activity. So yes,

mobile solutions are

an important

component of

planning systems – so

much so that Demand

Solutions even offers

an iPod APP to

support its forecast

collaboration.”

Halim observes that

retail is one area that

is taking mobility very seriously because it is

impacting on demand. “Some mobility

applications are being used by their own staff –

smartphones, scanners, RFID etc., but they

also need to ensure that there are applications

that help their customers to shop,” he said.

“They need to further improve their customers’

in-store and online shopping experience.” There

is also the workflow aspect of mobility solutions

to consider, says Halim. “JDA has an initiative we

call customer engagement,” he explained. “This

empowers retail staff to make quicker decisions

around, for example, discounting. It can also

help them not to promise an order to consumers

without waiting for a response from the manager

or someone else with knowledge of the status of

the supply chain.”

Planning ahead What might be the next key developments in the

planning-related software solutions space over

the next year or two? Halim anticipates continued

enhancement of the segmented supply chain

concept. “This will continue to look at how to

better strategise and measure different supply

chain segments within the context of a single

supply chain,” he said. “It will also continue to

look at how to eventually tune the segments;

maybe in terms of different inventory policies or

different logistics routes etc. The aim is to do this

in an agile manner without the need for big IT

projects to reconfigure each of the segments.”

Novels observes that the market for APS tools is

expanding in existing markets, while, for

companies such as Preactor, there remain new

markets to penetrate. “ If we look at the

penetration of Preactor in the UK, for example,

based on the number of sites compared to


Bill Harrison,president,

Hugh Williams,managing director,

A large part of the ‘processes, systems, people’ piece will need tofocus more on people to a greater degree.”

– Hugh Williams, Hughenden Consulting. “


Manufacturing GDP then we can see huge

opportunities in continental Europe, North

America and Asia in the coming years,” he said.

“In my opinion the constraint to a successful

penetration of those markets is the dearth in the

availability of well-trained APS system

implementers around the world.”

Halim also sees greater update and

development of planning and supply chain

workflows within mobility, which will further

empower planners and sales personnel, and

even managers and board-level executives to

access and share information in a more

seamless, real-time manner within the four walls

or in the field. Additionally, Halim believes

another area of ongoing development will be the

logistics control tower concept. He explains that

there are transportation management,

warehouse management and manufacturing

execution solutions. But, from a planning

standpoint, the question is how do users best

combine all of this information; how do they

connect transportation, warehousing etc. and

then loop it back all the way to integrated

business planning, monitor it and be able to

respond quickly to change? “So this is all about

creating better, more agile response,” said

Halim, who added that the future will also see an

ongoing focus on continuous improvement,

which will include delivering solutions better,

faster and more efficiently in the Cloud.

Williamson points out that Cloud-based SaaS

transportation planning solutions are in their

infancy in terms of adoption in the UK;

while the continent has seen

considerably greater

uptake. However, he

believes there will be a

considerable increase in

deployment within the UK

in the near future. “Once

more people come to

realise the benefits in

being able to track real-

time information from the

driver, and manage multiple

suppliers through our kind of SaaS-

based interface, then the popularity

of this type of transportation

planning model will increase

substantially in the UK,” he said.

For Bursa, the ability to better manage new

product introductions is a key area of focus in

the supply chain world. “The pace of new

product introductions continues to quicken, and

companies need to accurately forecast demand,

clearly understand the impact on production and

distribution and optimise inventory investments,”

she said. Another area of continued investment

highlighted by Bursa is performance

management and supply chain analytics. “As

end-users become increasingly mobile we are

going to see the need for more powerful and

actionable analytics to be available regardless of

where one is,” she remarked.

House believes collaboration in conjunction with

mobile technology is going to continue to be a

key area of development. He also anticipates

increased awareness of Big Data demand

sensing, and how companies can read signals

from consumers and integrate these into their

more short-term forecast. He points out that there

is a lot of scope for improving planning and

forecasting performance in that area; for

example, around promotional activity. “The aim is

to respond as quickly as possible to what you

expect the impact of the promotional activity to

be,” he said.

Harrison sees ongoing

development in the direction of

Social Supply Chain Management

and Social Sales & Operations

Planning, while Calvia believes

Cloud, mobile and the strategic use

of Big Data will continue to drive

research and development.

She adds that, from a

process point of view,

what is driving innovation

is a management

approach which is ever

more ‘value-driven’.

Calvia maintains this is

determining the

evolution of S&OP

applications to the full

integration of business

planning, but also the

development trade-off,

cost-to-serve analysis,

supply chain segmentation techniques, as well

as integrated planning models that can support

full business orchestration.

In Heeres’ view, there will be further evolution in

terms of more power in optimisation, as well as

more mobility development and more uptake of

SaaS and Cloud. He also anticipates more

integration, providing fuller business control;

having a system in place that provides support

throughout all functions, as well as looking ahead

and making decisions on how to run the

business. Heeres points out that this is

essentially IBP, which Gartner talks about. “I

don’t think you could call this a revolution; it’s

more an evolution – continuing to develop the

positive changes that have occurred over the

past few years,” he said.

What Williams currently sees happening, and

therefore believes will continue to develop, is the

awareness by top-level management of change

management based on the idea of supply chain

transformation. “And, as mentioned earlier, a

large part of the ‘processes, systems, people’

piece will need to focus more on people to a

greater degree,” he said. Williams adds that

another part of process change management will

increasingly look at the type of tools needed in

order to ensure companies have all the

information required to support S&OP. “I think

this going to be an area where there will be a lot

more focus on the whole planning space,” he

said. Additionally, Williams believes mobility

solutions will continue to be effectively deployed

for use within the planning space.

Woodward sees the continuing opportunities

around Big Data to be huge. He also foresees

the continuing expansion of the S&OP process to

reach further into IBP. “I don’t really see it as just

supply & demand balancing; I see it more in

terms of its planning, and the more players and

dimensions you can get into that planning

process,” he said, “and the more you can model

the behaviour of the business and project it

going forward, the more effective it will be.

Woodward adds that the key word is agility. “So

it’s about being fast, but not necessarily being

big. It’s about the ability to respond quickly and

effectively to demand.” n

June 2013ITMANUFACTURING&LOGISTICS www.logisticsit.comwww.logisticsit.com16


Success story \\\ Manufacturing \\\

www.logisticsit.comwww.logisticsit.com

Nordson DAGE, a division of

Nordson Corporation, is a

supplier in the Semiconductor

and PCBA electronics markets

with its award winning portfolio

of Bondtester and X-ray inspection systems

for destructive and non-destructive

mechanical testing and inspection of

electronic components. Headquartered in

Aylesbury, UK, the company has a wholly

owned distribution and support network of

seven offices covering Europe, Japan, China,

Singapore and the USA with

manufacturing/assembly facilities in China

and the UK.

Nordson DAGE exports over 90 per cent of its

product outside of Europe. While Bondtester

products have many hundreds of potential

configuration possibilities, X-ray systems are

predominantly standard with fewer custom

configurations. Given the hundreds of

individual components in each product, sub-

assemblies are built to forecast with final

systems being assembled to order. The

Chinese facility also happens to be the

company’s biggest supplier, providing

primarily low intellectual property components

and sub-assemblies. High intellectual

property components are sourced in the UK,

which is also where all final assembly and

product testing takes place. Nordson DAGE

also services and supports its products in all

geographic areas.

Continuous innovation

The electronics industry is renowned for its

insistence on speed. It therefore comes as no

surprise that president of Nordson DAGE, Phil

Vere, commented: “driving down inventory

while managing the company’s supply chain

and keeping it tight has a direct bearing on

the shortness of our delivery times.” He

continued: “Because of the fast-moving nature

of the industry, we must also be continually

innovating both our hardware and software.

And because we operate in every market with

over half our regional staff being in front of

customers, we have all the complexity of

being a global company while being smaller

than many typical global enterprises.”

For the past 15 years, Nordson DAGE had

been relying on an earlier version of the

EFACS ERP system from Exel Computer

Systems, based in its UK facility. China had its

EFACS E/8 – a global solution forglobal supplier Nordson DAGE


\\\ Manufacturing \\\ Success story


own basic, spreadsheet-based system which

could not link with the UK. Considerable

growth combined with the increasing

requirement to tighten up the supply chain by

having the UK and Chinese facilities linked by

a common ERP system put greater demands

on the existing systems, as Satyam Sachania,

ERP systems administrator, explained: “In

China, the existing system was simply unable

to cope despite many spreadsheet-based

workarounds while the UK EFACS system had

become so highly customised it was clear we

had to move to a new system.”

Instead of treating this as an upgrade from

EFACS, the company investigated a number

of other systems which would meet its strict

criteria, according to a cost benefit analysis.

In addition to this, any system chosen would

also have to be able to link with SAP ERP,

used by the rest of the group for corporate

accounting and reporting.

Sachania explained why after a thorough

consideration of a variety of systems, Nordson

DAGE decided to stay with Exel and EFACS

E/8. “We liked the fact that Exel is a UK

company and that it also has a number of

installations in China with people that we know.

Exel also has experience of successfully linking

UK and Chinese operations. From a user

perspective, by investing in EFACS E/8 there is

a degree of continuity in terms of familiarity and

ease of use. At a business level, we also felt

that we could do a faster, less disruptive

implementation. Both of these were important

in helping to get buy-in from key users in the

company.”

Slick operation

After initial help from Exel in terms of

preparation and planning, Nordson DAGE

undertook the implementation itself, going live

in the UK in December 2011 after only 6 to 7

months. China went live in June 2012 after

ensuring that everything and everyone was

happy with the system in the UK.

Remembering the slickness and speed of the

implementation, Vere said: “We didn’t lose a

single business day during the entire

implementation.” Sachania added: “And it

only took one Saturday to migrate all live data

– it went very smoothly.”

Nordson DAGE used the implementation

period to re-evaluate its business processes

and to thoroughly clean and refine its data.

“By cleaning our data and getting rid of

obsolete parts we reduced our part count by

70 per cent – this is a huge reduction and

speeds up the use of the system,” remarked

Sachania. Vere added: “EFACS E/8 also

enabled us to improve individual company

visibility as well as intercompany visibility and

our supply chain is now much tighter.”

EFACS E/8 has also brought a number of

group wide benefits. It allows the Chinese

facility to interact with other divisions within

the group, something that is crucial given that

it is increasingly supplying direct to other

divisions and not just DAGE. The ability to

interact with the group’s SAP system has

brought improvements in group wide

management visibility as well as corporate

accounting. Vere concluded: “EFACS E/8 has

given us the stability and a platform to build

on for the future, including the improved

interconnectivity and visibility that we need for

our corporate requirements.” n

We liked the fact that Exel is a UK company and that it also has anumber of installations in China with people that we know. Exel also hasexperience of successfully linking UK and Chinese operations. From auser perspective, by investing in EFACS E/8 there is a degree of continuityin terms of familiarity and ease of use. At a business level, we also feltthat we could do a faster, less disruptive implementation.”

– Satyam Sachania, Nordson DAGE.

“

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\\\ Manufacturing \\\ Market analysis


Despite economic challenges, the

worldwide supply chain

management (SCM) software

market grew 7.1 per cent to

US$8.3 billion in 2012. During

2012, IT budget decision makers remained

highly cautious overall, but supply chain

investments kept their priority status and moved

forward.

"While IT budget scrutiny and global economic

conditions are moving cost reduction back to

a main business driver, supply chain remains

a key source of competitive advantage in

driving business growth objectives," said Chad

Eschinger, research vice president at Gartner.

