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2. Do you really need a TMS in your organization?
There is never a clear answer for this question and customers are always grappling with the timing for investing in a system. In an economic low period, typically we see customers reducing IT Spend and are postponing IT purchases. We turn the question completely around and asking ‘Can you afford to not have a complete visibility of your business? ‘
However, it is important for customers to keep in mind a few things while making that decision:
1. Transportation becoming a key spend area: For many industries, transportation is the key to ensuring that products are available in customer markets at the right time. However, as company operations become larger and the number of service providers and fleet size increasing, the entire transportation management activity may become too complex to manage without having a system to manage and provide visibility
2. Be clear about your objective for getting the system: There have been many occasions when organizations chose complex systems assuming that they will need the entire suite of capabilities including high-end analytics and optimization algorithms. However, their organization may not be mature enough or ready to use such a system. Therefore it is important to be cognizant of the maturity level of the organization and what the objective of procuring such a system is. The objective may be to set up the basic execution processes which may not warrant a high-end optimization algorithm. The bottomline being that, it is important to do a Maturity Assessment and set down the objectives.
3. Operational Gaps: In a tough market condition, preserving cash and ensuring that money is not ‘left on the table’ is arguably the most important thing to help ride out the storm. What this means is to ensure that all the inflow and outflow of money in addition to closely managing operational metrics is being done with precision. To do that, it is important for
Last Updated On:7/30/2010 5:41:50 PM
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Supply Chain Cost Reduction in India
- Supply Chain Cost Reduction opportunities for Indian Companies
The Market and Supply Chain Need
Failed companies. Rescued banks. Panicked markets. Our current economic suffering is being hailed as one of the worst of all times. With a sharp decline in spending & wealth, now more than ever, have organizations realized the need for strategic thought and structured planning. This is where cost reduction has assumed its insurmountable position.
Cost saving initiatives need to be shaped and implemented by all departments in the organization; the entire process of planning, monitoring and measuring needs the support of all. Everyone from the top to the bottom must be actively involved, and work towards the new goals set. Expense reports are obviously the most logical place to start. These should be over a relatively long period of time in order to remove any seasonal variations. It is also important to stay focused on the key areas that account for the major 80% of costs.
Many organizations believe in myths like an “informal program for cost reduction is fine”; or even that reducing costs have a negative impact on quality. Nothing could be further from the truth. The most efficient cost reduction programs are those that very formal / specific and have clear objectives & accountabilities attached to it.
Companies that have been successful in cost reduction realised that it’s not enough to just reduce expenses to remain competitive; rather it takes innovative measures to emerge as leaders. This is why the role of knowledge advisory groups is so important. They help provide a much needed innovative & structured program, designed through practice-proven tools and strategies from specialists.
For example, it is easy to see why so many companies choose to downsize their workforce so that employee costs, which often account for more t
Last Updated On:7/4/2011 5:43:49 PM
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Project Management Office
Managing a large capital expenditure project with strict regulatory constraints and compliance, environmental protection outlook, and a huge sum of money at stake can be a formidable task. Read more how Aqua MCG helps clients in setting up large infrastructure projects.
Reverse Auction:
The Art of Online Negotiation
RA are fast gaining popularity
as an online negotiation tool for
sourcing. It saves time in negotiation while providing the best market price.
Read the entire report here.
Material Sourcing And Buying
Strategies: A Special Report Solving the Rubik’s Cube provides a
strong analogy to implementing an
effective sourcing strategy Read the entire report here .
Last Updated On:7/6/2011 11:06:46 AM
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Logistics Planning – When to start?
Logistics Planning & Inventory Planning are interlinked & both are derivatives of project planning. Logistics plan which includes deciding the camp locations & identifying the sourcing locations for various materials (especially aggregates) have to be done as early as possible. In fact we at Aqua, believe that companies can gain substantially if the logistics planning is completed at the project planning stage itself. Also Aqua believes in the partnership model where we help our clients in the pre-tendering process also – so that the customers get a realistic estimate of logistics cost for the project.
Logistics Planning – Our Approach
Services
Description
Location of Camps
The location of camps can play an important role in reducing logistics cost. Eg. If using rail option, having a camp next to an existing rail siding would substantially reduce last mile transportation.
