“Our research found that organizations are striving towards more accurate and comprehensive information on which to base their important business decisions. The research shows businesses are ready to transform into information driven organizations in 2007 and beyond through advanced use of technology.” said Mark Smith, CEO and EVP of Research at Ventana Research.

Among the key research findings, Ventana Research found:
· Information management is just beginning to mature. Nearly two-thirds of organizations (66%) are still in the early stages of information management maturity, with the large majority of organizations built on entry-level technologies such as data warehousing and business intelligence (BI).
· Data governance is not widespread but is rated a high priority. More than half of respondents reported that their organizations do not publish a formal data governance policy but those that do tend to be large companies.
· Broad diversification of Information Management is underway. While our research found a heavy existing focus on BI, data warehousing, data quality and data integration, there is a significant diversification underway with new projects in progress or planned in enterprise master data management, enterprise search, information security, enterprise information integration, and data governance.
· Customer information is the most important but followed by financial then product information assets. Customer information holds the highest priority among the information assets of companies, according to survey respondents. Over 50 percent of organizations ranked
customer information first followed by financial information with 36 percent.

Ventana Research will expand on the key findings of the research study Information Management Actions, Intentions, Perceptions and Trends in Information at a live interactive webinar on Tuesday, December 5 at 9:00am Pacific.

More information on the webinar and the study can be found at www.ventanaresearch.com.

For illustration, consider manufacturer Intel, and one of its major customers for computer chips, Dell Inc. One might observe information externalities affecting Intel when Dell makes its earnings announcements. Analysts who follow Dell probably ask questions about why the company reported lower operating income than expected. But other analysts-who don’t follow Dell-would still listen carefully because they want to pick up clues about what Dell’s news means to the companies they do follow.

What’s remarkable isn’t that humans can intuit these connections, but that the market behaves in a way that takes into account these finer relationships. Continuing the example, Zach said, consider what could happen to Intel after Dell makes its earnings statement.

“The supplier, in this case Intel, is likely to be affected when the customer announces increased revenues or decreased operating income. What’s more, the tighter the economic bond between customer and supplier, the stronger the impact,” Zach said. “Dell accounted for approximately 19 percent of Intel’s sales in 2005. If more people bought Dell computers in a given year, then Intel is going to benefit as well because Intel produces the chips for Dell’s computers.”
Not all announcements are good news, however.

“Consider the costs of the customer,” Zach said. “If Dell announces its costs have gone up, that’s obviously bad news for Dell. But it’s not necessarily bad news for Intel. Dell’s costs might have gone up because Intel was able to raise its prices. This could be a positive signal for Intel’s shareholders.”

Zach’s research examines various types of accounting announcements and evaluates whether the information-transfer flows consistently depending on the kind of news. In particular, Zach looked at earnings reports, management forecasts and conference calls—whether those calls are related to earnings or not.

Investors aren’t the only ones that can benefit from understanding the connection of supplier and customer through what Zach calls “information externalities.” If there is a lot of competition in a supplier’s industry, then any relationship the supplier has with a major customer is going to be affected by announcements of the company’s well being.

More information on the study, co-written by Zach with accounting professor Shail Pandit at The Ohio State University and Charles Wasley, professor of business administration at the University of Rochester on the study is available through www.wustl.edu.

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Available on-site at the client’s facilities or at TZA University in Long Grove, IL, the programs focus on the integration of logistics best-practices with human resource management and development and are targeted for associates, supervisors and managers. The curriculum has been designed, developed and facilitated by training specialists with extensive consulting and operational experience to provide participants with the tools they need to achieve the optimal performance levels. Through live presentations, case studies, thought-provoking exercises, and guided discussions, participants will be exposed to new tools, strategies and concepts that they can implement immediately on return to their businesses.

Michael Droske, a skilled educator in developing leaders and managers in both “blue collar” and “white collar” environments, leads the TZA Training Division.

“Michael and his team have developed a high level of technical expertise in a wide range of distribution issues, coupled with the ability to explain technical topics at almost any level of detail. Their unique combination of skills is an essential element as we launch this new venture,” said Evan Danner, TZA’s President.

More information about TZA’s new training programs and consulting offerings are available at the TZA website.

Years of surveying and conversations with readers have shown that busy executives turn to an industry magazine like Supply & Demand Chain Executive for essentially two reasons: to learn how to solve problems that they know they have, and to learn about solutions for problems they didn’t even know they had. The mission of this magazine, then, is to provide targeted information to help corporate executives and other supply and demand chain management professionals as they enable their supply chains for competitive advantage.

As part of this mission, each year the magazine uses its Supply & Demand Chain Executive 100 feature to make its readers aware of those enablers that are leading the way in providing cutting-edge solutions and services to help enterprises address pain points in their supply chains through the application of new technologies and new processes.

This year the magazine focused the criteria for its “100″ feature on innovation. Based on the submissions for the “100″ from end users and technology companies themselves, our judging committee looked for solutions across a variety of industries, addressing the needs of companies of varying sizes, and assisting in the transformation of a diverse mix of the functions that make up the supply chain. The result is a comprehensive listing of leading providers of supply chain services and technologies who are at the forefront of innovation.

The solution providers that follow are listed in alphabetical order, and this article provides a brief description of why each enabler was included in this year’s “100″ listing. We suggest scanning through the article and noting those solution providers that enable those segments of the supply chain (Sourcing, Logistics, etc.) that are current priorities at your enterprise, as well as consulting the additional online resources available at SDCExec.com — including the Interactive Global Supply & Demand Chain Map, the Global Enabled Supply & Demand Chain Directory and our Best Practices Forum — in order to assemble a list of appropriate solution providers who can assist you. In this way, the “100″ listing can provide a vital first step on your supply chain enablement journey. Bon voyage!

Common abbreviations: PLM — Product Lifecycle Management; CRM — Customer Relationship Management; ERP — Enterprise Resource Planning.

4flow AG (Berlin, Germany; Enables: Sourcing, Fulfillment/Logistics, Decision Support/Consulting). First integrated, standard software for supply chain design. Web-based planning engine allows users in different countries to work collaboratively on planning projects.

Aankhen Inc. (San Jose, Calif.; Enables: Order/Demand Management; Procurement; Sourcing; Decision Support/Consulting; Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP; Payment; Fulfillment/Logistics; PLM). Solution automates the in-context computation of “should be cost,” allowing enterprises to manage what should be the spend and reducing financial leakage and uncertainty.

ACQUIREX (Long Beach, Calif.; Enables: Procurement; Payment). Web service integration technology allows customers to integrate electronic purchasing to existing technology infrastructure and MRP/ERP solutions; smaller companies gain benefits of e-procurement without the upfront professional service fees.

Adonix (Pittsburgh, Pa.; Enables: Order/Demand Management, Fulfillment/Logistics, CRM, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP). Revamped X3 app enables companies to extend ERP information infrastructure to accommodate key business partners as if they were internal users.

ADR North America LLC (Ann Arbor, Mich.; Enables: Decision Support/Consulting, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP, Payment, PLM, Procurement, Fulfillment/Logistics, Sourcing, Order/Demand Management). Creating practical, sustainable solutions that clients use to achieve cost savings and competitive advantage through their purchasing and supply chain operations.

Agistix (Redwood City, Calif.; Enables: Procurement, Fulfillment/Logistics). First carrier-neutral heavy freight shipping solution to automate freight shipment processing and provide visibility into global freight shipments.