"North America and Western Europe continue

to be the prime consumers of SCM software,

with nearly 77 per cent of market revenue.

However, Western European growth slowed

and Asia/Pacific continued to experience

robust growth, reflecting a shift toward

investment in technology in emerging-market

manufacturing centres."

SAP retained its No. 1 market share position

in SCM in 2012, with an 11.6 per cent

increase in US Dollars (see Table 1). SAP

held 20.8 per cent of the market and

reached $1.7 billion in software revenue.

SAP has been the market share leader within

the aggregated supply chain market for more

than a decade. Second-place Oracle had

another good year in its supply chain

business, growing 12.1 per cent and

reaching $1.5 billion in revenue during 2012.

JDA Software retained the third spot in 2012,

exhibiting strong new sales and increased

average sales price through most of the year.

Gartner's methodology, which converts US

Dollars from euro-based income statements for

software sold during 2012 globally, has

reduced 2012 growth for vendors reporting in

non-US Dollars.

Source: Gartner (May 2013)

In a highly fragmented market, the top five SCM

software vendors maintained their status quo

over smaller competitors in 2012, accounting

for nearly 50 per cent of revenue. This

consistency in share occurred, despite the

market consolidations that happened in 2012

— the most significant of which was SAP

acquiring Ariba in October. The other major

acquisition took place in December 2012

between RedPrairie and JDA Software, creating

the largest supply-chain-focused vendor and

further consolidating the top of the market.

Software as a service (SaaS) SCM offerings

showed above-market growth (13 per cent in

2012), while perpetual new licenses

experienced slower growth of 3.5 per cent, as

organisations focused on fast implementation at

a lower upfront cost.

Additional information is available in the Gartner

report "Market Share Analysis: Supply Chain

Management Software, Worldwide, 2012." The

report is available on Gartner's website at:

www.gartner.com/resId=2482418 n

Gartner says worldwideSCM software market grew7.1 per cent to reach $8.3billion in 2012

Gartner Supply Chain Executive Conference at a glance Analysts are discussing the future direction of the supply chain industry at the GartnerSupply Chain Executive Conference. The US event took place from 21-23 May at the JWMarriott Desert Ridge Resort and Spa in Phoenix. For more information about theconference, visit http://www.gartner.com/technology/summits/na/supply-chain/

The Gartner Supply Chain Executive Conference 2013 will also be held from 12-13 Augustat the Grand Hyatt Melbourne. For additional information about this conference, visithttp://www.gartner.com/technology/summits/apac/supply-chain/

The Gartner Supply Chain Executive Conference 2013 will also be held from 23-24September at the Lancaster London. For additional information about this conference, visithttp://www.gartner.com/technology/summits/emea/supply-chain/

Key issues facing the SCM market were discussed at Gartner Supply Chain ExecutiveConference last month (May) in Phoenix. These issues will also be discussed from 12-13August in Melbourne, and 23-24 September in London.

Company 2012 Revenue

2012 MarketShare

2011 Revenue

2011 MarketShare

2011-2012Growth

SAP 1721.2 20.8 1542.8 19.9 11.6Oracle 1453.3 17.5 1296.9 16.7 12.1

JDA Software 426.0 5.1 430.4 5.6 -1.0Ariba 319.2 3.8 366.9 4.7 -13.0

Manhattan Ass. 160.1 1.9 141.5 1.8 13.2Others 4216.0 50.9 3114.5 51.3 20.4Total 8295.8 100.0 6893.0 100.0 7.1

Top Five SCM Software Vendors by Total Software Revenue, Worldwide 2012 (Millions of Dollars)

\\\ Manufacturing \\\ Market analysis


IT must continue to lay the foundations for a world in which business

intelligence (BI) and analytics will play an increasingly important role

in reinventing business models, according to Gartner, Inc. Up until

now, analytics has largely been about IT projects, however, as digital

technologies – what Gartner refers to as the Nexus of Forces –

dominate CIO technology priorities, the influence of analytics is set

increase dramatically. Gartner analysts examined the key issues facing

the BI market during the Gartner Business Intelligence and Information

Management Summit, which took place this month in Mumbai, India.

“We are rapidly heading towards a world of analytics everywhere,” said

Dan Sommer, principal research analyst at Gartner. “Gartner predicts that

analytics will reach 50 per cent of potential users by 2014. By 2020, that

figure will be 75 per cent, and we will be in a world where systems of

record, systems of differentiation and systems of innovation are enabling

IT, business and individuals to analyse data in a much denser fashion

than before. Post 2020 we’ll be heading toward 100 per cent of potential

users and into the realms of the Internet of Everything.”

Gartner states that there are three factors that can discourage the

sustained adoption of BI and analytics by its intended users – ease of

use, performance and relevance. Many disruptive technologies –

Facebook and web browsers being just two examples – have displayed

significant improvements in those factors. Now, says Gartner, there is a

vast array of new technologies addressing ease of use, performance and

relevance that unlocks new opportunities for business users.

The playing field is opening up to include a wider range of vendors, from

the large software vendors such as SAS, Oracle and FICO, to service

providers including IBM, Accenture and Deloitte who aim to use

packaged analytics as a way to go in and sell solutions. At the opposite

end, there are the SaaS and data-as-a-service providers, selling data,

and the small independents specialising in one vertical, or one horizontal

context. This is also opening new pricing models, not just

license/maintenance, but also subscription and sometimes value-based

pricing.

Gartner predicts that despite ongoing consolidation and acquisitions by

the ‘megavendors’, new categories of analytic applications will continue

to emerge, as the innovation keeps coming from small vendors in the

fringes, resulting in more, not less, market fragmentation. Existing

categories of analytic applications are certainly consolidating and

changes are occurring within each category, as vendors are acquired or

merge, and certain categories are disappearing as they are superseded

or integrated into other categories. However, the variety of data,

channels and business issues that are open to analysis is also

continuing to grow, resulting in continual fragmentation of the market.

Gartner adds that these trends will be accentuated further beyond 2014,

with Cloud, social, mobile and information/Big Data as new channels for

bringing analytics to new audiences. n

Gartner says Analyticswill be central forbusiness reinvention

GUEST KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

23-24 September 2013London, U.K.gartner.com/eu/supplychain

DAVID GOSNELL

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Head of Project Management in Sourcing & Supplier Network,BMW Group

Special Offer – Save €400Register with code GPSCC2 and save €400 on the

standard conference price*.Visit www.gartner.com/eu/supplychain

© 2013 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affi liates.

All rights reserved. Gartner is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. or its affiliates. For more information, email [email protected] or visit gartner.com.

*Discount applies to new registrations only and cannot be used retrospectively or in conjunction with any other offer.

The World’s Most Important Gathering

of Supply Chain LeadersReimagine Supply Chain: Fast, Forward, Focus

Brand new research, new guest speakers and more networking opportunities with over 300 senior supply chain peers, Gartner analysts, visionary industry leaders and solution providers.

Content for every executive on the supply chain leadership team across all industries — View this year’s all-new agenda at gartner.com/eu/supplychain.


\\\ Manufacturing \\\ Product news


Maintenance software solutions

provider Shire Systems has

introduced the latest edition

to its feature-rich Pirana suite

of products. The company’s

new Pirana CMMS features a slick new

interface, making the solution even easier to

operate. Users are able to get started

straightaway, which can result in major

operational time savings. The new release

also comprises what Shire Systems describes

as ‘an Aladdin’s cave’ of extra functionality

and new productivity aids.

Compatible with major browsers including the

latest Chrome, Pirana CMMS can be

presented in different languages and

terminologies and offers a broad choice of

security set-ups including a read-only profile.

There is now a Quick Work Order Sign-off and

the well-established Dashboard and KPI

Scoreboard control tools have been

refreshed. Powerful search & filter utilities

have been further advanced and reports can

easily be exported to Excel.

Shire Systems reports that Pirana CMMS is

highly affordable and is being adopted by

many major players in the manufacturing,

food and services arena. Sold in modules,

including the popular Mobile Solution, Pirana

CMMS can substantially improve work order,

stock inventory and purchasing operations

while allowing organisations to make the most

of their technical and maintenance resources.

Pirana CMMS can be installed on the user’s

own server (on-premise) or deployed as a

fully hosted option. Shire Systems offers full

support for both options.

Benefits summary

Shire Systems summarises the key benefits

of the solution as the following:

Affordable: The system is highly price-

competitive. Quick payback on control of

management & facilities costs and durability

of assets.

Easy to use: Users can enjoy tangible

results without a steep learning curve. The

intuitive interface means features are very

easy to locate.

Accessible: Internet & mobile phone

deployment means users can access their

system just about anywhere.

Hosted option: For this option Shire

Systems hosts the system in a secure data

centre, managing the whole service, thereby

securing data preservation and disaster

avoidance. Users just need a PC, notebook,

laptop or mobile with a web browser. If

users talk to Shire Systems in the morning

they could be using their system later that

same day.

Scalable: Pirana is designed for use by one

to any number of users. In his way, the

system can grow with the user organisation.

Functional quality: Pirana does what it

needs to do without cluttered screens and

technical annoyances.

Secure: The entire system has full location

security and user access can be configured

for each user.

Flexible: Users can configure the system to

reflect their own terminology or language.

Supports decision making: Pirana presents

a powerful, instant reporting capability in

addition to advanced filter and search. Full

asset and work history is available for

analysis, leading to better planning and

standard operating processes. The

Dashboard facilitates on the spot reporting &

trending.

Expert advice: Shire Systems offers an

experienced, friendly support service.

Features summary

Shire Systems summarises the key features of

the solution as the following:

Feature-rich and user-friendly CMMSfrom Shire Systems

Pirana CMMS can substantially improve work order, stock inventory, & purchasingoperations while allowing organisations to make the most of their technical andmaintenance resources.

Product news \\\ Manufacturing \\\

• Asset register.

• Work scheduling.

• PM & corrective tasks.

• Stock control.

• Parts catalogue.

• Purchasing management.

• Management KPIs.

• Detailed reports.

• Documents & pictures.

• Fault types.

• Meter readings.

• Mobile deployment.

Over 10,000 organisations use Shire

Systems’ maintenance management

software. Shire Systems has a full schedule

of free CMMS road shows and also offers a

free, no-obligation, fully functional

demonstration system. n

Shire Systems’ Pirana solutions portfolio Pirana can be setup in two ways:Option 1: Hosted. Set up and run on Shire Systems' remote servers. Option 2: On Premise. Installed and run on your own organisation's network. Internet, intranet and mobile phone deployment means users can access their system fromanywhere.

Pirana MobIle Pirana Mobile enables quick processing of Pirana CMMS work orders on mobile devices suchas the iPhone, IPad, HTC, Samsung etc. Simply set up users, issue them with a pin numberand then the workforce is ready to process work orders on the move. Users can readily accesswork orders in accordance with the security settings you choose to put in place.

Pirana Stock & Inventory (Materials Management) Pirana Stock & Inventory Control (Materials Management) is designed to facilitate themanagement of stock, enable you to specify your stock items, then organise, monitor andcontrol their movement at each stage of the receipt/storage/issue and return cycle. Thesystem provides you with the means to maintain quality compliance of your stock throughoutthe cycle.

Pirana Purchasing Pirana Purchasing (Purchase Orders) is designed to facilitate both internal requisitions andexternal purchase orders placed with a supplier.

Pirana Work Requester Pirana Work Requester is an efficient, cost-effective module which allows a user to send awork request to the maintenance team, and keep track of any requests they have raised.