Route Survey
Carry out detailed route survey from Source to Destination point with special report on the route survey identifying narrow roads, sharp turns, unworkable gradients, bridges, culverts, underpass, overhung, overhead structure or any other similar obstacles etc for safe transportation of Aggregates
Distance Mapping
Ensuring proper distance mapping from source point to destination along with client’s officials
Identification & Appt. of Transporters
I
Last Updated On:7/7/2011 11:34:08 AM
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Terms of Use
Terms of Use
The following are terms of a legal agreement ("Agreement") between you and Aqua MCG. By accessing, browsing and/or using this web site ("Site") you acknowledge that you have read, understood and agree to be bound by these terms and to comply with all applicable laws and regulations. If you do not agree to these terms, do not use this Site. This Site may contain other proprietary notices and copyright information, the terms of which must be observed and followed. Information on this Site may contain technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. Please read this Agreement carefully and be aware that Aqua MCG may, in its sole discretion and without notice, revise these terms at any time by updating this posting.
COPYRIGHTS AND USE OF SITE CONTENT
The copyright in all materials provided on this Site is held by Aqua MCG or by the original creator of the material. Except as stated herein, none of the materials may be copied, reproduced, distributed, republished, downloaded, displayed, posted or transmitted in any form or by any means, including, but not limited to, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Aqua MCG or the copyright owner. Permission is granted to download one copy of the materials on this Site on a single computer for your personal or internal business use only provided that you do not modify the materials and that you retain all copyright and other proprietary notices contained in the materials. This permission terminates immediately if you breach this Agreement. You may not "mirror" any material contained on this Site without Aqua MCG’s express written permission. Any unauthorized use of the materials contained on this Site may violate copyright laws, trademark laws, the laws of privacy and publicity and/or communications regulations and statutes. All content and
Last Updated On:10/22/2008 1:03:43 PM
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The need to reduce Cost in the Indian Supply Chain
The aim of any manufacturing/services firm is to produce goods to meet the end-customer requirements. One of the key differentiators which influences a customer’s buying behavior is the price of the product. This is especially true for a mass market like India, where volumes are more important. Another reason for this is the increasing maturity of many industries and the mass commoditization of products. In such a case, the product price and on-time delivery becomes a very critical factor. With the cut-throat competition and increasing input prices, cost reduction is a must to help maintain/increase margins. The competition is so intense that a small price rise of a product might cause huge reduction in demand for that product.
Secondly, there is always a push from the shareholders to maximize their return on investments. As operations cost for a major part of the cost that goes into the product, supply chain cost is the single most important area for cost reduction. However supply chain cost reduction needs to be followed with the customer in focus i.e. there should be no compromise on either the quality of the product or technology or customer service. Also cost reduction has to be a continuous improvement program rather than a one-time attempt keeping in mind the ever demanding customers who wants a better quality product at a lower price. Thus supply chain cost reduction is one of the most critical tasks facing the Indian companies.
When the competition is no longer among individual companies but among entire supply chains, every area of end-to-end cost reduction needs to be looked into. Financial supply chain optimization has helped many leading companies make their entire supply chain competitive, with the introduction & implementation of many advanced SCF (Supply Chain Finance) practices & technology (automated transaction processing).
Finance, supply chain and procurement groups
Last Updated On:7/23/2010 1:16:39 PM
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A Structured Approach to Cost Management
SUPPLY CHAIN COST MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK
1. Define Goals and Objectives
A structured approach to cost management would obviously first involve defining its goals & objectives. The supply chain cost management & reduction exercises should be well aligned with the overall business strategy. With overall business strategy we mean key business plans, customer expectations, opportunities & threats, supply chain road-map, marketing plans and last but not least, a clear understanding of the relationships shared between various functions and departments. Those that are not tied to these long-term strategic goals are often misguided and create havoc due to the myopic focus on short-term productivity gains.
Team goals should be set with the involvement of all departments & functions, so as to infuse the interest & concern of all. Again, a pure department-focused cost reduction exercise will only motivate a single department and not multi-departments that actually forms a team.
Just as in any strategic exercise, cost management drives also require a core team entrusted with adequate responsibility & authority to drive manage and monitor all cost management initiatives. They should also keep in mind that goals should be realistic, focused, measurable and quantifiable. It should be breakable into clear units of work which can then be assigned to each team. On the other hand, unrealistic or vaguely defined goals can dampen motivation and guarantee the failure of cost management.
2. Identify Supply Chain Costs
Now that the Goals & Objectives have been identified, it is now important to classify all the supply chain costs and its flow. From the primary costs that have been stated in the previous step, the secondary costs and sub costs will emerge. Now the team can drill down on all the activities to be taken up in order manage all these costs step by ste
Last Updated On:7/23/2010 2:40:08 PM
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Future Vision of Supply Chain in India
Where is supply chain management headed?