AIM Computer Solutions Inc. (Fraser, Mich.; Enables: Procurement, Order/Demand Management, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP, Decision Support/Consulting, CRM, PLM, Fulfillment/Logistics). First to integrate billing, shipping, ASN transmission and release accounting with AIAG labels.

Arena Solutions (Foster City, Calif.; Enables: PLM). First to bring the benefits of on-demand – faster deployment and more cost-effective solutions – to PLM market. Customer Strida Bicycles implemented the Arena solution in two days and doubled its business within one year.

ARGO Tracker (Tucson, Ariz.; Enables: Fulfillment/Logistics). Combining GPS and wireless communication technologies with add-on sensor capabilities to enable real-time asset tracking and visibility of goods in transit throughout the supply chain, resulting in reduced costs due to damage, vandalism and spoilage.

Ariba (Sunnyvale, Calif.; Enables: Order/Demand Management, Procurement, Sourcing, Fulfillment/Logistics, Payment, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP, Decision Support/Consulting). Leader in solutions transforming procurement. Provides technology, services and expertise on a single, integrated platform.

Avendra LLC (Rockville, Md.; Enables: Order/Demand Management, Procurement, Sourcing, Decision Support/Consulting). Formed to deliver leveraged procurement to the hospitality industry, determining specifications and ordering economically.

Avnet Logistics (Phoenix, Ariz.; Enables: Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP, Decision Support/Consulting, Order/Demand Management, Fulfillment/Logistics). Provides specialized supply chain and logistics services in the global electronic components industry.

Axway (Paris, France, and Scottsdale, Ariz.; Enables: Order/Demand Management, Decision Support/Consulting, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP). Partnered with McKesson Corp. to develop an electronic pedigree solution allowing customers to meet regulatory mandates.

Baxter Planning Systems (Austin, Texas; Enables: Order/Demand Management, Procurement, Fulfillment/Logistics, PLM, Decision Support/Consulting). Integrated inventory planning software collects data from various consumption points and makes strategic recommendations, freeing users from manual data and transaction entry and providing visibility.

BigMachines, Inc. (Deerfield, Ill.; Enables: Sourcing, CRM). Leader in transforming the demand chain by enabling manufacturers to leverage on-demand Web technology to automate their entire customer facing processes.

Business Objects (San Jose, Calif.; Enables: Order/Demand Management, Fulfillment/Logistics, Procurement, Decision Support). Business intelligence solutions provide built-in functionality particular to supply chain processes such as procurement, logistics or manufacturing, streamlining information flow across the organization and the supply chain.

CGI Group Inc. (Montreal, Canada; Enables: Sourcing, Procurement, Decision Support/Consulting, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP, Payment). Solutions designed to improve the procure-to-pay process. Have been used for statewide spend management in Delaware and Oregon, curbing off-contract purchasing and ensuring correct pricing for on-contract purchases.

Chainalytics (Atlanta, Ga.; Enables: Decision Support/Consulting, Fulfillment/Logistics). Pioneered a statistical model-based benchmark of transportation rates and the impact of operational policies on those rates.

Choice Logistics (New York, NY; Enables: Sourcing, Order/Demand Management, Fulfillment/Logistics, Procurement, PLM). Helps such companies as EMC, HDS and Avaya manage their inventory assets, facilitating on-time operations and improved performance.

Click Commerce (Chicago, Ill.; Enables: Order/Demand Management, Sourcing, Procurement, Fulfillment/Logistics, Decision Support/Consulting, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP, PLM, CRM). Among the first to identify benefits of offering software-as-a-service in the supply chain management space. Uses a service-oriented architecture to link return forecasting and planning solutions with dynamic decision-making capabilities.

CombineNet (Pittsburgh, Pa.; Enables: Sourcing, Procurement, Decision Support/Consulting). Optimization technology enables “Expressive Commerce”: buyers provide open-ended requests for proposals online; suppliers respond with pricing, alternate items, contract and payment terms, bundled bids and conditional offers based on factors like market share/volume.

Comergent Technologies (Redwood City, Calif.; Enables: Order/Demand Management, CRM). eBusiness System provides support for inbound channel and addresses flexibility in the presentation of information across various user roles; offers an industry model for order capture processes, order routing, tracking and fulfillment.

Corporate United (Cleveland, Ohio; Enables: Sourcing, Procurement, Fulfillment/Logistics). This group buying organization requires all members to participate in commodity committees to hammer out effective national contracts that save millions of dollars for participants.

Cube Route Inc. (Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Enables: Fulfillment/Logistics). On-demand logistics management solutions for last-mile logistics — ideal for companies that want to improve service and achieve real-time visibility into delivery operations.

D.W. Morgan Co. (Pleasanton, Calif.; Enables: Fulfillment/Logistics, Decision Support/Consulting, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP). Blends logistics and supply chain solutions to free customers to focus on strategic goals. Works with clients to position their supply chains globally and competitively.

Demand Management Inc. (St. Louis, Mo.; Enables: Decision Support/Consulting, Procurement, Sourcing, Order/Demand Management). DS Collaborate creates a synchronized collaboration network for planning complex multiple promotions. Service Level Optimizer offers alternative way to determine safety stocks by measuring demand, not forecast error.

DSSI LLC (Southfield, Mich.; Enables: Order/Demand Management, Fulfillment/Logistics, Procurement, Sourcing, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP, Decision Support/Consulting, Payment). Leader in purchasing business process outsourcing (BPO) space, developing a Web-based e-procurement infrastructure that links the client, DSSI and suppliers together for integrated procurement.

E2open (Redwood City, Calif.; Enables: Order/Demand Management, Procurement, Sourcing, Fulfillment/Logistics, Decision Support/Consulting, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP, PLM, CRM, Payment). On-demand software to address critical supply chain processes such as inventory management, forecast collaboration, order management.

EC Sourcing Group Inc. (Morristown, N.J.; Enables: Sourcing). First enabler to have eight different question formats within its request for information (RFI) module, and also the first provider to have request for proposal (RFP) variable labels technology, allowing all spend categories to be sourced within its e-sourcing software.

Edge Dynamics (Redwood City, Calif.; Enables: Order/Demand Management). Pioneer in channel commerce management solutions for the life sciences industry, allowing manufacturers to more effectively manage and enforce inventory management agreements (IMAs) and ensure inventory availability at the right place and time to prevent stockouts.

Emptoris (Burlington, Mass.; Enables: Procurement, Sourcing, Decision Support/Consulting, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP, CRM). First vendor to offer a single suite and support across the entire supply management process. First turnkey solution integrating source-to-contract processes to SAP’s Materials Management Procurement solution.

Enigma Inc. (Burlington, Mass.; Enables: Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP). 3C Platform is the first fully integrated enterprise support chain management solution that has the ability to seamlessly link OEMs, operators and maintenance, repair and overhaul organizations (MROs), and high-tech industries through the Web, offline media (CD-ROM/DVD) and wireless.

Enporion Inc. (Tampa, Fla.; Enables: Order/Demand Management, Procurement, Sourcing, CRM, Payment, Fulfillment/Logistics, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP, Decision Support/Consulting). Supply chain management technology tools and services for electric and gas energy companies. Enhancing its customers’ competitive advantage in the marketplace and driving significant savings throughout their supply chains, winning a highly enthusiastic client base.

Epicor Software Corp. (Irvine, Calif.; Enables: Order/Demand Management, Fulfillment/Logistics, Sourcing, Procurement, Payment, CRM, PLM, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP, Decision Support/Consulting). Portal solution is satisfying need for collaboration among consumers, suppliers, partners and employees, while delivering better management of distributed information.