Pirana Hosted A Hosted Pirana CMMS system is fully web-enabled, delivering all the capabilities of PiranaCMMS with all the flexibility that the web has to offer. Full Pirana functionality is ready to use‘on demand’, enabling users to benefit from a low-cost-per-user pricing model.


Planning Opinion


Power to the people

In order to have the best supply chain

methodology manufacturers need to

consider three key elements; processes,

systems and people. However, when you

attend conferences and seminars run by IT

system vendors you will often find very little

attention given to the people element. Maybe

this is because many vendors’ primary focus is

on selling technology. And on the consultancy

side of the fence, many will sell the definition of

the process, the organisational structure and

job roles, but they often won’t actually address

the need for change management, and the

need for people to fully understand and

embrace the new process changes that are

needed. Without commitment from the

workforce, any organisation is never going to

get the best out of the systems they deploy.

After all, these systems are operated by

people. They may be automated to some

extent but, ultimately, without people

involvement they simply don’t work.

Realising the potential Also, all these key elements – processes,

systems and people – should revolve

around not just individual IT systems, but

also concentrate on important overarching

business and operational concepts. One of

these key concepts is sales & operations

planning (S&OP). Some companies

recognise the need for systems that can

facilitate this type of methodology, and so

source what they consider to be a suitable

software package fit for the task. However,

they then give it to

their planning team to

implement and

manage, and that’s

where it stays. Its true

potential isn’t realised

from a full

organisational process

change management

perspective; it just

remains in the

planning environment.

In this way, it is in

danger of becoming

the personal toy of the planning team, with

little or no connection with other critical

parts of the business; such as sales &

marketing or finance.

Optimisation This can be a serious issue because the

ultimate goal for any company should be to

optimise and pull together both the

business/finance/sales element and the

operations, planning and forecasting

elements in order to have the very best

means to serve the end customer while also

protecting its own profitability. Everybody

within the organisation needs to see the

value from their own angle in order for the

overall S&OP process to be a major benefit

to the company as a whole. And, here

again, it is not just about the planning &

forecasting software vendors explaining to

you how effective their solutions’ S&OP

functionality is; it is not just about ensuring

that your internal business & operational

processes are adjusted to get the very best

out of such a system. Who operates and

manages both the software and processes?

– Again, it comes down to the competence,

knowledge and training of the people, and

giving them the opportunity to understand

what all the changes

mean to them, as

individuals.

Supply chain

transformation is the

phrase that is very

commonly used.

What is needed is a

change management

process that looks at

the whole equation;

everything from the

manufacturer’s

relationship with suppliers, its end

customers’ requirements and expectations,

the need for better more seamless internal

communication over different departments –

such as sales and operations – and people

training in order for all personnel to fully

understand the new processes, how to run

them and the reasons why these process

have been put in place.

Top-down support And it is not just sales staff and supply

chain teams that need to embrace new,

improved processes and systems.

Management and board-level personnel also

must take this concept to heart. Arguably, it

is even more important for people in the

upper echelons to buy into the idea of

process change management, because it is

Hugh Williams: Strong focus on the workforce.

Many supply chain solutions vendors rightly promote the benefits that today’s state-of-the-art IT solutions, together with an effective process management regime, can provide to

manufacturers. However, one part of the jigsaw that is often put to one side is that ofempowering the workforce to get the very best out of these systems and processes, writes

Hugh Williams, managing director, Hughenden Consulting.

Modern S&OP systems – withtheir advanced analytics anddemand sensing functionality – arecritically important for today’smanufacturers serving a range ofdifferent vertical market sectors.However, change management is thevital component to get the very bestout of the systems, the process andthe workforce.”

“

this group that needs to evangelise the rest

of the organisation. Without top-level

commitment –without top-to-bottom

involvement and action –change

management will never achieve what it sets

out to.

The right consultancyservice

Everything we do at Hughenden Consulting

is based on getting the best from people,

processes and systems through deploying

valuable principles based on continuous

improvement and action. We work with our

clients from strategy and execution through

to measurement, and help them achieve

their business and operational improvement

goals. The ultimate aim is to help clients

achieve a level of S&OP excellence through

one or more of the following steps: Predict

demand more accurately; optimise

inventory; plan resources; schedule

resources; align supply; integrate planning

processes; and adopt supply chain culture.

But the biggest weapon is to focus on

people.

Following our ‘Triple H’ methodology

(Hughenden Helping Hand), we start by

applying Cause and Effect

Analysis and then work

closely with all

those involved –

from senior

executives to the

planners and

everyone in

between – to

ensure they have

the understanding,

the knowledge and

the skills to implement

the strategy is properly

and therefore to drive

towards and optimised supply

chain. This approach is based

on the following principles:

analyse; assess; coach; guide;

and implement. We always

ensure that our clients’

strategic planning is

implemented effectively, as

well as measured and made

scalable for growth, by

focusing on the teams that

make it happen. Each stage can

be performed as a standalone

service but the biggest impact is

as part of an organisation-wide

transformation strategy which, whatever the

financial desires of a business, will take

time.

The end game Modern S&OP systems – with their

advanced analytics and demand sensing

functionality – are critically important for

today’s manufacturers serving a range of

different vertical market sectors. However,

change management is the vital component

to get the very best out of the systems, the

process and the workforce. By focusing on

people, your internal business and

operational infrastructure will run more

efficiently and more cost-effectively, while

your customers will see the benefits in

enhanced levels of service. n

Planning Opinion


Everything Hughenden Consulting does is based on getting the best from people, processes andsystems through deploying valuable principles based on continuous improvement and action.



Planning Success story


Marc Cain goes live with TXT: one

solution to integrate production and global

TXT e-solutions, provider of

integrated and collaborative

planning solutions, has

announced that premium

womenswear brand, Marc Cain,

has gone live with TXT’s Supplier Relationship

Management and Supply Chain Planning &

Execution solutions. Seamlessly integrated,

the two solutions allow Marc Cain and its

suppliers to act as a single enterprise

benefiting from visibility, coordinated

production and supply schedules, better use

of resources and slashed lead times.

Marc Cain produces high-quality and

fashionable casual wear in Bodelshausen and

distributes globally. With over 800 employees

and sales volumes of 210 Million Euros in

2011, the company features a vertically

integrated business model, from the design

and production processes, to the

management of a selective distribution

network characterised by 146 Marc Cain

stores, 258 shop-in-stores in 59 countries and

more than 1470 specialised shops worldwide.

Matthias Behr, managing director purchase &

production at Marc Cain, commented: “We

approached TXT with

the objective to

establish a more

effective production

planning system and

further increase

transparency over

operations; We soon

decided to extend the

project to the whole

Supply Chain by

integrating into one

system and one process not only our own

factory but our suppliers and service

providers operations, as well as the

management of raw materials and inventories.

In particular, material management is fully

supported: the purchasing process, goods

receipt and quality control, as well as the

supply of materials to subcontractors

including the management of missing

materials. With TXT we have established a

single corporate platform for in-house

production, external CMT (Cutting Making

Trimming), trade goods and purchasing.”

Supporting fast innovation TXT’s solutions provide Marc Cain with one

system and one planning environment for

internal and external production planning and

control, purchase and production order

creation, advanced supplier relationship

management including timelines, order

confirmation and progress management

through KPIs.

Furthermore, the

solution supports

fast innovation with

the effective

management of

special orders

resulting from the

design process -

including prototype

and test orders. Behr

continued: “In a

highly dynamic sector such as Fashion, the

ability to integrate the end-to-end process

from design to production to supply and

establish a common frame for communication

across our partner ecosystem is absolutely

key. With TXT we now integrate over 150

internal users and 80 global suppliers; the

whole process is streamlined.”

Holger Klappstein, sales director SRM at TXT

e-solutions, added: “We are excited by this

successful go-live at Marc Cain and we

congratulate their team; synergies among our

groups were strong and global

implementation was seamless. Marc Cain is a

best in class example of business integration

across the extended supply chain and the

sensitive results this can bring.” n

In a highly dynamic sector suchas Fashion, the ability to integratethe end-to-end process from designto production to supply and establisha common frame for communicationacross our partner ecosystem isabsolutely key.”

– Matthias Behr, Marc Cain.

“

TXT at a glance TXT e-solutions is a provider ofintegrated and collaborative planningsolutions for the Retail, Fashion andConsumer sectors. The product suitecombines planning and intelligencesupporting all strategic businessprocesses; including Integrated RetailPlanning, Product LifecycleManagement (PLM), Sales & OperationsPlanning and Supplier Collaboration.The company is listed on the ItalianStock Exchange (TXT.MI) and has over500 employees and more than 450customers worldwide. These representmany of the leading global retailers andconsumer-driven organisations;including: Aeropostale, Arcadia,Auchan, Columbia, Desigual, Findus,Galderma, Geox, Guess, Levi Strauss &Co., Louis Vuitton Malletier, SteveMadden and Tesco. Headquartered inMilan, with offices throughout Italy,France, Spain, Germany, the UK,Canada and Australia, TXT also hasseveral partners worldwide.

INTEGRATED & COLLABORATIVEPLANNING SOLUTIONS

I N T E R N A T I O N A LC U S T O M E R S

4505120CO

LL

AB

R A T I V E P L A

0NN

IN

G

Y E A R S E X P E R I E N C E

TXT e-solutions is a leading provider of integrated and collaborative planning solutions

For more information or request a demonstration:[email protected] • www.txtgroup.com

Discover how TXT Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) can help you reduce

and supports an informed decision-making process through advanced what-if

• No islands of planning, one integrated process• •

Financial, Demand and Supply Planning in one solution

Advanced Scenario based Risk & Opportunity Assessment

TXT Sales &Operations Planning

Soar to new heights with

more




Luggage brand Delsey adopts TXT’sPLM solution to improve global planning

Delsey, the French luggage brand

sold in over 6000 stores around

the world, is about to implement

TXT’s Product Lifecycle

Management (PLM) technology

to help streamline the design and planning

process. PLM systems help companies cope

with the increasing complexity of developing

new products for global competitive markets.

With Delsey present in more than 130 countries

and a Delsey bag sold every 10 seconds, the

company needed software to help orchestrate

and monitor its global activities using a single,

end-to-end PLM solution.

The TXT PLM software – also used by over 150

other apparel brands and retailers, including

Auchan, Artsana and Louis Vuitton Malletier –

will support all phases of collection planning,

design, development, sourcing and

collaboration and is expected to lead to shorter

time-to-market and more targeted ranges. It will

also improve the sharing of information

between merchandisers, designers, and buyers

– for instance, on timelines, perception of the

product, business targets – right from the

earliest phases.

“Delsey sells premium ranges of luggage and

design-led bags, but what sells well in France

tends to be quite different to what’s popular in

North America or China,” said Catherine De

Bleeker, Group marketing director. “Being

able to plan more accurately and strengthen

the connection between planning and design

- as well as monitor every step of the

collection lifecycle across all products and

localities - will be strategic to our growing

international business.”

With the new PLM systems in place, everyone

will have access to the same data – a central

repository of information including details on

product designs, costs of materials, overseas

suppliers, and lead times. “It’s all about having

a single version of the truth, to avoid duplication

and error and make the design, production and

supply process more efficient,” added Simone

Pozzi, VP sales & marketing at TXT.

Sylvie Maillard, Group CIO at Delsey, said the

company chose TXT over other software

vendors because of its strong pedigree in

fashion, retail and luxury goods; as well as its

range of supply chain, forecasting and

replenishment solutions. It also wanted software

that would integrate easily with its existing

Microsoft ERP system. n

Ad van Geloven selects TXT for Sales& Operations Planning

Ad van Geloven Group, the

Dutch producer of frozen

snacks and meal components,

is to implement the TXT’s Sales

& Operations Planning (S&OP)

platform to manage the whole spectrum of its

Planning processes – including: Sales &

Operations Planning, Demand Management,

Network Planning, Inventory Planning,

Production Planning and Factory Scheduling

– with a strong focus on increased customer

service levels.

