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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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Pharmaceuticals & Health Care
Pharmaceutical companies today are aggressively launching new products frequently and expanding into new geographies globally.
Some of the key issues concerning the pharmaceutical industry supply chain are:
· New Product Development (NPD): One of the most important issues of the pharmaceutical industry globally is the time-to-market of new drugs. This can be handled by a standardized new product development process which will help reduce investment costs significantly and decrease time to market. Proper planning of the product development cycle and choosing the right kind of drugs to develop form the two most important drivers in a standardized NPD process.
· Capacity planning: The uncertainty of the clinical trial process and competitors activity brings in a lot of uncertainty in gauging the future demand for the product. Also capacity planning needs to be done at a much earlier stage compared to other industries as it takes some time for the capacity to be effective. The long cycle time to develop a product further adds to this uncertainty. This leads to a capacity planning issue. Typically the pharmaceutical manufacturing stage works on a “push” based model, which makes the supply chain less responsive to demand changes and sometimes leads to a “bullwhip” effect. The direct effect of this is high inventory level pile-up across the chain. Secondly short term opportunities are missed.
· Network Planning: With increasing exports the length of the supply chain increases
Last Updated On:7/4/2011 5:21:44 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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Services »Domains »Information Technology
Procurement Co-Sourcing & Management Services
Your business functions are designed and mandated to allocate resources (business bandwidth and capital) on core activities which directly fuel business growth. Your non core Sourcing & Procurement function takes a back-seat and ends up being a supporting activity to the business resulting in:
Cost leakages
Suboptimal price discovery
Lack of new vendors in business operations
Maverick buying
Contract non-adherence
Preferential vendor treatment
Poor vendor management practices
Inefficient & incomplete material catalogue and specifications
How do you transform your Sourcing & Procurement function from a non-core/supporting set of activities to a strategic business enabler that positively impact your bottom-line and delivers competitive advantage over your peers? How would you ensure that your Sourcing & Procurement activities guarantees the
following tangible results:
Year-on-year landed cost savings.
Be more responsive to the business’ needs.
Reduce total cost of ownership for MRO items.
Increase service levels from suppliers.
You need to squeeze inefficiencies out of your sourcing & procurement function. You need to make the entire procurement process lean, transparent, compliant and fast. You need to reduce landed cost of materials on a progressive basis. And you need sourcing experts who can manage your sourcing requirements on a commodity basis. Its not an one size fits all approach, nor a mechanical engineer sourcing all
Last Updated On:7/6/2011 3:14:40 PM
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Industries »Pharmaceuticals & Health Care
Pharmaceuticals & Health Care
Pharmaceutical companies today are aggressively launching new products frequently and expanding into new geographies globally.
Some of the key issues concerning the pharmaceutical industry supply chain are:
· New Product Development (NPD): One of the most important issues of the pharmaceutical industry globally is the time-to-market of new drugs. This can be handled by a standardized new product development process which will help reduce investment costs significantly and decrease time to market. Proper planning of the product development cycle and choosing the right kind of drugs to develop form the two most important drivers in a standardized NPD process.
· Capacity planning: The uncertainty of the clinical trial process and competitors activity brings in a lot of uncertainty in gauging the future demand for the product. Also capacity planning needs to be done at a much earlier stage compared to other industries as it takes some time for the capacity to be effective. The long cycle time to develop a product further adds to this uncertainty. This leads to a capacity planning issue.
Typically the pharmaceutical manufacturing stage works on a “push” based model, which makes the supply chain less responsive to demand changes and sometimes leads to a “bullwhip” effect. The direct effect of this is high inventory level pile-up across the chain. Secondly short term opportunities are missed.
· Network Planning: With increasing exports the length of the supply chain increases. Global supply chain increases the span of the whole chain resulting in sub-optimal decisions being taken at each of the different global nodes. This results in a lack of supply chain visibility.
Secondly, for generic drugs margins tend to be wafer thin. Firms need to rationalise their supply chain to reduce costs without affecting the customer service levels.
Last Updated On:10/22/2008 12:43:17 PM
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Industries »Chemicals & Fertilizers
Chemicals & Fertilizers
Chemicals and Fertilizers industry have their own set of characteristics which make their supply chain unique in many ways. Commoditization of products which leads to no products remaining unique for long, globalization putting pressure for cutting costs, hydrocarbons and energy cost spikes, retailers and consumers demanding lower prices, environment – health - safety pressures continuing as strong as ever, are some of the challenges which the industry faces today. To meet such challenges and remain competitive, supply chain of such industry needs to be responsive and optimally designed.
Plant operation is one area where there are lots of inefficiencies prevailing. Even the best plants do not have more than 80% of capacity utilization. Much of the capacity in the reactors, tanks and storage houses remain empty throughout the year. Supply chains of these firms are full of redundancies leading to a lot of duplicate assets, working capital and extensive time and human effort. Sourcing has become a critical activity which acts as the driver of high performance. There is a need to conduct strategic sourcing initiatives and using supplier management methodologies to build relationship with the suppliers. Chemical companies have to develop distribution networks to meet the service commitments they've made to their customers while minimizing inventories. They may also have to work within the structural constraints of their business, being far from customers and raw materials and utilizing older, more expensive production assets.
We at Aqua MCG realize that there are no easy fixes to the challenges offered by the industry but with our expertise and understanding of the issues plaguing the industry, we are confident to provide solutions, adding value wherever we are engaged.