The diagram below illustrates how supply chain is evolving into a more integrated end-to-end, customer-driven supply chain – which is well integrated across the business and all its stakeholders and service providers.
The On-demand supply chain would focus on elements such as:
Excellent synchronization between supply & demand through efficient planning & forecasting
Integrating & co-ordinating business functions horizontally across the supply chain
Developing outcomes that have been mutually decided & beneficial, to strengthen relationships
Managing the supply chain cycles for planning to order-to-delivery
Developing flexible cost structures that focus on variable cost structures rather than fixed costs
Collaboration and sharing of information & risks with partners to reduce overall exposure
Efficiently using real-time data to create customer-centric supply chains that are totally demand driven and customer-driven
We will look at some of the key points in detail.
1.Synchronizing supply & demand
Understanding demand patterns and efficient planning of supply is the constant endeavor of all supply chain planners. Responsive supply chains are typically characterized by an early understanding of demand signals through minimum distortion of the POS (point of sales) data in near real time.
But why?
Ability and flexibility are key strengths that come through from responsive supply chains. This kind of synchronized supply chain planning leads to competitive advantage that helps provide superior customer service; it also reduces waste and losses due to the suboptimal planning and inventory deployment.
In a growing economy like India, the constant fluctuations in demand and bottle-necks due to infrastructure, pose additional challenges to supply chain planning; but
Last Updated On:7/23/2010 5:40:05 PM
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Services »Impact »Customer Experience
Customer Experience
Customer experience is a function of many factors, like an in-depth understanding of the market, developing the right product, demand forecasting, brand building, distribution, customer support, etc. At the core of building a strong brand lays the ability to offer the customer the right product at the right price point and at the right time. A robust Supply Chain is the single most important factor in creating and sustaining an enriching customer experience. Aqua MCG helps you to build an efficient supply chain which helps in retaining brand equity and brand loyalty.
For an organization, a Customer can be both internal as well as external. At every stage in a supply chain, the business entity strives to match its supply with the demand generated. Aqua MCG configures the supply chain processes within an organization in such a way so as to maximise the demand fulfilment most efficiently at least cost while maintaining or even furthering the service levels as desired by the customer. To make an organization customer friendly, its supply chain should be configured to score high on all the five measures of performance namely reliability, responsiveness, quality, agility and cost. We follow a multi pronged strategy to achieve this.
An effective marketing analytics captures correctly the prevailing market conditions and customer preferences for existing products and their requirements for the future.
Customers Perspective is proactively sought by involving them in the Product Development Stage as a part of the Concurrent Engineering cycle. The resulting product accurately captures the customer needs, wants and requirements.
Our effective forecasting techniques and models using a mix of objective mathematical parameters and subjective i
Last Updated On:10/22/2008 12:14:57 PM
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Industries »Pulp & Paper
Pulp & Paper
Pulp and paper Industry is characterized by strong cyclicality, pervasive price-cost pressure, waning investor interest, and a track record of insufficient returns. Most of the industries in this sector are hundreds of years old and hence proud of their strong tradition and legacy. As an Industry, it faces huge transition in the form of consolidation, globalization and increased competition with emerging regions which also provides it with tremendous strategic production advantages and a growing need to combine the traditional production focus with more of an eye towards the end users of paper. Aqua MCG addresses the following areas in this industry:
Strategy Formulation: Focussed on advising clients on growth strategies and business shaping initiatives. Growth Strategyevaluation is based on analysing the potential for segment consolidation, identifying strategic partnership, evaluating synergies for mergers and acquisitions, financial and SWOT Analysis studies.
Performance Improvement : We help clients improve total productivity, including cost productivity (improving day-to-day manufacturing operations); capital productivity (making the right investments decisions, both on large scale projects and day-to-day investments); and customer productivity (creating greater value from customer relationships). The result is lower operating ratio, better utilization of assets and raw material, reduced wastage and increased efficiency
Customer facing: Being a traditional industry, the organizations are generally inward facing and value their production more than the needs and the requirements of the end users. But emerging areas and opportunities have presented them with increasing value for business and growth and we help them to mature gradually into a customer focussed organization that can create partnership with the customers in order to increase productivity, and even innovation, in the entire value chain
Demand Management
Last Updated On:10/22/2008 12:45:04 PM
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