The Challenge for a Transparent Supply Chain

Final product available at the right time and place

Increasing globalization and the growth of supply chain complexity makes transparency one of the top priorities in the manufacturing industry. The risk of a disrupted supply chain is increasing and the pace of change is growing just as fast. Your company develops, manufactures, sells and services a product (or more). Chances are the chain has at least dozens of links.

Links in the chain and their risk of disruption

It starts with that one, brilliant idea from R&D. Ultimately, it leads to the product and revolves around successful use by your end customer. In between are the links in the supply chain processes, among others, each with its own risk of disruption. Think raw material suppliers and production facilities in Asia. Or the warehouses, distribution centers and transportation companies that make sure finished goods and spare parts are available at the right time at the right location around the world.

The Solution for a Transparent Supply Chain

Chain integration enables a transparent supply chain. If you want to achieve this, the following SAP solutions, for example, are relevant to you:

This allows all parts of a supply chain to communicate with each other. This ensures that everyone has access to the right information at all times: one single source of truth.

Real-world success example

100% delivery reliability at the lowest possible cost

One of our customers in the high-tech sector has made an early commitment to supply chain integration. They have a very complex end product consisting of tens of thousands of components. The global supply chain therefore has very many links. This makes it a continuous challenge for this customer to align everything.

The ultimate goal was 100% delivery reliability at the lowest possible cost. For this, it was crucial to give all links in the chain optimal insight so that a transparent partnership was created. The assembly now knows exactly when each part of the final product will be available. The forecast is shared with the tier-2 and tier-3 suppliers of critical parts so that they can respond effectively and efficiently.

SAP Ariba SCC, IBP and AIN

Components we have implemented for this client include SAP Ariba Supply Chain Collaboration and SAP Integrated Business Planning. We are also currently implementing SAP Asset Intelligence Network. With this we are also making assets part of the transparent supply chain network (the chain). With applications such as predictive maintenance and machine learning, more and more intelligent chains are being created. Parts are automatically ordered, produced or assembled on time. This prevents downtime and optimizes delivery reliability.

Want to read and/or hear more about a transparent supply chain?

A great starting point is our white paper about Demand Driven MRP and IBP.
Paul Tolboom of SAP wrote an interesting article in 2020 about supply chain integration
Curious about our take on your supply chain? We would be happy to have one of our SAP Digital Supply Chain experts available to discuss the business challenges in your organization with you. Please contact jan.laros@mccoy-partners.com or bart.de.bijl@mccoy-partners.com