Ad van Geloven Group (AvG) owns six

brands with leading positions in several food

categories, including Mora snacks – which is

the largest growing consuming brand in the

Netherlands – Welten Snacks, Van Lieshout

and Hebro. AvG operates across 5

production sites in the Benelux region and

has an extended supply chain

encompassing retail and foodservice.

Peter Doodeman, CEO at Ad van Geloven,

commented: “We chose TXT as they really

understand our business and the direction

we are taking to drive customer excellence.

We particularly valued the ability to integrate

all of our functional requirements in one

single solution, which is backed up with

strong consulting capabilities in the S&OP

space. The solution will support concurrent

planning and performance management

with advanced what-if and integrated

analytic capabilities. This will lead to

improved visibility, better identification of

cause and effects, as well as supporting

fact based decision making at all levels

along the value chain.”

TXT will provide AvG with an S&OP platform

that will improve planning from the demand

level, allowing closer collaboration internally

and externally. The project will in parallel help

design the most effective network planning

process, leading to increased service levels,

reduced inventory holding and more efficient

production planning.

Wolfgang Amann, sales & operations

planning director at TXT, said: “Many leading

food companies are revisiting their

processes and tools to support demand

volatility, supply chain responsiveness,

product quality, variety and faster

introduction rates. TXT has invested strongly

in the industry and I am extremely pleased

about the partnership and synergies we

have established with AvG. I am sure that

our experience in S&OP, coupled with the

advanced planning and analytic functionality

of the solution, will be instrumental in

supporting their strategic goals.” n


Planning Quintiq management briefing


Whether you call it Sales &

Operational Planning

(S&OP) or Integrated

Business Planning (IBP),

over 30 years ago Oliver

Wight started a revolution that transformed

business planning. He launched a formal

operational approach where demand for

products is balanced and synchronised with

the ability to deliver – all built around a

monthly process for aligning company plans

and actions. Nowadays, IBP is a synonym to

an integrated set of processes, tools and

competencies that link corporate strategy to

operations.

IBP has come a longway

Sales & Operational Planning started in the

1980s as an enhanced production planning

process. It has since evolved into a means of

integrated decision making – a well-trodden

route to improved business performance.

Today, mature IBP incorporates financial

integration, scenario planning, comparative

strategies and supply chain collaboration. It

focuses on strategic objectives and how

decisions contribute to the business, rather

than focusing on raw numbers. A strategic

perspective that integrates all the key

processes.

The mechanics of theprocess

IBP has become one of the defining

characteristics of today’s successful

companies. In its mature form, IBP is a

continuous management process that:

• Expresses plans in financial terms and

compares them with budget.

• Is KPI-driven to ensure alignment

between constantly changing plans and

corporate strategy.

• Takes an integrated view of the business

for informed decision making.

• Uses assumption-based scenario

modelling and analysis.

• Operates based on real-time information.

• Is aimed at closing gaps and building

realistic, feasible plans.

(See diagram on page 30).

The product management review is where

decisions around the product portfolio and

the funnel are made. The demand review

combines forecast demand with input from

sales and marketing to create a balanced

demand plan.In the supply review, decisions

about sourcing, production, inventory and

distribution are made. The management

business review is performed after

stakeholders have reconciled the plans,

identified gaps and developed alternative

scenarios developed for discussion. At this

point, the company is ready to create a

realistic plan – one expressed in financial

terms, supported by KPIs. It is at this point

that gaps between plan and corporate

strategy become apparent. Each month, as

the process continues, plans and decisions

are constantly being refined.

The essentialingredient – enablingtechnology

There is no shortage of information

describing the process. What the reports

tend to overlook is that all important

ingredient – the technology needed to make

it all happen. Rather than simply adding

value, technology is essential to exploiting

the process. Of course, small companies

can achieve their goals with something like

Excel and most companies begin with

Excel-type spread sheets. But the demands

of large companies with multiple divisions,

business units and plants go beyond the

capabilities of basic spreadsheet solutions.

Large organisations have an additional

need to align plans and the cross-flow of

activities from different plants.

A high degree of integration is needed to

deliver information that is always current

and accessible to all, as well as available

on demand at multiple locations. In large,

complex organisations, planners need to be

alerted when decisions aimed at solving

one issue create others further down the

line or further across the organization. They

want solutions where KPIs are built in;

solutions that compare plans to budgets

and constantly monitor planning decisions

against corporate goals. Furthermore, they

want to see their IBP process supported by

a workflow management system that

ensures tasks are executed in a timely

manner by the right people.

And today’s multinational organizations are

looking for a technical platform that

provides consolidation – a top-level view

across plants and business units, even

when they operate autonomously. Finally,

planners need the security of knowing that

wherever they are on their journey to IBP

maturity, the tools they are using will evolve

in parallel with the business and will still be

appropriate when they achieve a fully

mature IBP environment.

Fast tracking the journey toIntegrated Business Planning


Planning Quintiq management briefing


Defining an idealtechnology platform When selecting a suitable platform to

support a mature IBP strategy across a

large organisation, what are the essential

characteristics companies should be

looking for?

Business focus The technology should be able to maintain

everyone's focus on the company's business

goals by keeping KPIs visible throughout the

enterprise and updated in real time as

decisions are made. It should support the

top-down and bottom-up nature of the IBP

process. Input, such as budgets from

corporate management, is translated into

detailed decisions whose financial

implications are then aggregated back to

corporate management.

Integration Clearly, integration is a key element for IBP

and it can be useful to think in terms of both

‘horizontal’ and ‘vertical’ integration. By

horizontal integration, we are referring to

cross-functional integration of product

management, demand planning and supply

planning. It also means horizontal integration

between plants, divisions, suppliers and

customers.

Vertical integration refers to the linking of

planning levels, converting strategy into

tactical and operational plans and reporting

these plans all the way back to the

corporate level.

Displaying interdependencies in real time

makes sure that islands of decision making

are eliminated and corporate strategy is

executed. It also makes sure that gap-

closing actions are aligned across the

organisation.

CollaborationMature IBP is all about collaboration.

Enabling technology needs to support

collaboration right across the supply chain.

This level of supply chain integration aids

outsourcing decisions, shared resource

planning and alternative sourcing decisions.

Scenario modellingOne of the key steps to a mature IBP

process is the development of scenarios.

Enabling technology has to be strong on

assumption-based scenario modelling and

analysis. This might include alternative

supply plans, demand plans, price and cost

contingencies, the closing or commissioning

of production lines and plants.

Workflow managementIBP is a process that involves many people.

Companywide, standardised workflows

ensure that people know what is expected

from them and all tasks are completed by

the right person, in the right order and in a

timely manner. The technology has to be

capable of supporting company workflows

and must make sure that relevant information

is available to everyone with a need. This is

the way to ensure that individual

responsibilities are clear and that everyone

is working towards achieving corporate

goals.

Single solution at allplanning levels

While mature IBP planning is dedicated to

strategic tactical control and decision

making, it makes good sense to ensure that

any enabling technology will work at all

levels – a single toolset that is strategic,

tactical and operational.

What does Quintiqoffer bring to thetable?

Quintiq is one of very few software vendors

able to meet all the criteria we have

described. Not only does Quintiq's software

support true cross-functional IBP, it is also

capable of supporting a broad range of

planning processes, from workforce planning

to distribution and transport planning, from

strategic long-term planning to detailed

scheduling. Moreover, the Quintiq software is

designed to evolve with companies in their

journey to IBP excellence. Quintiq is based

on a unique three-layer architecture,

designed to give you best practice and is

tailored precisely to your own organisation's

needs.

At the base of Quintiq's software, is a

versatile supply chain planning platform with

a powerful propagation engine to take care

of real-time distribution of information. Above

this level, is an industry solution that

provides generic best practices for supply

chain planning. At the final layer, the solution

can be configured to incorporate company-

and sector-specific logic and knowledge for

a 100 per cent fit. The Quintiq concept has

one extra key strength. Its ability to be

adapted quickly and cost effectively to

address your company needs. As your

company develops and as your commercial

landscape changes, your Quintiq solution

will evolve with you. Corporate decisions are

always aligned with your ever-changing

business environment. n

Integrated Business Planning is a monthly cycle in four stages: product management, demandmanagement, supply management, and the business review.

E: [email protected] | I: www.quintiq.com

Quintiq’s supply chain planning & optimization platform

is built to solve your planning puzzle. The Quintiq

platform transforms complicated processes into an

agile, consumer-centric supply chain. It addresses

all constraints and requirements towards delivering

optimal efficiency across all horizons.

What’s your planning puzzle? We love a good challenge.

Visit us or browse www.quintiq.com.

We challenge you to challenge us with your supply chain planning puzzle.




Cutting edge supply chainthinking takes shape at Seco Tools

For more than 80 years, Seco Tools

has delivered a diverse portfolio of

tools and services around the

world. Best known for milling

cutters for the general machining

industry, the pressure the company faces to

maintain high service levels continually grows.

To complicate matters, they must be able to

provide the right consumable products at the

right time to customers on all four corners of

the globe.

Seco Tools manufactures cutting tools made

of steel, tungsten carbide and cobalt. The

tools are based on industry standards, which

allows each customer to select their supplier.

If a tool cannot be supplied when it is needed

it is very easy for the customer to secure a

new supplier. The burden is now on Seco

Tools to deliver any of its 50,000 SKUs

anywhere in the world within 24 to 48 hours.

Historically, customers held their own

inventory. They kept a supply of products on

hand at every site. This became an expensive

proposition for the industry, which gave way

to placing the responsibility (and cost) back

on the manufacturer to hold inventory and

deliver it when needed. At first, manufacturers

held stock in-country. This created a vast and

costly distribution network for manufacturers

such as Seco Tools. As competition increased

and margins thinned, manufacturers had to

turn to a more streamlined distribution

approach that would still ensure quick

delivery of each item.

As part of this shift, Seco Tools now operates

four distribution centers around the world

(Netherlands, US, Singapore and Shanghai).

From these four locations the company serves

approximately 60 countries. The key is the

ability for Seco Tools to provide the same level

of service through fewer distribution points.

The implementation was on time and the visibility we now have givesus new understanding. We’re asking questions we never would havethought to consider before Logility.”

– Lars Liljeqvist, Seco Tools.

“

Seco Tools manufactures cutting tools made of steel, tungsten carbide and cobalt. The burden isnow on Seco Tools to deliver any of its 50,000 SKUs anywhere in the world within 24 to 48 hours.

Supply Chain Planningoverhaul

Three years ago Seco Tools investigated

solutions for stock optimisation. During this

process, the company realised it needed

more than stock optimization – it required a

complete supply chain planning overhaul.

Lars Liljeqvist, VP logistics, purchasing and

quality at Seco Tools, commented: “We saw

an opportunity to improve our stock

availability and lower our inventory value at

the same time. We also realised this would be

more than a software implementation. In order

to succeed, we needed to change our

processes and way of working.”

Seco Tools required new software to support

the new processes and they started to

evaluate potential partners. Many of the

vendors only offered software. Seco Tools

recognised they also needed help with their

process change. Liljeqvist continued: “Logility

was unique. The team met with us and started

to discuss how we could improve – the supply

chain processes and organisation. We walked

through the process and covered both the

tangible and intangible benefits. Then we

talked about how software could help enable

this transformation.”