Eqos (Burlington, Mass.; Enables: Sourcing). Offers companies and users working on complex sourcing projects a Web-based collaboration platform and “rapid application development” (RAD) environment that is configurable and flexible to change as processes change and as business grows.

FORTE (Mason, Ohio; Enables: Decision Support/Consulting). Distribution consultant and system integrator offering single-source design/build methodology. Software has developed into a Distribution Intelligence System that organizes, accesses and manipulates distribution performance information for current and future-state performance analysis.

Global eProcure (Clark, NJ; Enablex: Sourcing, Procurement). Pioneered the bid optimization feature in the reverse auction tool, allowing clients to view different savings scenarios before making their final award decision. Helping lead “insourcing” trend, enabling clients to supplement existing procurement resources with external personnel and resources to match procurement needs over time.

GXS (Gaithersburg, Md.; Enables: Order/Demand Management, Fulfillment/Logistics, PLM, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP, Payment). Providing low-cost, easy-to-use solutions that bring B2B e-commerce to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).

Hand Held Products Inc. (Skaneateles Falls, NY; Enables: Fulfillment/Logistics, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP, Payment, CRM). Offers data collection technology capable of reading any bar code, including damaged and poorly printed labels, plus capture digital images and signatures — all with one solution.

Hewlett-Packard (Palo Alto, Calif.; Enables: Order/Demand Management, Procurement, Sourcing, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP, Fulfillment/Logistics). Currently has a customer-driven supply chain model consisting of just five supply chains, each providing unique capabilities to meet different customer needs. This “portfolio of supply chains” strategy serves as a model for other companies looking to streamline the supply chain.

HighJump Software, a 3M Co. (Eden Prairie, Minn.; Enables: Fulfillment/Logistics). With a belief that no two supply chains are alike, HighJump develops and provides configurable supply chain execution solutions. Ensures all applications are integrated to support the real-time flow of information between suppliers, manufacturers, distributors and transporters.

Iasta.com Inc. (Carmel, Ind.; Enables: Sourcing, Procurement, Decision Support/Consulting). Iasta brings what it calls “Fortune 500″ sourcing technology to any size company at affordable prices. Building on self-service decision optimization tools.

IBX (Stockholm, Sweden; Enables: Order/Demand Management, Sourcing, Procurement, Decision Support/Consulting, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP, Payment, Fulfillment/Logistics). In addition to its “green-yellow-red” methodology of designating suppliers, IBX focuses on making customers self-sufficient as soon as possible.

ILOG (Mountain View, Calif.; Enables: Order/Demand Management, Fulfillment/Logistics, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP, Decision Support/Consulting). CPLEX and PowerOps Suite integrate manufacturing’s planning and scheduling functions, synchronizing planning departments and the plant floor.

I-many Inc. (Edison, NJ; Enables: Decision Support/Consulting, Procurement, Sourcing). Contract management solutions employ a centralized repository of contracts with terms and conditions that is accessible to all supply chain participants. Visibility and control of contractual commitments help ensure regulatory, obligation and transaction compliance.

Indus International Inc. (Atlanta, Ga.; Enables: Sourcing, Procurement, Fulfillment/Logistics, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP, CRM, Payment). Drove evolution from computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS) to enterprise asset management (EAM) solutions, expanding asset management to suppliers, service personnel and other outside partners.

Inovis (Alpharetta, Ga.; Enables: Fulfillment/Logistics, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP). Business activity monitoring technologies enable companies to optimize collaboration with their worldwide trading communities, gain control and visibility of B2B transactions.

INSIGHT Inc. (Manassas, Va.; Enables: Order/Demand Management, Sourcing, Fulfillment/Logistics, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP, Decision Support/Consulting). First software for strategic supply chain design with a built-in set of options that uncover vulnerabilities and suggest designs and provide the relative costs of various strategies.

Integrated Warehousing Solutions (Downers Grove, Ill.; Enables: Fulfillment/Logistics). Encouraging companies to continue through the last mile of supply chain operations by advancing best practices and connecting production to the customer through the warehouse, creating demand-driven operations.

Intuit Inc. (Mountain View, Calif.; Enables: Order/Demand Management, Fulfillment/Logistics, Payment). Uses customer data to develop business solutions that address specific industry needs. QuickBooks Enterprise aimed at growing businesses within the manufacturing industry seeking a new choice for production automation.

IQNavigator (Denver, Colo.; Enables: Procurement). Offers a configurable platform, giving users the versatility to handle the unique needs of various purchased services categories. As a software-as-a-service solution, IQNavigator can respond to individual user requests for changes or additions to the platform and then make those available to all customers without charge.

JPMorgan Chase (Dulles, Va.; Enables: Fulfillment/Logistics). With the acquisition of Vastera, JPMorgan Chase has become the first financial institution to sell solutions that simultaneously address both physical and financial events on one supply chain.

Ketera Technologies Inc. (Santa Clara, Calif.; Enables: Sourcing, Procurement, Decision Support/Consulting, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP). Leader in the on-demand movement, offering spend management applications and promoting software-as-a-service trend in its offerings.

Kewill (Marlborough, Mass.; Enables: Fulfillment/Logistics). Innovator in transportation management, international trade logistics and visibility solutions for global trading communities. First to deliver the NCAP module in the U.S. to importers and customs brokers, allowing them to participate in the C-PAT security measures.

Kinaxis Inc. (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Enables: Order/Demand Management, Fulfillment/Logistics, PLM, Decision Support/Consulting). Leading market niche for response management, giving users tools to meet the challenges of unplanned and unexpected demand changes. On-demand service simplifies adoption.

LeanLogistics (Holland, Mich.; Enables: Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP, CRM, Payment, Decision Support/Consulting, Fulfillment/Logistics, Procurement, Sourcing). Among first to offer a transportation management system solution in an on-demand environment. Its solution, combined with a long-term program of continuous improvement, offers a holistic strategy for reducing freight bill and transportation operations costs.

Logility Inc. (Atlanta, Ga.; Enables: PLM, Fulfillment/Logistics, Sourcing, Order/Demand Management). Built performance management capabilities into its solutions that allow companies to manage supply chain processes on an exception basis.

Management Dynamics Inc. (East Rutherford, NJ; Enables: Procurement, Fulfillment/Logistics). Synchronizes the flow of information among trading partners, manages trade regulatory compliance, minimizes border delays, streamlines logistics processes and reduces transportation costs throughout the entire supply chain, reducing risks and costs associated with global trade.

MCA Solutions (Philadelphia, Pa.; Enables: Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP, Decision Support/Consulting, Fulfillment/Logistics, Order/Demand Management). Software allows planners to consider multiple what-if scenarios to evaluate the business impact of specified changes in the service supply network, helping transform the service supply chain into a driver of competitive advantage.

Model N (South San Francisco, Calif.; Enables: Decision Support/Consulting, CRM, Order/Demand Management). Integrates the key pricing and revenue relationships that link suppliers, channels and end customers, providing visibility to customer and contract commitments. Solutions help mitigate revenue exposure and regulatory compliance risk while enabling competitiveness.

Nextance Inc. (Redwood City, Calif.; Enables: Procurement). Contract performance management technology provider Nextance is the only industry player with fully XML-based solutions. Targets smaller companies’ supply chains with its Contract Insight with QuickStart Deployment.

