Become a Digital Champion with the Right Supply Chain Software

Good-bye Excel chaos! Become a digital champion with the right supply chain software

SCM Software investments that pay off: Towards predictive and autonomously-adapting supply chains

Barkawi Management Consultants Munich • Atlanta • Vienna 1 I Authors

Dr. Andreas Baader, Managing Partner & Head of Europe Dr. Andreas Baader heads our After Sales Service division. Before joining Barkawi Management Consultants in 2000, Andreas Baader held various executive positions at SAP AG, most recently managing the Application Design Sales Support division there. Andreas Baader studied engineering and wrote his doctorate in the field of aerospace technology.

Luis Dominguez, Senior Consultant Luis Dominguez is an expert in analytics, algorithmic augmentation of planning decisions and supply chain planning. With Barkawi Management Consultants since 2017, Luis Dominguez gathered industry experience at different major firms before joining. Luis Dominguez holds a master of science in mechatronics and an MBA.

Stefan Gaubatz, Senior Consultant Stefan Gaubatz has extensive knowledge in digital supply chain solutions and supply chain transformations. Stefan Gaubatz has been with Barkawi Management Consultants since 2015. Stefan Gaubatz is an industrial engineer with specializa- tions in supply chain and operations management and mechanical engineering.

More publications by Barkawi Management Consultants

Consulting Special: From dashboard to supply chain cockpit to a fully networked digital control tower The demands on modern supply chains have been increasing rapidly for years now. The challenge is to move goods, products, spare parts, etc. around the globe in perfect efficiency and orchestrate suppliers and service providers worldwide brilliantly. The right amounts of the right things at the right place at the right time – that is the objective.

I 2 SCM Software investments that pay off: Towards predictive and autonomously-adapting supply chains

INDEX

Introduction 5

1. Typical supply chain challenges that belong to the past 7

2. From ERP to Supply Chain Maestro – Digital sets new boundaries 12

3. Supply Chain in the Cloud – Deploy all five trends 17

4. How AGCO and ClearOps show the path 20

About Barkawi Management Consultants and Genpact 25

3 I

I 4 or years supply chain experts were working only Fin one direction: less cost, less capital deployed, higher speed and lower redundancy. Supply chains became leaner, faster and more standardized to minimize assets and administrative effort. Risks of poor reaction to sudden changes were tolerated – occasional shortages in supply and product availability were considered acceptable given the over- all efficiency gains were according to expectations. And even events like the Tsunami in Japan or strikes in Hong Kong and Shenzhen were never felt in the consumer temples of New York, London or Paris. Product availability at the point of sales was conside- Introduction red a given.

5 I Legally compliant supply chain management in a complex international environment was important, but not crucial. But then changes happened. In 2018 the first victim of a new area was ZTE. The U.S. ban on high-tech components brought ZTE to the edge of bankruptcy. Second came Huawei expecting the revenue loss in mobile telephone sales due to new regulations to be around 700 m USD in 2019. And a further potential wave related to raw materials, from oil to gas to finally rare earth minerals, is at the horizon. Sudden changes of access to markets and sources in today’s Trump/Brexit era definitely bring new challenges to supply chain executives and supply chain solution design.

But there is good news in the pipeline as well. The IoT world now holds over eight billion connected devices. Exchanging data between business partners is easier than ever. Despite the flow of physical goods becoming more complex, the ease of exchanging data to control and steer supply chains is better than ever. Assuming the real-time data lake for the supply chain is available, what solution does it take to fully leverage it?

The ability to do so is based on real-time calculations, scenario simulation technology, accurate mathe- matical models, big data analytics, collaboration and connectivity with partners, and much, much more on top – all interconnected, accessible and assessable at all times! Only then can a company be proactive instead of merely trying to cope with the situation when events have already caused the problem. Act, don‘t react – that is the motto of digital champions!

I 6 Typical supply 1. chain challenges belong to the past

7 I I 7 or years supply chain executives and their teams were struggling in daily life with cumbersome challenges all Fdriven by data and all ready for resolution: What will enable supply chain teams to overcome these hurdles? The experts from Gartner highlight five relevant concepts and technologies: artificial intelligence, advanced analytics, internet of things, robotic process automation and the digital supply chain twin.

We want to guide the reader through these topics and make transparent how the transformation into the new supply chain world can be successful.

Everyday Excel chaos: In most enterprises, planning is still Excel-based. It is time to accept it: no company worth more than 100 million Euros can be run with Excel. Data volume limited to one million rows? Forget analytics! Manual inputs in unstructu- red spreadsheets? No automation! Different versions running in parallel? Slow and error prone collaboration! The daily struggle costs time, money and competitive position. Professional planning requires professional solutions.

Distance to the customer: For many manufacturers, dealers are the only direct point of interaction with the customer. That is why the company itself generally has little to no opportunity to directly influence the aftersales quality. In this situation of ’every dealer to their own’, the OEM and their partners are set to lose operational efficiency. The solution? Achieve network effects between the OEM and among dealers via a dealer platform so that all parties benefit.