Moving forward Previously the company’s forecasting

operated at a very high level (for example the

product/family). To be truly efficient, Seco

Tools needed to forecast at the item level by

stock location to help its 12 production

facilities better plan their manufacturing

requirements. “We must make sure we

produce and stock only what we need,” said

Liljeqvist.

Seco Tools recently completed the first phase

of its implementation of its new processes

and Logility Voyager Solutions. Within the first

week, a couple of days in fact, the team

noticed a drastic improvement in visibility

across the global business which will help

further improve forecast accuracy. “We have a

target to achieve a 97 per cent net stock

availability and we can already see with

Logility we will be able to achieve this

number,” said Liljeqvist. Seco Tools is also

aiming to reduce inventory up to 20 per cent

due to the greater forecast accuracy. In a

competitive industry manufacturing precisely

machined tools, a reduction like this can add

up quickly.

Liljeqvist concluded: “The implementation

was on time and the visibility we now have

gives us new understanding. We’re asking

questions we never would have thought to

consider before Logility. The combination of

an excellent supply chain team, improved

processes and new software has shown us

just how much potential there is for

improvement. It is quite remarkable.” n




Logility at a glance With more than 1250 customersworldwide, Logility is a provider ofcollaborative, Best of Breed supplychain solutions that help small,medium, large and Fortune 1000companies realise substantial bottom-line results in record time. LogilityVoyager Solutions is a complete supplychain management solution thatfeatures a performance monitoringarchitecture and provides supply chainvisibility; demand, inventory andreplenishment planning; Sales &Operations Planning (S&OP); supplyand inventory optimisation;manufacturing planning and scheduling;transportation planning andmanagement; and warehousemanagement. Logility customersinclude: Fender Musical Instruments,Hewlett-Packard, Parker Hannifin,Sigma-Aldrich, Verizon Wireless, and VFCorporation. Logility is a wholly ownedsubsidiary of American Software, Inc.


Planning Opinion


Making IntegratedBusiness Planning a reality

By Richard House, managing director, FuturMaster UK.

For a select few companies,

Integrated Business Planning (IBP)

is a reality in which all business

functions are involved in making

business decisions based on a

collaborative future view of business activity.

For the majority, IBP is currently a distant

dream which stretches them well beyond the

Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP)

processes they are currently struggling to

master.

For the select few, the benefits of regular,

multi-functional meetings to consider the profit

impact of anticipated demand and supply

scenarios are clear. Resources are aligned to

demand, activities are planned to maximise

profit generation opportunities,

responsiveness improves. In short, the

business is ready and able to handle

changes to demand in the optimal way and to

maximise profitability as a result. Not only

does this joined up decision-making process

make organisations more adaptive to the

volatile business environment, it also

contributes to effective business risk

management.

Considerations So, if the benefits of IBP are so intuitively

clear, then why does it remain a distant dream

rather than a current reality? Why do

organisations struggle to put together a multi-

functional decision-making process that goes

beyond the conventional Board Room review

of past financial results and variances to

budget? In order to understand this

conundrum more, we need to consider some

of the practicalities of IBP.

IBP is a multi-functional process. Typically,

organisations have struggled to implement

processes that cut across the functional silos

of Finance, Sales, Operations etc.

Implementing a multi-functional process

challenges the organisation to work in

different ways and to business level

objectives. Successful

implementations of this

nature often require the

intervention of 3rd parties

or consultants to

coordinate the functions

and to make the total

process happen.

IBP is a people process.

The ability to foresee

alternative demand

scenarios and assess

upsides, downsides and

business risk lies in the people of the sales

and marketing organisation. A collaborative

forecast is weakened if the participants are

not willing or able to provide the information

needed by others for effective decision

making. Technology can play a valuable role

in providing the systems to allow

collaboration, but politics and self-orientation

may restrict the information provided and

potentially undermine the process.

IBP is a high-level process. Strategic

decisions with business impact are not made

at an item code, production line or shift level.

They are made at a high level, affecting many

elements in a single decision. Enabling senior

management to make well-informed decisions

at a family level generally requires software

support to present the data accurately and in

a format that can be shared between Sales

(who like to talk in cases) and Production

(who like to talk in hours).

IBP is a financial process.

A key feature of IBP is the extension of

conventional Sales and Operations Planning

beyond volume and stock level information

into key financials such as gross margin,

working capital, trade spend etc. This

increases the complexity of the information

being presented and

may include data which

is not normally shared

across different

functional groups.

IBP is a scenario-driven

process. Executives

make better decisions

when they are presented

with alternative scenarios

to evaluate and decide

upon. Each scenario has

a financial result with it,

so that the financial

impact of the decision is known at the time of

making the decision. The ability to generate

scenarios of different demand situations and

then to process these alternatives (often

multiple times) through alternative supply

scenarios is a major challenge for many

companies.

Richard House: “Implementing IBP is a top-down process.”

As companies havediscovered from their ownimplementations of Sales andOperations Planning, it is notnecessary to have everythingright before the organisationsees benefits. In fact, manywill testify that the journey ofimplementation is itself a keybenefit of IBP.”

“


Planning Opinion


Setting up for success Implementing IBP is a top-down process,

driven by a board seeking better quality,

more up-to-date information to inform their

strategic and business level decisions.

Supporting this objective is the need for

software solutions with the capability to

rapidly process collaborative, scenario-

based demand forecasts through the

organisation’s production and supply

network. In addition, the translation of the

volume demand and supply scenarios into

financial forecasts and plans suited to

decision making requires levels of data

integration which are now available for

those organisations keen to move forward

in IBP.

A final word As companies have discovered from their

own implementations of Sales and Operations

Planning, it is not necessary to have

everything right before the organisation sees

benefits. In fact, many will testify that the

journey of implementation is itself a key

benefit of IBP. Remember; “If you aspire to the

highest place, it is no disgrace to stop at the

second or even the third place.” – Cicero

(106-43BC). n

Regular, multi-functional meetings to consider the profit impact of anticipated demand and supplyscenarios can ensure the business is able to handle changes to demand in the optimal way and tomaximise profitability as a result.

AccurateForecast...

The Key to BusinessSurvival

When the competition becomes more intense... ...the Right Solution is decisive

For every

…there is a answer

Supply Chain Challenge...

www.futurmaster.com



Sivaco leverages Preactor toimprove production operations

At the forefront of wire production

in North America, Canadian

company Sivaco designs,

manufactures and delivers

high-quality wire products.

Many of Sivaco’s customers take advantage

of Sivaco’s proven make-to-order

manufacturing capabilities.

The production processand constraints

Customers order wire in terms of either weight

or length. All recipes are developed based on

very specific customer requirements in a way

to ensure consistency. An order is typically

translated in a number of rod coils. These

coils will go through different manufacturing

process steps to obtain the desired diameter,

finishing and ductility.

The Pickling line has a maximum capacity of

coils, which can be cleaned at one time with

the objective to maximise throughput and

prioritise each order to feed the other

subsequent processes in production. The

Wire Drawing process is the main bottleneck

department in the plant and the objective is to

select the best machine for each in order to

meet due dates and minimise set-up times.

The Galvanisation process involves two lines

and each one has its own characteristics,

which allow different wire types to be

handled. Changing from one wire type to the

next (number of strands) involves a significant

changeover typically done over the week-end.

The Annealing-Normalisation process

normalises the structure of steel wires and is

accomplished by heating the strands of wires

in an oven and then in a lead bath.

The Annealing – Heat Treatment process

heats spools of raw material wires in ovens in

order to facilitate subsequent wire drawing

steps. There are a total of 6 closed ovens and

the annealing process is done by batches,

grouping spools of wire requiring similar heat

treatment profiles together which could vary

from 7 to 62 hours. There are hundreds of

different manufacturing processes across

multiple orders that need to be put in line in

such a way as to balance the number of

setups.

Specific planning andscheduling difficulties

Essentially, one of the main difficulties is the

ability to provide customers a realistic date

and to meet it with the high level of quality the

customer deserves. Because Sivaco

manufactures to order, the forecasting,

planning and scheduling processes are

critical: When an order is scheduled, the raw

material must be in inventory when the job

starts. One of the goals for Preactor was to

schedule the order only when the material

would be in stock, which provided better

inventory visibility.

In the past, scheduling was done in a module

of an internally developed ERP system

programmed by Sivaco that could not

properly represent all the complexity of the

manufacturing operations as the process was

primarily manual, only a very experienced

scheduler with knowledge of all of the

different rules could do it and often had

difficulties keeping up with the demand.

Preactor APS P400 as thesolution

In 2002 when Sivaco was looking for a new

scheduling program, there were two finalists

including Preactor. Both provided a good

scheduling model, proving they understood

the challenges. Preactor was chosen due to

its similar approach but more effective

pricing. Pascal Breuleux, director of IT at

Sivaco, commented: “The decision proved us





right, since the other vendor did not last.” By

installing Preactor, the primary goals were to:

• Eliminate non-value-added tasks and

streamline the scheduling process.

• Provide a central repository of knowledge

and rules for scheduling.

• Improve inventory visibility and enable

material constraints to start a job.

• Create a realistic production schedule

that considers all major constraints in the

production process.

• Reduce setup-up time while maintaining

high due date compliance.

• Have the ability to simulate impact on

order insertions and due date changes.

Sivaco decided to pursue configuration and

implementation on its own with initial training

and ad-hoc guidance provided by Preactor

partner, West Monroe Partners (WMP). Yanick

Thibault from WMP commented: “The key

success factor in the redesign resided in the

right balance between advanced tailored

scheduling heuristics, the incorporation of

Sivaco’s knowhow and adequate training of

key users.”

Breuleux said of the process: “The result was

spectacular: We went from one hour of

processing to less than five minutes (and

many rules added in the system since then).

The schedule time for the drawing

department (core business) has been

reduced by half, and Sivaco does not

depend anymore on tribal knowledge to

establish its schedule. If the scheduler is

absent for one day for instance, Preactor can

issue a schedule that can be put in

production with no manipulation. The setup

times have also been reduced, although it is

difficult to evaluate the gain precisely as we

have not measured it. We also now have a

better control on raw material inventory

availability when launching a new job on the

shop floor.” Preactor has been live at Sivaco

for nearly 5 years. n

We went from one hour of processing to less than five minutes (andmany rules added in the system since then). The schedule time for thedrawing department has been reduced by half, and Sivaco does notdepend anymore on tribal knowledge to establish its schedule.”

– Pascal Breuleux, Sivaco.

“



Costa Express are now using

machine telemetry to drive the

replenishment of their 2600

self-serve coffee bars using

ToolsGroup’s demand driven

auto-replenishment solution, Service

Optimizer 99+

Project and objectives Costa Express, part of Whitbread PLC, offers

airports and railway stations, hospitals and

universities, convenience stores, forecourts

and serviced buildings the opportunity to profit

from the growing demand for high-quality

coffee on the go and the strong Costa brand. It

provides partners with the latest self-serve

coffee machines, and regular replenishment of

coffee and supplies. After initial success,

Costa Express hatched ambitious plans in

2011 to grow its estate of machines in

operation from 900 to 3000 by 2016 and

expand into new countries.

In order for Costa Express to sustain its unique

revenue sharing model as it grows, it needs

control over and visibility into its supply chain.