Optiant (Burlington, Mass.; Enables: Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP). Solutions allow customers to create models that show real-world uncertainty, helping them create dynamic supply chains that can respond and adjust.

Plexus Systems LLC (Auburn Hills, Mich.; Enables: Decision Support/Consulting, CRM, Payment, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP, Order/Demand Management, Fulfillment/Logistics, Procurement). Manufacturing performance system that integrates and streamlines the manufacturing process.

PowerTrack (Minneapolis, Minn.; Enables: Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP, Payment, CRM, Decision Support/Consulting). Web-based electronic payment network creates links between physical supply chain events and back-end financial processes.

PrimeRevenue Inc. (Atlanta, Ga.; Enables: Procurement, Decision Support/Consulting, Payment). Supply chain finance solution applies supply chain management principles from product and information flows to financial flows and allows real-time monitoring and tracking of accounts payables transactions and cash flows.

Procuri (Atlanta, Ga.; Enables: Sourcing, Procurement, Decision Support/Consulting). Helped pioneer the on-demand delivery model for supply management and offers one of the industry’s most comprehensive solutions for managing supply management processes.

Prorizon Corp. (Kennesaw, Ga.; Enables: Procurement). Pioneered the Procurement Service Provider, or Managed Procurement Services, trend. Working to create one process for managing client order fulfillment by providing business process optimization consisting of middleware and resources to manage global daily transactional processes.

PurchasingNet Inc. (Redbank, NJ; Enables: Procurement, Sourcing, Payment). Credited with the first PC-, LAN- and Web-based purchasing systems, delivering first solution in 1983. Latest generation procure-to-pay solution is recognized as a leading solution and a value-conscious choice in the marketplace.

QAD (Summerland, Calif.; Enables: Order/Demand Management, Procurement, Sourcing, Decision Support/Consulting, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP, Fulfillment/Logistics, Payment, PLM, CRM). Envisions the future of manufacturing as a perfect lean market where the right information in the right place at the right time enables the supply chain to respond seamlessly to change.

Quadrem (Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Enables: Procurement, Sourcing, Order/Demand Management, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP, Payment, Decision Support/Consulting). Delivering value to buyers and suppliers by marrying procure-to-pay functionality with new value drivers that speed the payment process, deliver payment visibility and improve working capital management.

Real Time Freight Services LLC (Chicago, Ill.; Enables: Procurement, Fulfillment/Logistics, Sourcing, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP). Web-based solution that allows carriers and shippers to exchange information both within and across companies in real time.

Remstar (Westbrook, Maine; Enables: Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP, Decision Support/Consulting, Fulfillment/Logistics). Solutions to split case picking applications have decreased London Drugs’ picking labor by 50 percent while keeping efficiency at 100 percent.

Sage Software Inc. (Irvine, Calif.; Enables: Order/Demand Management, Fulfillment/Logistics, Procurement, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP, CRM, Decision Support/Consulting). Innovative services designed to meet specific accounting and business management needs in selected industries.

SAS (Cary, NC; Enables: Sourcing, Order/Demand Management, Procurement, Decision Support/Consulting, CRM, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP). Helping customers see their supply chain as a strategic business issue. Remodeled its supply chain software to incorporate a modular SRM solution that allows companies to customize the way they manage supplier relationships.

SeeControl Inc. (San Mateo, Calif.; Enables: Order/Demand Management, PLM, Fulfillment/Logistics). Providing on-demand visibility and control over inventories of parts, maintenance supplies and consumables around the world.

Selectica Inc. (San Jose, Calif.; Enables: Procurement). Recognized leader in sales configuration technology. Plans to advance supply chain transformation by creating a more unified contracts management environment for buy- and sell-side users.

Servigistics (Atlanta, Ga.; Enables: Fulfillment/Logistics, Order/Demand Management). Helping advance supply chain transformation with its service parts management solution, enabling companies to achieve their revenue, profitability and customer service level goals. Solution includes the optimization of service parts prices.

Silvon Software Inc. (Westmont, Ill.; Enables: Decision Support/Consulting). Enterprise performance management (EPM) applications enable users to continually assess customer demand and the drivers behind it and plan, monitor and manage performance.

SLIM Technologies (Boston, Mass.; Enables: Decision Support/Consulting). Innovative solution approach that used Systems Dynamics Modeling together with Mixed-Integer Programming to allow inventory deployment decisions to be embedded in network optimization models.

Smart Software Inc. (Belmont, Mass.; Enables: Order/Demand Management). Invented a unique method to forecast hard-to-forecast items with “intermittent” demand.

SmartOps (Pittsburgh, Pa.; Enables: Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP, Fulfillment/Logistics, Order/Demand Management). Technology lets users employ systematic, scientific approaches to manage and account for the inherent uncertainty of supply chains in planning and execution.

Source One Management Services LLC (Willow Grove, Pa.; Enables: Sourcing, Procurement, Fulfillment/Logistics). Online procurement tool has a dashboard that can be used by buyers to manage multiple requests for proposals and view history of all RFPs and bids placed, especially important for Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.

SPS Commerce (Minneapolis, Minn.; Enables: Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP). Offers EDI as software-as-a-service (SaaS) with low cost of ownership, enabling small and midsize suppliers to comply with retailers’ EDI requirements.

Staples Contract Division (Framingham, Mass.; Enables: Procurement). e-Procurement innovator that has helped its customers understand and achieve lowest total delivered cost.

Stellent Inc. (Eden Prairie, Minn.; Enables: PLM, Payment). Content management solutions help manufacturers streamline core business processes that tie into the supply chain. Customers now collaborate on engineering specifications with international partners via secure extranets.

Supply Chain Consultants (Wilmington, Del.; Enables: Order/Demand Management, Decision Support/Consulting, Fulfillment/Logistics). Provides supply chain planning software and consulting services that help manufacturers optimize the supply chain. SCC’s Zemeter software provides collaborative planning, demand management, inventory management, supply planning and finite scheduling.

Supply Chain Solutions Inc. (Grand Rapids, Mich.; Enables: Fulfillment/Logistics). Has enhanced inventory visibility and replenishment with exception-based alerts to perfect inventory control, enabling the management of complex inbound material flow and outbound distribution.

SYSPRO (Costa Mesa, Calif.; Enables: Order/Demand Management, Procurement, Sourcing, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP, Decision Support/Consulting, CRM, PLM, Fulfillment/Logistics, Payment). Pushing the boundaries of technology to extend core ERP product and enable smaller to midsize manufacturers and distributors to successfully compete with larger establishments in their respective markets.

Technical Services Associates Inc./Puridiom (Mechanicsburg, Pa.; Enables: Payment, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP, PLM, Decision Support/Consulting, Procurement, Fulfillment/Logistics, Sourcing, Order/Demand Management). First procurement application available for the PC and Windows. Led push to integrate suppliers via EDI and later by cXML. Has promoted the use of blanket agreements to enable self-service procurement strategies.

Teradata, a division of NCR (Dayton, Ohio; Enables: Order/Demand Management, Procurement, Fulfillment/Logistics, Decision Support/Consulting, PLM, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP, Payment, CRM). Solution provides visibility, accurate monitoring, analysis and proactive alerting across entire supply and distribution chain while decreasing costs.

Terra Technology (Norwalk, Conn.; Enables: Order/Demand Management). Introduced Real-Time Forecasting (RTF) solution in 2003 and Real-Time Inventory (RTI) in 2006, helping clients decrease forecast error by 50+ percent and cut safety stock by 20+ percent.