Unclear responsibility and lack of coordination: Has the sales team shared their demand forecast? Does manufacturing know what the numbers are? Are the promotions planned by marketing in there? And does it all match with finance’s expectations? Siloed decisions can soon result in excess stocks and loss of profit margin which can suddenly become an existential threat. All despite the fact that the information necessary to avoid it was there the whole time. Collaborative planning plat- forms help organizations fully use the wealth of information they have.

Inability to handle change: Inevitably, the unexpected will occur – the main supplier defaults on an important delivery and the business’ customers cannot be served. Planners scramble to find alternatives. The damage sustained grows with every minute that passes and calculating worthwhile alternatives for the customers (let alone one that retains value for the business) in ERP systems is a near impossibility. Waiting for the next overnight batch run is not an option. Scenario simulation technology provides the agility to handle these situations.

I 8 In the next chapter, we show the future of the supply chain IT landscape, which we call “Supply Chain Maestro”, a realization of the digital supply chain twin.

Thereafter we present the cloud as the best IT concept to make all the technology for artificial intelligence, advanced analytics, internet of things and robotic process automation available. To provide hands on experience we present the case were AGCO, one of the largest manufacturers of agricultural machinery in the world, realized such digitally enabled supply chain with the technology partner ClearOps.

Gap to best practices: Many firms face the paradoxical situation of simultaneously rising inventories and falling customer satisfaction – in essence, the wrong amounts arrive at the wrong place on the wrong date. This is more often than not due to suboptimal planning practices. The wheel does not need to be reinvented – classic supply chain problems have already been solved and implemented in specialized supply chain management software solutions…

No options for the problems that matter: ... however, best practices are sometimes just not enough. While non-core activities can be relayed to best practices, key problems require more advanced solutions to enable true operational competitive advantage. Given a mature digitalized supply chain is in place, companies can augment their systems with advanced analytics where experts implement custom state-of-the-art algorithms to tackle the company’s toughest operational problems.

Great need for coordination with logistics companies: The work required to coordinate the logistics between transport providers, CEP (courier, express and package services) forwarders and 3PL is enormous, especially when amounts and deadlines fluctuate. For this reason, full data connections have found widespread adoption. However, in these days of extremely high customer expectations, a daily synchronization is not enough. To enable optimal rerouting, advanced scheduling and selective prioritization, the information flow has to become real-time.

System thought for the wrong addressee: Nearly all data evaluations done by large ERP systems primarily address finance and controlling, and only consider the operational logistics and supply chain managers as an afterthought. In order to truly create a digital twin of the supply chain that can be leveraged for analytics-assisted planning, companies are better off connecting a specialized system. The range of options is wide and trusted partners can help make the selection that makes the most sense.

9 I IT Tools along the supply chain

ERP

CRM

Planning & Inv. Procurement Order Supply & Warehousing Management Management Collaboration

Supply Chain Visibility & Control

BI/ Analytics & Management

Knowledge/ Content Management

ERP:I 10 Enterprise Resource Planning; BI: Business Intelligence ERP

Pricing

Manufacturing Transport / Transport Service Customer Distribution Telematics Operations Interface

Supply Chain Visibility & Control

BI/ Analytics & Management

Knowledge/ Content Management

11 I From ERP to Supply Chain Maestro – Digital sets new boundaries 2.

I 12 uilding specialized planning tools, such as Kinaxis In addition, poor data quality – as typically seen in Bor o9 Solutions, on top of ERP Systems was ERP systems – is a cause of poor planning decisions a first step towards more agile supply chains and made by planning systems. superior planning accuracy. But when we assess our client’s supply chain maturity with the help of our No vertical and horizontal integration of plans Enabling Transformation Alignment Approach, we identify many structural problems. There are two fundamental information disconnects that result in manual effort and suboptimal planning. Before embarking in any technology transforma- Vertical information disconnects, between planning tion endeavour, we recommend clients carry out and execution systems, cause manual interventions an Enabling Transformation Alignment. This serves in planning and data cleanup if plans and execution to identify the main gaps that need to be closed are to be aligned. in order to fully generate the value expected from the transformation. In our experience, 60 % to 80 % of A typical case is when supply capacities are not the investment in the ETA becomes a direct cost aligned with the production schedules generated by reduction and an invaluable risk reduction in the Manufacturing Execution Systems. Horizontal infor- actual deployment of new technology. What’s mation disconnects, between different functions’ more, 70 % of implementations that did not carry planning systems, produce optimization within the out an ETA suffered from complications. silos. For example, purchase order quantities are rarely logistically optimized. These siloed plans are suboptimal compared to a global optimization in the Plans are disconnected from reality best case and counterproductive in the worst case.

In most planning systems parameters such as lead time, demand and supply variability and production capacity assumptions are based on historical means (or even worse, contractual va- lues that are not even respected at all!). Supply chain environments change fast and means become outdated quickly. Planning parameters have to be updated continuously based on the latest information.