A key part of this is being able to calculate

accurately and replenish stocks at the order-

line level for all its partners. To support this,

Costa Express’ unmanned coffee bars use

integrated telemetry that provides real-time

reporting on machine performance and drink

sales. This is not only to prevent waste and

theft, but to improve service by ensuring that

the machines are always stocked to meet

demand. ‘Brand Guardians’ were employed to

train partners, replenish stock and give advice

on how to maximise sales and improve the

coffee experience.

Shortly after Chris Clowes joined Costa

Express in April 2012 as supply chain

manager, he discovered opportunities to

improve the supply chain. Although the coffee

machines had potential to provide real-time

sales data, it wasn’t being used because there

was no system in place to consolidate and

present the data. His team relied on a manual,

spreadsheet-based replenishment system that

worked fine for a business with a few hundred

machines, but was not able to scale with the

business. Indeed the company was adding

major blue chip partners and locations much

faster than its ambitious plans called for and

Clowes wanted to make sure that growth

remained profitable.

The first priority was overhauling the

replenishment system. Clowes’ team evaluated

different supply chain planning software

providers and selected ToolsGroup’s S099+

software in July 2012. Costa Express chose the

hosted SaaS version of the software, so it

could be deployed immediately and scale with

the business.

ToolsGroup’s consultants started work with

Costa Express on the system design and data

analysis. At the same time, Clowes analysed

the company’s broader supply chain

operations to review the need for further

changes as many partners and processes,

including its logistics provider, had been in

place for 12 years.

...day to day Costa Express’ implementation of SO99+ went

Demand sensing telemetry stirsup the supply chain at Costa Express

www.logisticsit.com

ToolsGroup’s S099+ software is now able to use the actual sales data provided by the self-servicecoffee stations to forecast demand, optimise inventory and generate replenishment proposals forCosta Express’ distribution and procurement operations. This enables Costa Express to optimallymanage the supply of ingredients from the central warehouse in Andover out to the 2500+ CostaExpress sites.


live on 21 January 2013 following a six-month

period of major supply chain transformation

that included changing its logistics and

warehousing partner and starting to purchase

stock directly from suppliers for the first time.

At the same time, the role of the Brand

Guardians, whose responsibilities included

analysing data and inventory replenishment,

changed into Brand Excellence Advisors,

whose sole focus today is helping partners sell

and deliver a great customer experience. All

these changes took place while the company’s

estate of self-serve coffee machines grew to

2600. According to Clowes, “The flexibility of

ToolsGroup’s consultants during all this change

was world-class. The original model they

developed needed to be adapted several

times during the implementation, but they

didn’t blink - just got on with it.”

ToolsGroup’s S099+ software is now able to

use the actual sales data provided by the self-

service coffee stations to forecast demand,

optimise inventory and generate replenishment

proposals for Costa Express’ distribution and

procurement operations. This enables Costa

Express to optimally manage the supply of

ingredients from the central warehouse in

Andover out to the 2500+ Costa Express sites.

Outcomes Before implementing SO99+, Costa Express

used to estimate how much stock to supply

each site with at the end of each month using

current stock holding figures and average

cup sales. Now, Costa Express can compare

the actual sales data to the levels of stock

declared in the sites to give far better visibility

and control. Clowes commented, “In some

countries that we’re entering, like Poland,

we’re legally required to make month-end

declarations, so this new level of forecasting

accuracy is extremely helpful.”

In the first month, the visibility that S099+

provides has already enabled Costa Express

to review the amount of stock it sends to its

partners, however a longer evaluation period

is needed to draw any firm conclusions.

Clowes concluded, “So far this project has

gone far better than we ever could have

imagined. As it is, we’ve actually managed to

grow our revenue and reduce our inventory

costs so I’m very pleased.” n



Broner's MES and Integratedscheduling solution goes live atSahaviriya Steel Industries UK

Broner Metals Solutions, worldwide specialistprovider of integrated MES, supply chain and

scheduling solutions for metals, has announcedthat its MES and Scheduling modules have been

put in production at the Teesside steel operationsof Sahaviriya Steel Industries UK (SSI UK).

The new solution replaces SSI's original in-house developed system.

Broner's MES and Caster Scheduling functionality is now fully

integrated with SAP, providing improved scheduling and reporting

mechanisms across the plant.

Broner has developed and

implemented interfaces between

their MES and scheduling

solutions allowing SSI to receive

production and quality

information as the slabs are cast

in real-time. This allows the

planners at Teesside to re-route

and re-schedule giving them

greater control over their manufacturing orders and specifications.

The objective of the project was to deliver modern, scalable solutions that

could be expended to meet future SSI UK and international requirements.

Stephen Duncan, IT development manager of SSI, said: "I am very

pleased with the delivery of the project and I am looking forward to SSI

achieving valuable business benefits from Broner's solution.”

Broner's CEO, David Mushin, commented: "We expect SSI Teesside to

receive significant productivity and cost reduction benefits and I look forward

to maintaining a strong, valued business relationship with them.” n

TRANSPOREON, THE PILLAROF YOUR LOGISTICS!

TRANSPOREONContact: David Williamson | Phone: + 44 (0) 1527 908757 [email protected] | www.transporeon.com

TRANSPOREON : MANUAL WORK

Broner Metals Solutions at a glance Broner Metals Solutions provides packaged, configurable productsthat are designed specifically to manage the complexities andvariability of metals production. The company’s solutions rangefrom: business optimisation & order promising; through productionand material planning, integrated / through-scheduling, productionscheduling; to MES production, quality, inventory and equipmentmanagement and warehouse management. Its MES solutions aredesigned to the ISA95 standards and include tracking and datamanagement & analysis. The Broner Metals Solutions team has 30years’ experience in improving the performance of metalsproduction worldwide. Broner solutions are used by some of theworld’s top metals companies, such as: ArcelorMittal; GerdauGroup; Nippon Steel; Norandal, Tata Steel; TMK; ThyssenKruppSteel and Usiminas.

Largely because of the increasing

use of social media, today’s

customers are becoming even more

demanding. They’re placing orders

through multiple channels and

expecting ever shorter delivery times. And

because of their growing expectations,

manufacturers and suppliers need to make

their supply chains more agile, while boosting

profitability at the same time. One emerging

concept is focused on doing just this, and its

name is supply chain segmentation.

An extension to integrated business planning,

supply chain segmentation doesn’t just

optimise a company’s existing IBP

methodology. It also helps the company get

closer to its customers and meet their specific

needs in a more efficient, cost-effective way.

“People often associate greater supply chain

flexibility with higher overall cost,” said JDA’s

Danny Halim. “But supply chain segmentation

sets out not only to ensure the optimum

service to the customer, but also to deliver

maximum profit to the supplier.”

Benefitting customers as well assuppliers

Halim explained that, because of this double-

edged benefit, supply chain segmentation will

be of interest to a wide range of

manufacturing sectors. “Every day,

companies need to take into account a wide

range of considerations like product

characteristics, customer service

expectations and delivery costs,” he said.

“Sectors such as automotive and industrial

are constrained by capacity and lead-times

while those in consumer products and retail

focus on total delivered costs. Many

companies tend to segment their service

levels to different customers, but with their

capacity and lead-time issues they don’t

always have the luxury of being able to ‘over

promise’ to customers.

Building success on a solid platform

So what type of technology solution is

41ITMANUFACTURING&LOGISTICS

Supply Chain


Interview

June 2013

Boosting service and profitsby segmenting the supply chain Manufacturing & Logistics IT spoke with Danny Halim, vice president, industry strategy at

JDA Software, about the new concept of supply chain segmentation. What exactly does itmean, and what benefits can it offer to manufacturers and suppliers?

42 ITMANUFACTURING&LOGISTICS June 2013 www.logisticsit.comwww.logisticsit.com

Supply Chain Interview

required to put this methodology in place? “I

think you definitely need a single reliable

integrated platform,” said Halim. “Otherwise

you may not be able to manage a number of

segments for different customers or customer

groups. If you use four or five different types

of technology you’ll struggle to know how

efficient each one is from an ‘IBP standpoint’.

Halim also believes configurability is key.

“You need to manage different sourcing

networks, inventory policies and service level

policies. So, from a reporting and analytics

standpoint, you need a high level of

configurability,” he commented. “Within an

integrated platform you must be able to adjust

different supply chains in different ways by

using re-configurations rather than code

development. Configurability is also about

agility, because you have to make changes

quickly in line with your changing business

requirements.

Halim added that the functionality of the

supply chain solution needs to be wide-

ranging to meet the needs of specific

channels, customers and product profiles. “If

the functionality doesn’t have this breadth,

you’ll need to customise the software further

at some point, and maybe add third-party

solutions that make the system more

complex.”

End-to-end involvement

According to Halim, the system’s

functionality must also extend all the way

from forecasting, replenishment and

manufacturing through to promising orders

and logistics execution. “Because the end

game is customer satisfaction as well as

profitability, you should be able to look at the

supply chain customer by customer or order

by order, and then fulfil every order you’ve

ensured is feasible,” he said. Halim

explained that one JDA

customer in the

automotive sector

benefits from the

system’s profitable

order promising

capability, which

matches incoming

orders against available

and future supply as well as customer

segmentation hierarchy. This allows the

company to increase responsiveness and

fulfil delivery promises without the cost of

disrupting production or logistics.

In Halim’s view, supply chain segmentation is

not just about planning, but involves everyone

in the organisation. “Because of this, it’s the

functionality that’s critical - especially in B2B

or manufacturing environments, where it can

provide an enhanced view on how to promise

orders more profitably and more accurately,”

he said. “That, of course, is the ultimate goal.”

Segmentation, not fragmentation

In summing up, Halim doesn’t believe that

supply chain segmentation means companies

have to fragment themselves into, say, five

different businesses. “It just means you

should structure your

supply chain so that you

have five different ways

of servicing your

customer channels,” he

explained. “The beauty of

supply chain

segmentation is that

you’re still one business -

it’s just that now you’re managing all your

customers more efficiently and cost-

effectively. In short, it’s about optimising your

integrated business plan.” n

Danny Halim: “…supply chainsegmentation sets out not only toensure the optimum service to thecustomer, but also to deliver maximumprofit to the supplier.”

The beauty of supply chainsegmentation is that you’re still onebusiness – it’s just that now you’remanaging all your customers moreefficiently and cost-effectively.”

“

How do you stay aligned with corporate goals and continue to make a profit? It’s critical that core business functions are in sync, that plans and budgets are reviewed monthly instead of annually and gaps are identified. Using an Integrated Business Planning tool will not only mitigate risk but drive revenue growth. Can you run your business profitably without it?

Visit jda.com/sop-emeaTel: +44 (0)1344 829 753

PLANNING FOR PROFIT

( (

For further information about Integrated Business Planning and our S&OP Workshops, please contact:

Chris Galvin [email protected]

In the world of mobility, leading

solutions vendor are increasingly

looking at going beyond the obvious in

terms of the practical applications for

mobile devices. From an innovation

perspective, they are now looking at more

than just handheld computers and

smartphones and are thinking more in

terms of smart objects. For example, a tool

in the workplace could itself be thought of

as a smart mobile device with

the potential to improve

efficiency and effectiveness

within the four walls of the

warehouse or on manufacturing

shop floor. So, we now need to

look at mobility as a term that

defines much more than just

mobile computing.

Mobility tools

A drill, for example, is a useful and

commonly understood industrial tool. From

a mobility standpoint, this drill could

connect to an auto-ID infrastructure

through being Wi-Fi-enabled and having an

active RFID tag attached to it; thereby

giving it applied context within a particular

working environment. By enabling the tool

in this way you can more effectively tie it to

a specific location. If that tool goes outside

of the zone in question, its Wi-Fi

enablement and RFID tag will prompt the

ERP system to take action. This may

involve stopping the tool from working if it

moves from one zone to another, or it might

mean changing the setting on that tool

automatically so that it is made fit for

purpose in the new zone. In being auto-ID

enabled in this way, the tool has in effect

become an intelligent mobile device.