The Mpower Group (Oak Brook, Ill.; Enables: Order/Demand Management, Fulfillment/Logistics, Procurement, Sourcing, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP, PLM, CRM, Payment, Decision Support/Consulting). Focused on change management and transfer of skill and knowledge. Working with companies on an advanced Supply Chain/Sourcing Maturity Model, changing sourcing groups to Value-creating Organizations.

TradeBeam (San Mateo, Calif.; Enables: Fulfillment/Logistics, Decision Support/Consulting, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP, Payment). On-demand, end-to-end global trade management suite addresses such thorny challenges as supply chain visibility, global logistics and import and export compliance.

TradeStone Software (Gloucester, Mass.; Enables: Order/Demand Management, Fulfillment/Logistics, Procurement, Sourcing, Payment, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP, PLM). Pioneered Unified Buying approach, helping companies streamline international and domestic supply chains, source opportunistically and globally and make more intelligent purchasing decisions.

Transplace (Plano, Texas; Enables: Fulfillment/Logistics). Believes capacity will be the key issue plaguing the logistics industry for years to come, and says ideal solution is collaboration, which can be achieved through on-demand solutions.

TrenStar Inc. (Denver, Colo.; Enables: Sourcing, Fulfillment/Logistics, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP, Decision Support/Consulting). Mobile asset management pioneer that tracks millions of assets daily. Its pay-per-use model supports the pooling of common containers and other mobile assets.

Verian Technologies (Charlotte, NC; Enables: Sourcing, Procurement, Fulfillment/Logistics, Payment, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP). Meeting mid-market requirements for robust e-procurement functionality, capturing and managing 100 percent of non-payroll spending.

VeriSign Inc. (Mountain View, Calif.; Enables: Order/Demand Management, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP, Decision Support/Consulting). Helping the consumer goods, retail and pharmaceutical industries access and manage data that translate into real-time visibility of product location, supply and demand by enabling information exchange and collaboration among global supply chain participants.

Verticalnet Inc. (Malvern, Pa.; Enables: Decision Support/Consulting, Procurement, Fulfillment/Logistics, Sourcing). Verticalnet’s greatest innovation over the past year has been the push to put into operation it’s “on-demand” service.

Vinimaya (Shelton, Conn.; Enables: Procurement). First software-based solution for enabling suppliers on e-procurement solutions much faster and less expensively than traditional methods.

Vision Chain (Washington, DC; Enables: Order/Demand Management). Supply chain managers at consumer product companies use Vision Chain for a single location to feed daily point-of-sale (POS) data into demand forecasting apps, tie purchase orders to retailer trade deductions, combine RFID read events with demand data and monitor inventory from point of shipment through the warehouse to the retail store.

Vitria Technology (Sunnyvale, Calif.; Enables: Order/Demand Management, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP, Decision Support/Consulting, Fulfillment/Logistics, CRM). Solutions provide real-time visibility of inbound/outbound orders. Helps actuals vs. historical trends comparison by the hour, enabling companies to react to problems that could result in loss of business.

Vue Technology (Lake Forest, Calif.; Enables: Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP). Offers scalable, item-level RFID solutions for retailers and their supply chain partners. Enables a small number of RFID readers to network across thousands of antennas, increasing the number of zones a typical reader can support and eliminating many cost barriers associated with item-level RFID rollouts.

WhereNet Corp. (Santa Clara, Calif.; Enables: Fulfillment/Logistics, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP). Through its active RFID Real-Time Locating System technology, WhereNet has connected mobile assets with the people and information systems charged with managing those assets on a minute-by-minute basis.

Xign Corp. (Pleasanton, Calif.; Enables: Payment). Automates the financial flows between buyers and suppliers on the back end of the supply chain. Xign’s electronic settlement network manages working capital, helping buyers tap early payment discounts to reduce corporate spend while suppliers accelerate collections and reduce their days sales outstanding.

2006 SDCExec “Companies to Watch”

This year’s “100″ feature includes a supplemental list of “Companies to Watch” that includes solution providers implementing innovative projects to help their customers achieve new levels of supply chain performance. Among the many entries submitted for this year’s “100″ list, the “Companies to Watch” stood out for their ground-breaking work within their particular segments of the supply chain.

Acquirex (Long Beach, Calif.; Enables: Procurement, Payment) Developed innovative web service integration technology that allows customers to tightly integrate electronic purchasing to their existing technology infrastructure and MRP/ERP solutions

CDC Software (Atlanta, Ga.; Enables: Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP, Customer Relationship Management) Case study for Wise Foods shows the company reduced inventory while maintaining a 99.6 percent service-to-sales level;, cut labor costs by predicting needs more than 24 hours in advance, saving $600,000 annually; and decreased changeovers by 35 percent across packaging and processing lines.

EntComm Inc. (Los Angeles, Calif.; Enables: Order/Demand Management, Sourcing, Procurement; Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP Customers save over 4.5 percent of their supply chain costs within the first year by automating procurement, planning data and invoicing with over 90 percent of supplier base.

eWork Inc. San Francisco, Calif.; Enables: Procurement, Sourcing, Decision Support/Consulting) Provides vendor-neutral business process outsourcing strategies and solutions for the contracted workforce. Also integrates enterprise-class apps, outsourced managed services, and a consultant supplier network.

Global4PL SCM Consulting and Software (San Ramon, Calif.; Enables: Sourcing, Procurement, Decision Support/Consulting, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP, Fulfillment/Logistics, Payment) Global4PL is a consulting company and technology broker that helps small to large sized companies that do not have the time or the experience to negotiate confidently with their vendors.

Infravio (Cupertino, Calif.; Enable: Product Lifecycle Management, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP) The creator of Service Delivery Contracts for enabling customization of Web Service/SOA style integrations. Users attribute it to a 95 percent reduction in the cost of integration and a 20-time improvement in integration speed.

InStream Financial (Huntington Woods, Mich.; Payment) Company’s product developed to integrate with B2B networks as Web-based financing solution. Requires no contractual commitment from buyers, leverages many lenders to fund its transactions and purchases supplier receivables.

Intervolve Inc. (Raleigh, NC; Enables: Customer Relationship Management) Intervolve pioneered providing on demand supply chain software using web and mobile technologies for the beverage and overall consumer goods markets.

Liaison Technologies (Alpharetta, Ga.; Enables: Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP) Liaison Technologies’ offerings are delivered as managed services and are causing manufacturers to revaluate the competitive advantages that on-demand and managed services can bring to global businesses.

MFG.com Inc. (Atlanta, Ga.; Enables: Procurement, Sourcing) MFG.com is an online marketplace serving the manufacturing community with a focus on customer experience to help companies compete in a commoditized market with thin margins and tough competition.

National Logistics Management (NLM) (Detroit, Mich.; Enables: Order/Demand Management, Procurement, Sourcing, Fulfillment/Logistics, Payment, Customer Relationship Management, Decision Support/Consulting, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP) NLM determines optimal shipping modes and coordinates shipments based on best price and quality. Its techniques have transformed how manufacturers order urgent shipments of components, resulting in reduced costs and improved quality of service.

Nulogy Corporation (Toronto, Canada; Enables: Decision Support/Consulting, Product Lifecycle Management, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP, Order/Demand Management, Sourcing, Fulfillment/Logistics) Nulogy has developed a platform of operational intelligence software tools that enables supply chain managers to make decisions more intelligently, more quickly, and with more focus.