Last Updated On:10/10/2008 7:50:54 PM
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Industries »Aerospace & Defence
Aerospace & Defence
Aircrafts are complex beings. A typical aircraft could use five million spare parts : both rotable and non rotable parts. Airlines are focussed on increasing market share. On the hand they face margin pressure due to emergence of low cost airlines and falling ticket prices.
Aqua MCG team of experts can help in procurement of chemicals (engine oil, cleaners, paints, dopes etc), tires, rotables needed for running and maintenance of aircrafts, forecasting, inventory classification and management, warehouse storage facility selection, JIT, safety and storage processes for hazardous items, total supply chain cost studies resulting in cost benefits and service level improvements.
Aerospace and Defence industry major focus is on building a diligent supply chain with emphasis on stringent quality control measures. With economy opening up and cost of flying becoming cheaper, the rise of the low cost carriers is ever on increase. As the capacity reaches maximum utilisation, the need to have an agile supply chain becomes more pressing. Similarly, Defence industry objective is to provide the warfare equipments at the right place and at the right time in order to successfully complete a mission, thus, a responsive supply chain, maintaining the quality of the warfare goods becomes critical.
Aerospace sector is characterized by manufacturers that not only construct aircrafts, engines, space vehicles but also provide repair and maintenance services. There has been a shift in this industry in the past years from a goods providing sector, to one that provides a complete package, including both services and goods. The Aerospace sector has traditionally incorporated Six Sigma measurement processes which are concentrated on product quality and not JIT lean manufacturing. Although
Last Updated On:9/19/2008 2:22:48 PM
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Industries »Apparel & Textile
Apparels & Textile
Supply chain of the textile industry has very distinctive processes owing to different supply sources, push and pull logistics as well as the non replenishment approaches especially for the fast fashion sector, affecting processes in the supply chain. In addition, the depth and range of assortments such as different sizes, colours and cuts of a collection requires very efficient and optimised logistics. Furthermore, time efficiency is one of the key factors for this industry to provide a competitive advantage.
In textile industry, demand changes rapidly due to fashion trends and a volatile market situation. This demand is unpredictable and could vary and change completely in a short time creating high difficulties for supply chain. To remain competitive, lean and agile supply chain is the need of the hour for the textile and apparels industry. In the era of globalisation, where point of manufacturing and point of consumption are different, supply chain poses serious challenge to the textile and apparel industry, some of which are:
Minimize forecasting error keeping in mind the ever changing consumer taste and quantities ordered
Flexible supply chain supporting continuous adjustment of product orders
Transportation system supplying goods no sooner and later than it is needed
Frequent shipment in small batches as an ongoing replenishment
Reducing manufacturing and delivery lead times
For textile and apparel sector, cycle time is the key to competitiveness of a firm as it affects both price and delivery schedule. Cycle time reduction is strongly correlated with high first pass yield, high throughput times, and low variability in process times, low WIP and consequently cost. Penetrati
Last Updated On:9/19/2008 2:40:21 PM
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Services »Impact »Innovation
Innovation
In this ever changing world with more demanding customers (increased customization of products, shrinking product lifecycle times, shorter delivery times), increasing margin pressures and intense market competition, innovation is the single most important factor for sustained long-term growth of a firm. Enterprises are realizing the importance of innovation to gain competitive advantage. From manufacturing processes to product improvement, brand building initiatives to customer experience, companies the world over are constantly innovating to stay ahead of the competition.
Supply chain management is one of the few areas that have ample room for innovation. Innovations help in making the supply chain more responsive, flexible and efficient. Supply chain innovation can be used to reduce costs, offer better assortment of customer centric products, decreasing time to market and driving growth. Companies like P&G, Wal-Mart, Dell and many more have identified supply chain as one of the key focus areas for innovation. Aqua MCG, with its focus on the supply chain management field, is uniquely positioned to help you innovate in this largely unexplored area of operation.
Some of the key innovation areas are:
· Innovations in product development (NPD) and improving the product development process (efficiently gauging customer expectations, decreasing time to market, decreasing investment costs etc.)
· Innovations in manufacturing processes
· Innovation in products can either be
o Creating entirely new set of products
o Developing products that help you tap an entirely new set of customers/geographies
· Innovations in reaching out to the customer and enhancing the customer experience
Some of the key q
Last Updated On:10/22/2008 12:09:24 PM
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Leadership Workshop on “Streamline Your Operations for Higher Revenues and Profits”
DRIVE EXCELLENCE THROUGH LEAN THINKING
Sat, 13th March, 2010
9 AM to 5:30 PM
Hotel Babylon Inn
Jail Road, Raipur (Chattisgarh)
Why you need to attend this workshop?
This hands-on workshop is designed to help you develop key insights into lean management philosophy. Lean management principles affect not only your manufacturing operations but also other areas in Sales & Marketing, Finance, Logistics & Distribution and HR. Through interactive presentations by industry stalwarts, case studies and executive games , you will learn how to identify and drive lean process improvements across all these areas. You will also gain a critical understanding of the lean tools and how to use them collectively to drive business benefits.
*How to define and develop a Lean strategy
*How do you improve delivery performance, increase capacity without major capital investment and improve product quality & customer satisfaction through the application of lean principles
*How to identify value added, non-value added & required non-value added activities from the vantage point of the customer
* How and where to start the lean transformation effort
*How to deal with challenges in the lean transformation effort
This program is targeted at business lea
Last Updated On:2/19/2010 1:57:44 PM
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