To date, auto-ID components such as

barcodes and passive or active RFID tags

have been constrained to just being a

means to interrogate or locate an object.

However, auto-ID technology can now be

used effectively as the platform on which

tools are more efficiently controlled and

monitored. By knowing the whereabouts of

a particular object, or by engaging with

that object through auto-ID, users can put

systems in place to make other things and

events that take place in the work

environment more efficient.

In any manufacturing sector one of the key

goals naturally remains cost efficiency.

However, another key focus is on creating

the perfect order; an order that is on time

and delivered to accurate specification to

the customer. Indeed, we are increasingly

seeing a desire to build to order

and place the customer at the

heart of the operation. That in

itself drives a need for greater

control of inbound materials and

resources, together with more

appropriate and effective use of

plant and equipment and

machinery within the production

environment. Also to be taken into

consideration is the need for a

seamless transition to the

downstream elements from an outbound

perspective, and then the need to monitor

that flow down the supply chain so you

know customers will receive exactly what

they want when they want it.

Brand protection

And it’s here that the true brand value lies.

Brands can be very easily damaged if


Printing & Labelling Opinion

Taking mobility tothe next level

Matt Parker, head of market development, Zebra Technologies Europe, provideshis vision of a mobility world that is set to extend much further than the use of

mobile computers and into the realm of smart objects.


…we are increasingly seeing a desire to buildto order and place the customer at the heartof the operation. That in itself drives a need

for greater control of inbound materials andresources, together with more appropriate andeffective use of plant and equipment andmachinery within the production environment.”

“


Printing & Labelling

suppliers are not able to deliver to order on

time to correct specification. So adjusting

your production outputs and values around

those needs is vital, and auto-ID

technology has a huge part to play here.

One important thing to consider is that this

process requires real-time visibility, and

that’s what the various auto-ID layers we

have been discussing provide. They allow

a company to gain information about the

location, status and associated contextual

information around an object. And if we are

looking forward and saying that this much

higher level of engineering to order and

building to order is taking place in

manufacturing, this then mandates the

ability to harmonise and supervise co-

ordinated activities across multiple

manufacturing sites upstream and

downstream suppliers. In this way,

companies then have much greater

visibility of information specific to particular

materials and component parts and their

flow throughout the value chain. And this

level of supply chain sophistication

shouldn’t be the reserve of the more high-

value product manufacturers. FMCG goods

manufacturers, for example, may be

producing lower-cost goods, but when you

think of the volume of products that is

going out and therefore the volume of

materials that is coming in, the need to

accurately control and monitor every stage

of the production process – including the

use of tools and the people that use them –

is critical.

Safety

By thinking of tools as mobility solutions,

companies can even put in place a better

health & safety regime. In many working

environments an individual is required to

carry around a form of ID, such as an

access control pass. If this card were fitted

with an RFID tag this could potentially be

used to automatically authorise the

operator to use certain types of equipment

and not others. So, if the individual doesn’t

possess the required certification to use a

particular tool that has been mobility-

enabled, then the access control system

could put measures in place to ensure that

tool cannot be used by that person – either

in all circumstances, or within certain zones

or for only for certain uses.

Solutions developers have sought to turn

the efficiency screw ever tighter over the

past few years. There were some very well-

established and well-understood lean

initiatives that were widely adopted in the

‘80s and ‘90s. But now, through major

leaps in technological advancement, we

can turn that screw even tighter in terms of

optimising efficiency gains within zoned

environments by using intelligent mobile

devices. So, the mobile device is no longer

necessarily just a handheld computer or

smartphone; it could be any device that

has contextual awareness and intelligence

and that is linked to a system which can

prompt other events to happen based on

that contextual information and driven by

auto-ID. n

Opinion


Modern auto-ID technology can allow a company to gain real-time information about the location, status and associatedcontextual information around an object.

AUTOMATIC DATA

CAPTURE

46 www.logisticsit.comwww.logisticsit.com

Opinion

In challenging economic times,

streamlining processes, improving

customer service, reducing costs and

increasing productivity are critical

strategies for UK businesses. We provide

Motion Computing tablet PCs in the UK, which

bring a range of benefits to many verticals

including retail, local government and

insurance.

Having supplied tablet PC's to the public

sector, retail and insurance markets for over

10 years, Box has worked with end users

such as St Albans City and District Council,

Howard Basford Accident Repair specialists

and Poundland, the discount retailer of the

year 2011.

With regard to the benefits of the Motion

Tablet to its mobile workforce, Andrew

Branch, trees & woodlands officer at St

Albans City and District Council, said:

“Productivity, mobility and security go hand in

hand and are paramount to the technology

decisions St Albans City and District Council

makes. So we focused on integrating the right

technologies to support our clients’ truly

mobile workflows. We needed an easy to use,

highly functional, reliable and flexible tree

data collection and management system at an

affordable price. Box Technologies

understood our needs completely and

provided us with a mapping, database and

reporting tool all rolled into one highly mobile

and ruggedised mobile package.”

Box provided St Albans City and District

Council with the J3500 from the J-Series of

Motion Tablet PC's. The J3500 allowed St

Albans City and District Council to perform

on-site surveys and data capture, analyse,

monitor and forecast data from every angle

more effectively and achieve maximum ROI

by reducing time and effort spent on these

tasks in the past.

Poundland required a solution which allowed

the Quality Assurance Team to check and

record stock being delivered to its warehouse

quickly and effectively. Having been a long-

time customer of Box, Poundland approached

Box to supply a truly mobile solution which

would increase accuracy and productivity.

Mick Corbett, IT solutions leader, confirmed

that the Motion F5 revolutionised the task. He

commented: “The quality assurance team has

a mission critical task to perform. Our

expansion and increasing range of goods that

we offer our customers means that the task

will continue to expand and evolve. The

introduction of the Motion F5 tablet has

brought huge benefits in our abilities to check

the quality of goods, and the speed with

which we do that. Finally we have eliminated

the need for a bulky and multi-faceted

approach to one that brings the best of state

of the art technology together in one

lightweight and portable device.”

Each tablet is uniquely designed for use in

the field, but is also adaptable for office use.

Serious businesses requireserious business tools

June 2013MANUFACTURING&LOGISTICSIT

The cielo U-Dock U-Dock integrates EpoS connectivity with the MotionCL910, creating a versatile and powerful mobile EPoS solution.

By Ian Patterson, head of retail, Box Technologies.

47ITMANUFACTURING&LOGISTICSwww.logisticsit.comwww.logisticsit.com June 2013

AUTOMATIC DATA

CAPTUREOpinion

Motion CL910 The CL910 has been designed to maximise

mobility and portability. This lightweight tablet

PC weighs around a kilogram, [ 2.1 pounds]

and is less than 16mm thick. The unit

functions for over 8 hours on a single battery

charge allowing a the operator to use the

CL910 for a full day’s work, uninterruptedly.

With a Windows 7 platform, and powered by

the Intel Atom N2600 processor, the CL910

offers multiple optional features and ports to

increase functionality for a variety different

vertical markets. Ideal for use in retail

environments, the Motion CL910, is available

with the optional SlateMate which offers the

user a magnetic stripe reader and barcode

scanner – transforming the tablet PC into a

point of sale terminal and data collection unit.

In April 2013, Box launched the cielo U-

Dock, a multi-platform station specifically

designed for retail. The U-Dock integrates

EpoS connectivity with the Motion CL910,

creating a versatile and powerful mobile EPoS

solution. There is no doubting the importance

of the tablet as a customer engagement tool

in today's retail environment. With the U-Dock,

we set out to turn the tablet into a serious

business tool to ensure it has dual purpose.

Motion C5t and F5t These field-ready tablets were designed to

enhance productivity for mobile workers

across a broad range of vertical markets,

such as field service, healthcare and

construction. Powered by third-generation

Intel Core processors, up to eight hours of

battery life and hot-swap battery feature for

extended, uninterrupted productivity and

operating within a Windows environment for

ease of integration, the F5t and C5t tablet PCs

offer seamless business integration and

virtually unlimited usability.

Motion J3600 The Motion J3600, runs on Microsoft Windows

and supports business critical tasks

throughout the day. With an Intel processor,

hot-swap batteries and a Corning Gorilla

Glass screen this rugged tablet offers a wide

screen display for superior outdoor visibility

and up to 4 times improvement in breakage

resistance. The J3600 is tested and proven to

withstand harsh working environments and

has been ested to meet MIL-STD 810G

specifications and also IP52-rated for

protection against dust and moisture. n

Motion’s CL910 has been designed tomaximise mobility and portability.

AUTOMATIC DATA

CAPTURE

48 ITMANUFACTURING&LOGISTICS www.logisticsit.comwww.logisticsit.com

Company news

June 2013

Arteria Technologies, provider of

mobility and portal solutions on

SAP technology and a part of

All World Network @ Harvard

Business School, has been

included in the list of ‘Cool Vendors’ in the

report titled ‘Cool Vendors in the SAP Eco

System, 2013’ by Gartner, Inc.

Arteria provides solutions that tackle recurring

SAP customer challenges and help customers

to maximise their SAP ROI.

“We consider our inclusion in the Cool Vendor

report by Gartner a confirmation of our

mission to enable customers to leverage the

power of enterprise systems using mobility

and portal technologies thereby improving

business performance,” said Sriram Kanuri,

CEO of Arteria Technologies.

He continued: “We continue to innovate with

our product roadmap; the upcoming launch of

Cloud version of our products will further

enhance our market position. Our strength is

our capabilities to build solutions with quick

ROI and help customers extend their SAP

ERP processes to business partners and

employees while staying invested on the SAP

technology platform.” n

Arteria Technologies named ‘Cool Vendorsin the SAP Eco System, 2013’ by Gartner

GS1 US has introduced two

new readiness programs to

help companies in the food

industry implement and

improve product traceability

processes by leveraging GS1 Standards: the

Seafood Traceability Readiness Programme

and Dairy, Deli, Bakery Traceability Readiness

Programme.

Companies that subscribe to these

programmes can learn how to establish or

enhance an effective traceability programme;

identify, capture, and share product data

along the supply chain with GS1 Standards;

improve business efficiencies and gain

visibility into their supply chains. They will also

understand how they can comply with

traceability-related requirements of the

Bioterrorism Act and the Food Safety

Modernisation Act; and make informed

decisions about technology requirements and

solution providers.

“Companies in the seafood and dairy, deli

and bakery industries are working hard to

improve traceability processes,” said Angela

Fernandez, vice president, grocery retail and

consumer packaged goods at GS1 US. “A

study by the Centres for Disease Control and

Prevention estimates that 76 million illnesses,

325,000 hospitalisations, and

5000 deaths occur annually in

the United States as a result

of foodborne illness. These

readiness programmes

provide the education,

resources, and community

support necessary to

implement traceability

processes that help

companies meet customer

expectations for safe,

authentic, nutritious foods and

differentiate their brand in the

marketplace.”

Subscribers in these self-paced, online

programmes will have access to educational

webinars, interactive tools and resources, and

a community of industry peers and standards

experts with whom they can share industry

best practices and discuss implementation

challenges.

Many trading partners in the fresh food

supply chain are already using GS1

Standards, giving them a head start in

establishing traceability processes. The

Seafood and Dairy, Deli, Bakery Traceability

Readiness Programmes will help companies

leverage these investments, allowing for

product sustainability and integrity, and the

rapid identification, location, and withdrawal

of potentially harmful products from stores

and restaurants.

