Supplier Management

Increased number of suppliers, greater number of outsourced functions, and unsynchronized data compromise today’s global supply chain management. Viewlocity’s Supplier Management solution organizes such information from all the trading partners into a single comprehensive system and provides tools to view, respond, and measure your supply chain.

Challenges

• Unpredictable Consumer Demand - Forecasting end user demand is becoming increasingly difficult. Inaccurate forecasts make it extremely difficult to manage the procurement of long lead time items.

• Constrained Supply - Companies need as much forewarning as possible in order to react quickly and adjust plans when a given supplier is unable to meet the schedule or respond to a changing need.

• Obsolescence Risk – Many of the parts used or products produced may have a shortened lifecycle and a fluctuating demand. To minimize the amount of obsolescence at the component or finished goods level, organizations need to rapidly identify products that are moving faster and take advantage of that momentum, while realizing stagnant ones, in order to ease up or eliminate future orders.

• International Logistics Variability – A significant portion of the products may be built in low cost manufacturing locations. The management of International Inbound Logistics is critical in maintaining fluidity of a company’s supply chain.

The Solution Features

• Forecast and Order Visibility – Integrates forecasted demand and actual sales orders as they materialize. The buyer immediately knows any deviation in supply requirements resulting from forecast changes or inaccurate forecasts.

• Purchase Order Management – Tracks the status of purchase orders and replenishment requests. Alert notification occurs when there is a change in the supply plan or when there is a need to generate a new replenishment.

• Global Inventory Visibility – Organizes parts from different nodes of the supply chain including any inventory that may be in-transit or positioned at a partner’s location. Users are alerted based on inventory positions such as low stock or excess stock.

• Dynamic Sourcing – Sources the parts dynamically from the supply chain in a manner that meets customer needs while minimizing total delivery cost.

• Supplier Score Carding – Monitors and measures the performance of suppliers against contracted service levels.

The Solution Benefits

• Reduce Inventory Safety Stock – Companies using Viewlocity’s Supplier Management solution have seen an overall reduction in inventory cost. Our solution provides an integrated look at demand and supply allowing companies to see trends and react quickly and efficiently. Able to sense problems such as supply disruptions, Viewlocity’s Supplier Management solution provides the best and most cost effective alternatives. All encompassing, it allows a company to maintain appropriate inventory levels to meet customer expectations and minimize product obsolescence.

• Reduce Overall Component Sourcing – Companies using Viewlocity’s Supplier Management solution improve their ability to negotiate new contracts with suppliers and service providers, thereby reducing their overall cost to source components. Our solution measures their supplier’s ability to meet contract requirements by furnishing them with detailed scorecards and other analytic tools. Viewlocity’s Supplier Management solution also measures service providers' ability to meet their commitments. Including score carding and performance measurements for both suppliers and service providers empowers companies to determine their best sourcing needs to reduce the overall cost when sourcing components.

• Reduce Expedited Freight Cost – Companies using Viewlocity’s Supplier Management solutions have realized a reduction in expedited freight costs. We provide not only visibility to product moving in the supply chain, but also inventory positioned throughout the supply chain. Unpredictable events, such as increased demand, can cause companies to panic and start expediting freight. Viewlocity’s Supplier Management solution surveys their entire supply chain and responds to the increased demand by having the intelligence to follow a work-flow alternative. These alternatives provide companies with other options to satisfy these demand spikes without having to expedite freight, thereby reducing their expedited freight costs.

• Decrease Production Disruptions – Companies using Viewlocity’s Supplier Management solution reduce production disruptions. We provide impact notification when we sense problems occurring in the supply chain. Problems, such as shipment delays, can have a detrimental effect to production if gone unnoticed. Viewlocity’s Supplier Management Solution senses these issues as soon as possible and then equips them to respond intelligently.

• Improve Planner Productivity – Companies using Viewlocity’s Supplier Management see an increase in the productivity of their purchasing organization. This is, in part, due to the fact that all the information that is required to support the purchasing process is readily available in a single system. Further, the system provides proactive notifications of disruptions or opportunities and recommends potential options to respond to the event.