One Network Enterprises (Dallas, Texas; Enables: Fulfillment/Logistics, Sourcing, Procurement, Order/Demand Management, Decision Support/Consulting, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP, Customer Relationship Management, Payment) One Network Enterprises pioneered real-time Web-based appointment scheduling.

OnVantage Inc. (Santa Clara, Calif.; Enables: Procurement) MeetingView is about to launch the first real-time electronic marketplace for purchasing meeting rooms and associated groups of sleeping rooms that includes real-time “best practice” guidelines, enabling users to make sourcing decisions.

Precision Industries Inc. (Omaha, NE; Enables: Order/Demand Management, Fulfillment/Logistics, Procurement, Sourcing, Payment, Customer Relationship Management,; Decision Support/Consulting) Company’s collaborative approach to expanding traditional supply chain models includes service parts management and a centralized storeroom offering.

Technology Group International (Ohio; Enables: Decision Support/Consulting, Product Lifecycle Management, Customer Relationship Management, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP, Order/Demand Management, Sourcing, Fulfillment/Logistics, Procurement) Provides enterprise software solutions for small to medium size companies with such features as user-specific dashboards, MapPoint, VOIP and increased functionality to allow users to remain fully compliant for the Bioterrorism Act of 2002 and 21 CFR Part 11 rulings.

Transzap Inc. (Denver, Colo.; Enables: Decision Support/Consulting, Payment, Sourcing) SpendWorks, by Transzap, is an e-payables service that simplifies the tasks involved in procuring and paying for goods and services. Transzap innovatively addresses three key issues: accessibility, mobility and simplicity.

2006 SDCExec Vertically Focused Solution Providers to Watch

This year’s “100″ feature includes a supplemental list of “Vertically Focused Solution Providers to Watch” that includes enablers implementing innovative projects to help their customers in specific industry segments achieve new levels of supply chain performance. These companies stood out for their pioneering approach to supply chain challenges in their target industries, but they are worth a look for supply chain executives in any sector.

Deacom Inc. (Wayne, Pa.; Enables: Order/Demand Management, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP, Fulfillment/Logistics, Product Lifecycle Management) DEACOM ERP software remains the only business software system for building component, prefabricated housing, process and mixed-mode manufacturers to integrate all functional areas of a manufacturer, thus providing a comprehensive view of the entire operation.

eSchoolMall (Horsham, Pa.; Enables: Order/Demand Management, Sourcing, Procurement, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP, Decision Support/Consulting, Payment, Fulfillment/Logistics) eSchoolMall is a leading provider of online procurement software and services for K-12 Schools.

Instill Corporation (Redwood City, Calif.; Enables: Procurement) A pioneer of on-demand for the food service industry, Instill automates the collection, translation, and standardization of unit-level invoice data from distributors and presents the information in applications that identify contract price variances, order guide non-compliance, and opportunities for SKU rationalization that drive measurable reductions in food costs of 2 to 5 percent.

Provide Commerce Inc. (San Diego, Calif.; Enables: Order/Demand Management, Procurement, Fulfillment/Logistics, Payment, Supply Chain Integration & Infrastructure/ERP) Provide Commerce started Proflowers.com, using technology to eliminate warehouses and importers. The company continues to branch out into other high-quality perishable goods markets and plans to launch a new subsidiary every year.

Webb/Mason (Baltimore, Md.; Enables: Order/Demand Management, Procurement) Webb/Mason embraced the Internet providing customers with a non-traditional online print ordering solution that produces tangible and measurable results. In 1998, Webb/Mason developed Enterprise Print Management Online.

Is there a company you’d like to nominate for the 2007 Supply & Demand Chain Executive 100? e-Mail Andrew Reese: areese@sdcexec.com.
From Supply & Demand Chain Executive, June/July 2006

Manufacturers are leaving money on the table by not paying attention to bringing more accurate and timely pricing into their quotes.

In discussions with dozens of manufacturers, a simple truth emerges: Quoting systems, even the most manual, are the lifeblood of any sales pipeline. Pricing has become the competitive weapon of choice in many industries; however, it’s the last differentiator in several consolidating markets.
With such a critical role in defining profitability, pricing is getting much attention this year, from the CEO level down.

Amazingly even CIOs who have at times fought re-defining selling systems in favor of spending IT money and time on consolidating ERP systems, databases, or portals, are being driven to make selling systems a priority by CEOs, Sales VPs, and General Managers who all see margin being sacrificed due to pricing inaccuracies and disconnects on quotes. The combination of accurate pricing and quoting is emerging as a priority in 2006, and it’s because so many manufacturers realize that thousands if not millions of dollars are being left on the table due to pricing inaccuracies.

The First Step: Re-defining Quotes With Pricing in Mind
When sales are up and times are good, it’s easy to ignore the occasional pricing
mistake on a quote, or solve it through a quick phone call or even a follow-up visit.
When times get tough, pricing gets micromanaged because margin on every deal
needs to deliver in order for a manufacturer to stay profitable. In reality,
manufacturers experiencing rapid growth yet complacent enough to let pricing be
managed some of the time, checked for accuracy maybe once a month, and
rationalizing all this with “we’ll make it up on volume or that big OEM deal” doesn’t
cut it anymore.

Their competitors can sense this on deals where prospects share pricing data and
pounce when they find you, their competitor, maybe out of sync with the going price
by even 5% to 7%. Competitors are watching, your prospects and customers are
watching, and if you’re publicly held in the United States, even the SEC is watching
through Sarbanes-Oxley compliance. All of these factors and more are making
pricing the competitive weapon of choice in selling and also the most important but
least managed part of a quote.

The Second Step: Knowing a Good Deal When You Sell It
For those fortunate manufacturers that have growing businesses, there’s a tendency
to use rules of thumb, or what many call the assumption base of their companies to
make quick decisions on what price to put on quotes as well. This is different than
pricing accuracy, which is the point of the first step, as this step deals with analyzing
the mix of customized products, services, and margin to determine if the deal the
quote is meant to bring in will in fact be profitable or not. When it comes to this
point, manufacturers need to quit relying exclusively on the intuition of their sales
managers and executives and truly know if the deal they are trying to get through a
quote is truly profitable or not. Only by integrating quoting and pricing along with the
necessary tools to figure out margin can a manufacturer hope to charge prices that
will deliver the highest margin possible.

The Third Step: Unleashing Pricing on New Products
Manufacturers spoken with regarding the payoff of bringing pricing into quoting
remark that their biggest payoffs come from being able to quickly launch new
products and pricing together, even into their dealer and distributor channels. Once
the connection between pricing and quoting systems have been made, one truck
manufacturer has been able to both define custom configurations of its products and
pricing for each component within five weeks – a remarkable accomplishment when
one considers these trucks are highly specialized and have thousands of parts and
components. The lag time for one storage products vendor in pricing updates for
their quoting and online sales systems was solved through brute force on the part of
marketing directors spending all weekend long every three months loading up pricing
tables and ensuring they were loaded and working right.

New product introductions are very tough to align with pricing, especially in to-order
customized products sold through channels where each channel partner has a
different pricing table. Yet if you are looking for a reason to get your quoting systems
aligned with pricing, product strategies and turn them into a selling competitive
advantage, the next product introduction is reason enough to look for improving how
these systems work in your company. Quotes are literally just the beginning, and the
integration of pricing and product customization, when managed to a series of goals
is what helps to transform how companies are profitably selling today.