Benefits to companies that implement an

effective traceability process include:

• Streamlining business processes.

• Improving food safety.

• Enabling supply chain visibility.

• Meeting regulatory requirements.

• Reducing costs.

• Boosting consumer confidence.

• Strengthening trading partner

relationships.

For more information visit www.gs1us.org

GS1 US introduces traceability readinessprogrammes for seafood and dairy, deli andbakery industries


Warehouse Management n Success story

E-commerce has become a booming

business with sustained 20 to 30 per

cent growth each year. The fashion

industry is expected to become the

largest subsection of this e-

commerce market growth. Within the Fashion

industry, Urban Outfitters Inc. is a well-known

specialty retailer that offers a variety of lifestyle

merchandise to highly defined customer

niches. Headquartered in Philadelphia,

Pennsylvania, it operates in the USA, Canada

and Europe through various sales channels,

such as stores, catalogs and online store fronts.

The company’s brands Urban Outfitters,

Anthropologie, Free People, Terrain and

BHLDN are experiencing strong growth in its

Direct-to-Consumer business. Urban Outfitters’

logistics processes needed to adapt to meet

the increase in orders from their growth in e-

commerce sales. Therefore Urban Outfitters

reached out to Vanderlande Industries to

design and install their new e-commerce

distribution system located in Reno, Nevada.

Vanderlande brings years of knowledge and

experience to designing and implementing

automated order fulfilment systems.

The challenges

1) Urban Outfitters operates a distribution

centre in Trenton, South Carolina, which

was primarily responsible for serving its

expanding Direct-to-Consumer market. The

Trenton warehouse logistics flow was not

originally designed to handle the modern

day order profiles. Urban was faced with

either renovating an outdated facility or

investing in an entirely new facility. The

warehouse also needed to account for

unique processes, which other legacy

distribution centres may not face on a

regular basis, such as short delivery times

for a wide range of customers, high

accuracy, efficient returns handling and

significant peaks during the year.

2) The e-commerce, on-line shopper is

increasingly demanding. Shoppers expect

multiple product choices, good pricing and

fast delivery of their selected products. To

compete in this demanding market Urban

Outfitters offers its customers a wide

variety of goods with drastically different

product characteristics at competitive

prices. Internally, the Urban logistics group

requires a high level of attention in order to

support this business model. Therefore, its

distribution channels must operate not only

in a way to support the vast array of

products with unique characteristics, but

must also allow for the necessary value-

added logistics processes required to

remain competitive.

3) Another important aspect of serving the

Direct-to-Consumer market is the footprint

of the customer base and how it matches

against small package carriers’

capabilities. Since Direct-to-Consumer

orders go to many more destinations than

one might see in a traditional retail

distribution network, a successful e-

commerce distribution centre is

strategically located close enough to its

targeted customer base as to optimise

next-day or 2-day small package carrier

delivery footprints.

Why Vanderlande Industries?

Urban turned to Vanderlande Industries to

develop a solution for its challenging logistics

model. Urban chose Vanderlande on this

project, primarily because of the company’s

extensive experience in designing and

implementing order fulfilment systems for other

Direct-to-Consumer businesses, such as

Tesco. Urban also chose Vanderlande

because of its previous success on two other

new Urban facilities in the UK. These two other

facilities were a Direct-to-Consumer order

fulfilment centre, one being a retail fashion DC.

Both facilities exceeded expectations and went

operational in 2011.

Ken McKinney, executive director of Logistics

Vanderlande Industries integratesautomated material handling system in newReno e-commerce facility for Urban Outfitters




for Urban Outfitters, Inc., commented: “We

preferred Vanderlande because they

demonstrated that they clearly understand

complex logistics challenges, are able to

design appropriate solutions through mixing

and matching their proven sub-systems, and

are able to provide full scope integration.”

He continued: “Vanderlande used a very

flexible approach and demonstrated a desire

to understand our business needs and culture

and to provide us with the appropriate end-to-

end automated material handling solution that

meets our needs. Their engineers took our

preliminary conceptual design and

substantially improved it, providing increased

performance levels and aligning the different

elements of the system with our strategic

business objectives.”

The solution

Urban Outfitters and Vanderlande developed

a new distribution centre that is strategically

located in Reno, Nevada and utilises state-of-

the-art picking and sortation technologies,

specifically designed and optimised for the

Direct-to-Consumer market. The new system

takes care of all warehouse processes, from

receiving to shipping. It is a tote based

picking and transport system with unique

features allowing for high operator

performance and maximum efficiency. It

allows for maximum flexibility while

accommodating all of the unique products

that Urban Outfitters sells. Both single piece

and multi piece orders can be sorted,

consolidated and shipped in the most cost

effective, streamlined method possible. The

system is based on a batch picking concept

optimised for Urban Outfitters. Picking is done

in totes, which are subsequently transported

to infeed workstations at a packing sorter

where the products are manually placed on

the sorter. The sorter then sorts pieces to the

corresponding order chute. Once all the

pieces for a batch have been sorted, the

pieces are packed per order by an operator

into poly bags or cartons. Value added

services, such as inserting promotional flyers

can be done here as well. A conveyor system

transports the packages to a shipping sorter.

The material handling system is managed by

Vanderlande’s Vision Warehouse Control

System, which is integrated into Urban

Outfitters’ Manhattan Associates WMS

system. Vision dynamically assigns orders to

chutes and directs orders to the appropriate

areas for consolidation.

The benefits

Urban Outfitters is aiming to see significant

benefits from the new project. Compared with

previous design iterations, the Vanderlande

solution offers a faster Return on Investment.

The new facility also has commonality with

another system in Urban’s network (a Direct-to-

Consumer order fulfilment centre in Rushden,

UK which went into operation fall of 2011),

enabling the company to compare and

benchmark logistics performance indicators.

Vanderlande’s worldwide presence allows

companies to achieve synergies that are not

possible with regional providers. The new

warehouse process also brings significantly

improved performance in terms of operating

costs, efficiency and customer service levels.

The new Reno facility went live in September

2012 but this is not the end of the partnership

between Urban and Vanderlande. “Their life

cycle management approach is very appealing

to customers like us, looking for a one-stop

shop,” said McKinney. n

Urban Outfitters operates a distribution centre in Trenton, South Carolina.

Find out what we can do for you at: www.vanderlande.com

LET US HELP YOU TO:Reduce operational costs - Optimise space utilisation - Improve accuracy - Reduce through put time - Provide ergonomic working conditions for employees

LEADING IN WAREHOUSE AUTOMATIONYOUR CHALLENGE, OUR SOLUTIONS




“Accord transformed our business” – That is what Health Store’s managing director, Tim Ryan,said about the company’s implementation of BCP’s Accord ERP solution and Voice WMS.

The Health Store is one of the UK’s

leading wholesalers of natural and

organic products to the

independent health food trade.

Founded as a co-operative in

1932, the company now operates from a

75,000 sq ft warehouse in Nottingham,

supplying retailers across the UK mainland,

Ireland, Europe and into the Far East with

over 9000 products, ranging from organic

seeds, nuts and pulses through to natural

body care, vitamins and supplements.

BCP (Business Computer Projects Ltd.) is the

UK supply chain software provider to the food

and drink wholesale industry and has been

one of the leaders in introducing Voice-

directed WMS to the UK market, installing the

first wall-to-wall Voice WMS in the UK food

and drink sector in 2002. Clients include

BWG, Musgrave, SPAR, ADM Londis, T

Quality and Creed Catering.

Aware that it needed to improve pick

accuracy, The Health Store had been

considering investing in Voice technology for

some time, initially looking at either a

middleware solution or a full Voice WMS. As

investigations progressed, however, it

became clear that the company’s incumbent

wholesale solution was no longer adequate

for its needs and that the project should be

extended to include replacement of that.

BCP’s Accord emerged as being most

suitable for the business as Tim Ryan, Health

Store’s managing director, explained: “We

realised that as a fully integrated warehouse

management and ERP solution we could

replace all of our systems with one integrated

system from BCP which would make running

the whole business far more straightforward.”

The decision to invest in Accord was sealed

by two factors – the introduction of a new

Accord manufacturing module and seeing the

Accord solution and fully integrated Voice

WMS live in action at another BCP client.

Ryan said: “Accord Voice WMS outclassed

specialist standalone warehouse offerings

and it was incredibly impressive seeing how

the system operated as part of a fully

integrated Accord solution and the benefits

that that company had seen from its

implementation.”

Implementation

The 60 user system encompasses the

complete Accord software suite from

Purchasing through Sales Order Processing

to Financials, Manufacturing and Voice WMS

and was implemented in two main phases.

The first phase was the main Accord system

where the company wanted to ensure

continuous operation, switching the old

system off and Accord on in a single day. “It

was the most seamless implementation of an

ERP system I have ever seen,” said Ryan.

“When we switched the old system off Accord

came up live and we went straight into

stocktake.” Once everyone was familiar with

the Accord system the company moved to the

second phase of the implementation – Voice

WMS. This was done over the period of one

week, starting in the goods receiving area

and then working through the warehouse,

finishing up with Picking.

Results

“Accord has really transformed our business,”

said Ryan. “It’s brought us into the 21st

Century. The key benefits are data accuracy,

visibility, scheduling and efficiency.” Accord

has improved accuracy throughout the

business from goods receiving, to stock

through to picking where accuracy is now

Tim Ryan: “[BCP’s Accord] is improvingefficiency throughout the business, both inthe offices and in the warehouse, making ourbusiness – and those of our customers –much more competitive.”

Health Store picks the right solution




above 99 per cent. Ryan commented: “Those

errors which do occur are usually simple

human ones which are often unavoidable.”

Members (customers) have commented upon

how much more accurate orders are since the

implementation of voice, claims have dropped

massively – by over 60 per cent – and levels

of trust have skyrocketed. Visibility of data

within the business is now much better. For

instance, in Telesales there is now confidence

in the information in front of the operator to be

able to guarantee that stock is available and

also to upsell product or to sell substitutes or

alternatives.

Accord has also transformed reporting in the

business, “giving us fantastic ability to slice

and dice data to show us exactly what we

need to know about the business,” Ryan

remarked. With the previous paper-based

system people had to manually decide which

pieces of work should be done in which

order. Accord now does this, scheduling work

in the most effective order for the business.

“By being able to see the exact quantities of

work in each area, we are able to move

people to the best

effective use of their

time,” said Ryan.

One of the biggest

efficiency gains has

been in Picking, where

“we are now picking

more orders with fewer

pickers than we were

before we implemented

Accord,” explained

Ryan. The Health Store

has developed a very

close working

relationship with BCP, who’ve shown they’re

very interested in developing the system to

meet the needs of their customers. Through

special interest groups the Health Store has

been able to input into future developments of

Accord, a good example of this being the

Kitting module where BCP worked very

closely with the Health Store to develop the

module to meet its exact needs.

Ryan concluded: “Now that Accord is fully

implemented in our business we are delighted

with the results and absolutely convinced we

made the right decision. The investment was

substantial, but it paid for itself within just 9

months. It’s improving efficiency throughout

the business, both in the offices and in the

warehouse, making our business – and those

of our customers – much more competitive.

Plus, it’s scalable, so we’re already seeing

other opportunities to use it to further improve

our business.” n

Wall-to-Wall Voice Directed Warehouse Computing

Typical Benefits:-

Business Computer Projects Ltd

Visionary Solutions

Join our social networks Business Computer Projects

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