Although most aspects of daily work have shifted online, one major activity has stayed grounded in the 1980s: data entry. Even today, where almost everybody has a smartphone, computer, etc. the vast majority of data entry for things like orders and purchases are still done via pen and paper. While this may seem simple, there’s a lot of reasons to switch to a digital data entry system Paperwork. 1. Save Time While filling out a few forms may seem faster than a [...]
In our previous blog What is a Supply Chain control Tower we discussed the similarities between a Supply Chain control tower and airport control tower. Both provide similar functionality of visibility and control that are essential in managing the traffic. Supply chain control towers can be classified based on their functionalities or areas of operation. Analytical Control Tower – This type of control towers are used for Analysis Only. If any Corrective/Improvement actions are to be done, it was done in some [...]
A control tower in the airport is used to provide visual control of all the incoming and outgoing flights. Though computers and monitors provide all the necessary data for managing the flight traffic, controllers still prefer to look through the glass walls of the control tower and make necessary decisions. A control tower in the Supply chain gives the same advantage of an airport control tower. It provides visual inputs for all the supply chain traffic for a company and [...]
There are various expressions to define supply chain management. The best one will be Supply Chain Management is a total systematic approach to manage flow of Information, material and money between Suppliers and Customers . Let us look at each of these flows in detail and also see how effectively used in companies. Information Flow Request for Quotation, Purchase order, Monthly schedules, Engineering Change Requests, Quality complaints, Reports on supplier performance flows from Customer side to Supplier. From supplier side to Customer, [...]
Control Towers are the central management function in a Supply Chain. It is a combination of System, Process and People that manages and guides the entire supply chain. Control Tower Operations It provides a central one view for all the trading partners in the supply chain. Customers Suppliers Logistics Providers Warehouse opertaors all of them on the same page with a single source of supply chain truth Analytics and Dashboard in Supply Chain A dashboard is a key component of a supply chain control tower. It provides a bird’s [...]
Collaboration Areas There are many areas of collaboration in Supply Chain. Below are common areas that needs collaboration Purchase Orders Shipments/Receipts Inventory/ Forecast Invoice/Payments Purchase Order Collaboration Typical scenarios that need supply chain collaboration in purchasing are Small group of Strategic suppliers – Mostly 75-300 suppliers. Most of the items are single or dual sourced Frequent small volume purchase orders to the same suppliers. Generally, 2-3 purchase orders for the same items to the same suppliers every month Frequent Revisions to Purchase orders – Expedite, Delay or Cancel. This [...]
Drug and Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) through its Drug and Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) has stipulated product level tracing requirements. These requirements are applicable to Pharmaceutical Supply Chain companies including Manufacturers, Distributors, Re-packagers, 3PL providers. Dispenser, Manufacturer, Re-packager, 3PL, Wholesale distributor. The main benefit of this act is that quarantine and recall become easy with the trace-ability. This act requires all companies within Pharmaceutical supply chain to develop an electronic system designed to increase trace-ability [...]
Supply Chain Integration Our previous blog on Supply chain Integration, Visibility and Collaboration explained how an Integrated supply chain achieves efficiency using connected systems. The next questions will be how this integration can be achieved. B2B Integration Modern Workplace with Laptop Showing Landing Page in Doodle Design Style with Text B2B – Business to Business. Toned Image with Selective Focus. 3d Render. Integrating various systems in the supply chain will need one of the electronic Integration method to be used. The most popular method [...]
Supply Chain Integration leads to Visibility and Visibility leads to Collaboration. Collaboration leads to success. Let us try to define each of these components and see how they play together in a supply chain. Supply Chain Integration Integration in a Supply chain is the process of bringing together People, Systems and Process into one common platform. Integration is the starting point in a collaborative supply chain. Let us consider the nodes in a supply chain. A supply chain has the typical [...]
ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) is an In-house system that sits behind the company firewall. All the core data needed for the day to day operation of the company lives in this system. Supply chain is traditionally outside the company’s firewall. All external trading partners and suppliers are part of the supply chain. So, there is a clear disconnect here. All the vital data needed for the effective supply chain operation is not available for the external supply chain. Integrated Supply Chain and [...]
Blanket Order and Releases
Standard Purchase Orders
Drop Ship Orders
Work orders/Contract orders
Service Orders
Kanban Orders
Documents Management In Supply Chain
Contract Manufacturing documents
Order Management in Contract Manufacturing
Each contract order is tracked from start to end with status updates.
