Checklist supply chain optimisation

Better decision-making processes

The business complexity is increasing all the time due to globalisation, big data and dynamic interdependences. It is becoming ever-more difficult for supply chain professionals to make the right decisions. Supply Chain Media, software vendor Aimms and consultancy firm Districon have put together this checklist for supply chain optimisation.

In order to make the best possible supply chain decisions, it is vital to make a distinction between the various optimisation areas: the supply chain network and the associated stock allocation, the usually monthly supply and demand planning, weekly and daily production planning and scheduling, risk mitigation and the cost to serve. The optimisation objectives can vary, e.g. in terms of volume, costs, profit, market share, currency, cash, tax or CO2 emissions.

When making their calculations, most companies extensively utilise complex Excel spreadsheets. This involves lots of manual input work and hence is highly prone to errors. Although many companies have an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, their IT infrastructure is usually still fragmented. This makes it difficult, if not impossible, to perform quick calculations for decisionmaking purposes. Effective decision-making actually requires software that has various powerful models which ideally can be used dynamically in simulations. Access to relevant information is necessary in the sales & operations planning (S&OP) cycle, for example.

In order to remain agile, it is essential to offer fast and effective decision-making support in relatively small steps. The software must be sufficiently flexible and scalable for it to be extended to other product groups, everlarger geographical regions and other opportunities for optimisation within the company.

Answer the 10 questions to discover how far your company is in terms of optimisation.