 |
| Case Studies |
Connecting with the Supply Chain
by Samantha Walker
The company: Karl W. Richter (KWR) is an inventory control and supply chain management
company based in Toronto, Ontario. The successful business values promoted by owner Alex
Richter require the company to have superior supply chain management to meet the demanding
deadlines for delivery of orders. KWR also requires a platform for growth as the company
expands to Shanghai in 2008.
The problem: With activity across North America and China, KWR was struggling
with keeping on top of large orders and managing the delivery commitments made to its
customers. The company needed a way to improve the communication along the supply
chain so that KWR's customers would not be disappointed by unnecessary missed deadlines
and delays.
Due to the volume of orders and plans for further expansion, the goal was to achieve
efficiencies in the supply chain without burdening the already busy team with additional
or more cumbersome duties.
The following business objectives were identified:
- Improve the on-time delivery of orders to customers to achieve better customer service.
- Reduce the need for phone calls and emails between KWR staff and the suppliers
to improve visibility of communications.
- Eliminate the need to manually update the ERP system with new information or
modifications from the suppliers once purchase orders are issued.
The solution: With the assistance from Rowie Walker & Associates Inc., an ERP
consulting and software development firm, Richter assembled a team of key staff from
the customer service and purchasing departments. Through several roundtable meetings,
KWR gathered information about the source of delays and learned more about the issues
the various team members encountered during their day that made their job complicated.
How often were shipments late? What were the most common reasons for delays? How
did the purchasing team most often communicate with the suppliers? How did the
team measure the suppliers and was there any incentive for improvement? What kind
of information would be most beneficial for the customer service staff to have available
for communicating order status to the customers? Is there an opportunity to add data
entry efficiencies in the ERP system when changes are made to purchase orders?
Talking through these questions with the team gave the management team a great base
from which to begin the design. The system would have the following basic requirements:
- Accessibility for KWR staff both inside and outside the office,
- Accessibility for suppliers with different access than the KWR staff,
- Connected in real-time to the ERP system, Sage BusinessVision 50,
- Allow measurement of delivery delays for reporting to customers and suppliers.
To achieve the accessibility system requirements, the team decided on a web-based system.
Development would employ .NET and AJAX technology with the most up-to-date frameworks to
ensure a long-life for the system once deployed.
By hosting the system within the KWR infrastructure, a real-time connection to the
BusinessVision would be possible. Some investment in the existing infrastructure
improved security to a level acceptable for a direct ERP connection with a portal open
to the public. A web security certificate purchased from an internet solution provider
gives the outside users the required sense of safety for using the site.
The site, named SupplierCONNECT, is used to manage all line items on every purchase order
issued by KWR. As purchase orders are issued in BusinessVision, the details appear
immediately on the web site: the KWR part number appears with the supplier part number,
description, quantity ordered, cost, and associated required dates as entered by the KWR
purchasing team.
Both the KWR buyers and the outside suppliers have access to SupplierCONNECT and
may update many of the pertinent fields. Changes to quantity, costs, and expected
delivery dates are registered both on the site and within BusinessVision immediately.
A full archive of all modifications can be accessed using standard reporting and
query techniques.
KWR sets up accounts for all users in SupplierCONNECT. Each user must be designated
as a buyer or supplier and is given access to specific supplier codes from BusinessVision
or, for the case of some buyers, is granted the rights to view details of all suppliers.
Upon logging on, the site first presents to the user any late purchase order details
that require attention. As a buyer, the user may use note fields on the line items
to request updates from the supplier. An "internal notes" field allows the buyers to
enter notes that will not be visible to the associated suppliers. The buyer may then
move to other views: the confirmation view lists all modifications that have been made
by the suppliers and are awaiting confirmation from the buyers; the new view lists all
details that have not yet been acknowledged by the suppliers.
All tabs have filter options for adjusting the data presented and export options for
further work on the data in spreadsheets. The views may be sorted by any of the columns
on the display.
SupplierCONNECT presents similar information to the supplier users. The late
tab appears first showing all details that need immediate attention. The new
tab lists all new purchase order details that are awaiting confirmation of
delivery date. Once confirmed by the supplier, this delivery date becomes
the base measurement against which the supplier is rated. All modifications
to this date are registered and the actual receipt date in the ERP system may
be compared to this date to rate supplier's performance.
KWR has improved delivery times to customers by maintaining a very close
relationship with its suppliers. With the SupplierCONNECT system, KWR
buyers have a tool that allows instant communication with their suppliers
in a secure environment that encourages accountability through performance
management. By increasing the visibility to the purchasing information and
linking directly to the ERP data, SupplierCONNECT has improved customer
service and created significant efficiencies in data entry.
|
|
|
|