The Bottom Line: When sales drop off, many companies put their prices into freefall,
sacrificing millions in margins. When sales are up, margins aren’t looked at
closely and as a result, even greater opportunities for profits are lost. What’s needed
isn’t the start of a price war or premium pricing. What’s needed is the synchronizing
of quoting, pricing and product strategies, making selling the competitive strategy
and not just price.

About Louis Columbus: Former Senior Analyst at AMR Research and manager at Gateway
and Ingram Micro, Louis Columbus has published 15 technology books. Currently a manufacturing business consultant with Cincom Systems, Columbus is a weekly columnist for CRMBuyer.com and
Informit.com and gives graduate-level international business and marketing courses for Webster Loyola-Marymount University. He can be reached at lcolumbus@cincom.com.

Efforts to cut costs have put a strain on supply chains today. Techniques such as low-cost country sourcing and the outsourcing of manufacturing and other services have extended the global supply chain—and in the process have opened up the enterprise to new risks and challenges. Principal among these is the increased potential for supply chain disruption and variability.

Companies have adopted various practices to manage this situation. In particular, they have instituted initiatives centering on supplier performance, supplier visibility, supplier costing, and supplier collaboration. Collectively, these can be characterized as “global supply visibility and performance” (GSVP) programs. This article, based on a survey of 110 global companies, examines the drivers, hurdles, strategies, and tactical action plans for establishing GSVP programs and related best practices.

The companies in our survey reported an average of 10 supply chain disruptions over the last five years. These disruptions were largely due to supplier or in-transit issues that had a material impact on shareholder value. Examples included quality problems, component shortages, late deliveries, weather, security, port strikes, and supplier closings.

We divided up the survey respondents into two categories: (1) industry average and laggard performers and (2) best-in-class performers. (Exhibit 1 summarizes the characteristics of the two groups.) The best-in-class were defined as those respondents whose performance in the key metric of delivery date vs. customer request date was 81 percent or higher. Put another way, these companies have the ability to provide products to customers when the customer wants them.

What Sets Apart the Best?
Analysis of the survey results revealed a number of key differences between the best-in-class companies and the others:

Best-in-class companies had GSVP programs in place longer than the others. (For example, 72 percent of the leaders had programs in place for five years or longer, compared to only 58 percent of the rest of the sample.)
Best-in-class enterprises are meeting customer commitments while reducing inventory at much stronger levels than the average and laggard performers.
The best-in-class prioritize how much information to share and with whom. The top three information areas shared with suppliers involve inventory levels, demand forecasts, and sales/consumption activity. Where information sharing is concerned, there is no middle ground. The best-in-class companies either focus on the top 10 percent of their suppliers or on 100 percent of their suppliers. Industry average and laggard performers typically share information with only about half of their suppliers. Notably, best-in-class companies share information more frequently as well.

Best-in-class enterprises are paranoid about the possibility of supply chain disruptions—and they have the results to show for that paranoia. Fully 44 percent of the best-in-class cite “fear of supply chain disruptions” as a top pressure forcing them to initiate or implement a GSVP program. It’s interesting, however, that only 4 percent of these top performers actually experience frequent supply chain disruptions.

The bottom line: All of these differences translate to superior business performance and competitive advantage by the best-in-class companies.

Getting Beyond Average
How can companies that are average or lagging accelerate their progress toward best-in-class status? The first step is to identify the business priorities that they hope to address through the GSVP initiatives. Based on our extensive research in this area, Aberdeen suggests the following priorities:

-Supplier performance measurement. Supplier performance should be measured quarterly or more often.
-Supplier costing. Costing analysis should be done quarterly or more often for commodity supplies (resins, metals, energy, and so forth); it should be done semi-annually or annually for other items.
-Supplier collaboration. Information must be transmitted to suppliers on an “as-needed basis,” utilizing e-mail triggers to notify them about any potential problems.
-Supplier visibility. To derive real value from the supplier relationship, you need appropriate visibility into supplier events.

In acting on these priorities, companies need to migrate away from spreadsheets and leverage technology either from their incumbent enterprise resource planning (ERP) provider or from other solution providers. Access to information must be quick, efficient, and available to members of your organization who can act on it. A supplier portal and supplier enablement capabilities are critical here. These are the enabling technologies that can make the priority areas a reality.

For a specific item, department, or product line, focus on the top 10 percent of your suppliers based on their strategic nature. Once this program is up and running and value is being generated, then quickly bring all your suppliers into this program. A quick, high-impact, low-risk tactic is to create and execute a supplier-enablement process. This can quickly provide benefits, since the effort to enable suppliers in an electronic collaboration process can be leveraged for other GSVP initiatives.

Any GSVP process must be repeatable year-over-year and should proceed along three dimensions: breadth, depth, and time.

Breadth. Progressively incorporate more suppliers into the GSVP program. Best-in-class companies seek to fully integrate as many key suppliers as they can into the program. The average best-in-class company has 46 percent of its suppliers in a GSVP program, achieving key performance indicators (KPIs) that on average are 80 percent higher than industry average and laggard performers.

Depth. Generate more information flow to/from suppliers. The best performers strive to increase the amount of information that they share with their suppliers. Based on the survey and follow-on interviews with the leaders, Aberdeen suggests sharing the following information with suppliers: shipment schedule, cost information, raw material/component availability, demand forecasts, manufacturing schedules and capacity plans, sales/consumption activity, manufacturing plans/release schedules, and inventory levels.

In addition to sharing information with suppliers, ask suppliers to share information with your enterprise. Information from suppliers that can benefit your company include inventory levels, capacity plans, manufacturing schedules, raw material/component availability, and cost information.

Time. Increase the speed at which information is shared. According to our study, some information is being shared monthly. Is there value in providing information more quickly? Is it more beneficial to know about events that affect your supplier and customer chain in real time? The answer can be an obvious yes. Make sure the processes and technology is in place to provide the information at the frequency and speed needed.

The pressures to more effectively manage global supply chains aren’t likely to let up anytime soon. But companies can take positive action to manage those pressures by implementing global supplier visibility and performance programs. The best-in-class organizations identified in our study prove convincingly that GSVP can yield a huge competitive edge.
——————————————————————————–
Sudy Bharadwaj is vice president of Global Supply Management for the AberdeenGroup.

They frequently happen without warning: canceled orders, delayed shipments, sudden changes in demand. The greatest difficulty in managing the supply chain is that so much is out of your control. And most enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are not designed to fully address such issues as demand forecasting, capacity planning or storage optimization.

In Summary:
• Supply chain niche applications can help your company make smarter decisions about inventory, capacity and demand.

• These applications are meant to add functionality to your existing ERP system in critical areas, especially warehouse management and transportation management.

When the service level you’re trying to provide involves continuous visibility from the time you receive an order to the time you ship it out, [a supply chain application] can make all the difference in the world.

When companies grow to where they need additional supply chain management features, they often find that a comprehensive supply chain management solution from a vendor such as Manugistics or Oracle is far more than they require, says Stephen Scott, director of Syncresis Ltd., a supply chain and manufacturing consulting firm in Kingston-upon-Thames, England.

The practical answer might be to invest in niche applications that integrate with your ERP system to provide just the specific functionality you need.

Consider warehouse and transportation management
Experts say that almost every midsize company, regardless of your industry or operational requirements, should consider adding warehouse management (WMS) and transportation management (TMS) solutions to their ERP systems. Both have an almost immediate impact on the bottom line, explains Tom Singer, a principal at Raleigh, N.C.-based Tompkins Associates, an international supply chain consulting firm.

Warehouse performance directly affects customer service, and transportation costs are rising so quickly that optimizing them is the only way to keep them from cutting too deeply into profits.

In general, WMS allows companies to receive, store, “pick and pack,” and ship inventory in the most efficient way. Other features can include space optimization, shipment verification, or bin replenishment prioritization. TMS offers functionality like route planning, load optimization, shipment scheduling, and package tracking.

By expanding their systems to include this advanced functionality, midsize companies can provide more real-time information about product availability and order fulfillment to their customers, says Bob Parker, vice president of research for Manufacturing Insights, an IDC company based in Framingham, Mass.

A success story: Distributor adopts warehouse management
Hy Cite Corp., which has 350 employees, is one company that dramatically improved its supply chain operations by adding warehouse management capabilities. Main operations for the wholesale distributor of Royal Prestige brand housewares were crammed into a 60,000-square-foot warehouse in Madison, Wis., with other small warehouses scattered throughout the city.

Hy Cite’s ERP system did what it was meant to do: track the number of units available for each product and the financial value of available inventory. However, it could only update inventory records after someone manually input shipping manifests at the point of dispatch.

“The distribution center people had to sort pick tickets by hand, pin them to a box and send the box down the line,” says Arin Brost, Hy Cite’s vice president of information systems. “We couldn’t tell where products were, how many were allocated to specific orders, where an order was in the pick process or if [it] was fulfilled until it was shipped.”

In early 2005, Hy Cite found an opportunity to plug this gaping hole when it consolidated its operations into a single, 200,000-square-foot warehouse. First, it installed warehouse equipment with scales, bar-code scanning and automated container routing on the floor, and deployed handheld computers so employees could refer to pick lists in electronic format. Then it began shopping for a supply chain application to integrate with its ERP system.

HighJump Software, a 3M company and Microsoft Gold Partner in St. Paul, Minn., provided a warehouse management solution. It was chosen in part because, like Hy Cite’s ERP system, it is based on Microsoft technologies. A team of Hy Cite employees from purchasing, procurement, distribution and IT spent six months customizing the HighJump software. In the end, the warehouse management solution interfaced with the Hy Cite ERP system, as well as its accounting and procurement systems, and a UPS shipping application.

The ERP system continues to track inventory levels and values, while the WMS module follows materials as they move through the newly automated warehouse.

After 15 months, the business benefits are clear, Brost says. The warehouse management system releases orders directly to workers with handheld computers on the floor for faster fulfillment. Employees can see and track orders from the time Hy Cite receives them to the time they are delivered to vendors, which can check their progress on the company’s extranet at any time. Hy Cite has also doubled its daily shipping volume, from 900 boxes to 1,800, without hiring more employees.

“When the service level you’re trying to provide involves continuous visibility from the time you receive an order to the time you ship it out, [a supply chain application] can make all the difference in the world,” Brost says.

Analyze your supply chain gaps to consider further enhancements
If your company has already optimized its warehousing and/or transportation, you will want to work closely with the business side to solve other problems in the supply chain. Your pain point will be wherever unpredictability causes the most problems, Parker says.

• Variable demand. This tends to be a particular issue for consumer packaged goods. For example, a fruit juice distributor realizes that overall demand rises in the summer, but it cannot predict heat waves or a sudden fad for apple juice in a particular city. Companies that need to be sure they have the product customers want, in the locations where they want it most, should shop for a demand planning and inventory optimization application.

• Fluctuations in production. When companies manufacture a broad mix of products in a single facility, the demand is stable, but the processes and tools necessary to meet it shift rapidly. These companies, which tend to be in the automotive and industrial machinery sectors, should consider software like a factory scheduling application.

• Supply inconsistency. A common issue in consumer electronics and technology companies, this refers to the inability to get enough of a specific component necessary to build and deliver a high-demand product. Parker advises companies in this situation to adopt a procurement application — for example, a Web-based supplier information hub.

The question for many midsize companies is not whether they will need to add supply chain management applications, but when, Scott says. IT must continually discuss with the business side where the supply chain needs to be improved and examine legacy financial and business applications to find the gaps. Finally, look at applications that can bridge those gaps without requiring a complete ERP upgrade.

Fawn Fitter is a freelance writer in San Francisco, specializing in business and technology. She has written for publications including Fortune Small Business, Knowledge Management and Computerworld.
Source: Microsoft.com

The visibility issue came to a head in 2002 when the dockworkers on the West Coast went on strike, shutting ports and leaving full container ships floating in harbors up and down the coast. “We were trying to find out where everything was in a consistent format,” Burrow says.

Hallmark decided that rather than using multiple sources for shipment tracking, it needed to implement one central system with consistent information to all shipments from Asia. At first, Hallmark focused on developing a system in-house that could do the job. “But we decided there are enough companies offering tools to fill our need, so why recreate something that already exists? We were looking for something intuitive, but offered good detail and good reporting capabilities. We wanted to create our own reports and run more on-demand reports rather than just five canned monthly reports. We wanted to be able to slice and dice the data as we wanted when we wanted.”

So about a year ago, Hallmark began implementation of the Supply Chain Visibility tool from provider Management Dynamics. The implementation and training cycle for the system took “longer than we might have expected” but the end result, according to Burrow, is well worth the effort.

The single source for shipment information has made it easier for Hallmark’s logistics staffers to find shipments along the way. “In the old method, we typically didn’t know a shipment was going to be delayed until it didn’t show up at its expected stop at the expected time,” Burrow says. “Now we can be more proactive in finding out what is causing the delay and how to get around it. It might be a vessel delay, but it might also be a document issue, a port issue or a customs issue. We can focus our efforts on the containers that are hung up to keep them moving.”

The new tool also allows for much better reporting and tracking. Rather than working off a set number of reports, Burrow can pull a custom report whenever required to meet her needs.

That kind of visibility also helps other organizations beyond logistics-namely purchasing, which can better plan its buying based on improved visibility into materials flow and average transit times. As Burrow points out, there’s a world of difference between seeing a zero on a certain stock number and knowing a containerload of that item is one day out of port.

Some parts of the business are even running their own reports out of the system to meet their own specific needs. For example, the reports generated can improve both carrier performance measurement, as well as supplier performance measurement.

“We can track transit times and find out why a certain carrier or shipment is out of the acceptable range,” Burrow says. “Sometimes it’s our fault or the supplier’s issue, not the carrier’s. So we can track where the carrier’s problems are and aren’t. Before we might not have known whose fault it was and attributed it to the wrong party.”

Hallmark is considering expanding the system to other logistics modes and geographies down the road, but for now, it is focused on leveraging the full capabilities of the system by creating new reports and better leveraging the data available already.

The one piece of advice Burrow gives to other logistics organization implementing visibility and data-collection tools is, “Don’t assume it will reduce your FTEs. You can run reports and analyze things you never could before. It might not cut headcount, but it allows your organization to be more proactive and more consistent.”

Objectives of Hallmark’s inbound transportation management program:
• Create one central location for tracking critical shipment information, providing visibility to inventory in-transit and speeding the flow of goods to distribution.

• Gain event-alerting capabilities that anticipate potential inventory receipt and fulfillment issues and prompt rapid resolution before they impact availability.

• Accelerate fulfillment of “hot items” with the ability to track orders and expedite delivery.

• Significant reduction in the number of service calls by automating proactive notification of shipments and establishing a one-stop resource for trading partners.

• Real-time measurement and analysis of vendor and carrier performance using scorecards and ad-hoc reporting tools.

Source: SupplyChainer.com