13 I Supply chain software universe

ERP (whole company)

Finance HR SCM CRM PLM ...

Supply chain suites (end-to-end SCM)

Sourcing/ Planning ... Procurement

Best of breed Planning (focused special tasks)

I 14 Lack of automation and decision support Conclusion:

State-of-the-art planning systems drive standardi- All these hurdles result in zation in processes and decision making. But they inaccurate and/or non- are not yet ready to integrate automation tools or intelligent prescriptive systems in their solution executable supply chain in order to further speed up decision making and increase planning efficiency. No touch planning is still plans. The next step is to a vision for most companies and it is hard to archieve with standardized software. connect the dots.

To this effect, we envision a highly connected system The variety in terms of solutions and their capa- landscape to create a digital twin, to better integrate bilities is very large and growing with each passing planning systems and to increase planning efficiency year. According to Gartner analysis, the global by means of automation and digital decision support. market size of supply chain planning software in 2019 is about $5 billion with a CAGR of 7.8 %. The heart of a hyperconnected supply chain is the When considering supply chain execution and pro- digital supply chain twin. The keyword here is twin curement vendors as well, this number is expected – the goal is to digitally recreate the supply chain at to exceed $19 billion by 2021, growing at an 11% a very granular level of detail. Production schedules, CAGR. At Barkawi and Genpact we understand inventory volumes and locations, stock in transit – all that different companies have different needs and coming from different systems, are pulled as needed we assist in the otherwise confusing journey of in real time to create this digital representation. solution selection and implementation. In the past we have worked with leaders such as Kinaxis, System settings such as lead time are constantly visionaries like E2Open and niche players like challenged and corrected in an automated manner Anaplan, all of them in the well-known Gartner with the help of predictive analytics. In the presence Magic Quadrant. of IoT devices, the supply chain digital twin is enriched by even more data, making it even more true to reality.

To create the digital supply chain twin, the aforementioned vertical and horizontal information disconnects have to be closed.

15 I Mature supply chain organizations already have a high More complicated decisions e.g. order prioritization degree of vertical integration thanks to supply chain and stock allocation seem to be at a first glance highly planning systems such as Kinaxis, i.e. tactical demand manual and very reactive with many different stake- and supply plans are aligned with material require- holders involved but, with the right set of rules and ment decisions and production scheduling decisions. constraints, this decision too can be automated with optimization algorithms. Where we see organizations struggle is with horizontal integration of supply chain systems. Total landed Machine learning based prescriptive systems should costs need to be optimized under consideration of guide planners through complex decisions. In order to purchasing aspects, inbound transportation costs and focus the planners’ attention on complex and value warehouse operations. Cost-to-serve cannot be opti- adding activities, highly repetitive tasks such as data mized purely by the outbound transportation plan- transformations and easy data analysis should be ning departments. Inventory holding and pick & pack supported by intelligent workflows or robotic process decisions have to be in balance as well. Decision points automation (RPA). The Institute for Robotic Process and their impacts in other silos need to be identified Automation and AI estimates that implementation of and the information flow has to be built accordingly. RPA in logistic and transportation can result in savings By progressively integrating the systems, end-to-end of up to 50 %. With such potential, it is not a surprise transparency can be achieved and with that global that a majority of firms are experimenting with RPA – optimization is enabled. 72 % of companies, as researched by the Information Services Group. As the supply chain digital twin becomes more true to reality and encompassing of vertical and horizon- The development of a hyperconnected supply chain tal information, the complexity of decisions with rise with these three building blocks, digital supply dramatically. Human judgement is impaired by infor- chain twin, integration of systems and algorithmic mation overflow. The new dimensions of end-to-end planning, is a long journey. Streamlining processes supply chain planning and optimization needs to be and organizations, finding the right technology supported by machines. stack and setting the right implementation priorities require experience and know-how in many different There are two types of decision support for planners: fields. Barkawi and Genpact help companies on their automation and augmentation. Obvious situations transformation roadmap. and to a certain degree also complicated decisions can be automated via the right set of algorithms. Choosing the right forecasting algorithm, for example, can be easily made by a best-fit forecasting engine.

I 16 Supply Chain in the Cloud – Deploy all five trends 3.

17 I e have described our vision of the supply chain Use of Internet of Things data Wdigital twin and its benefits in the previous chapter. One of the highlighted benefits is itself one With the number of IoT devices already exceeding the of the five major supply chain technology trends – the world’s population and doubling every year, it is no potential of deploying RPA to automate supply chain surprise that OEMs have begun to equip their machi- management decisions. It does not end there. nes with sensors and SIM cards that upload machine health information to the OEM’s digital supply chain in The digital twin enables the deployment of the other real-time. Terex, a manufacturer of heavy machinery, aforementioned supply chain technology trends and uses this information to maximize machine utilization in addition, it enables another powerful capability – by dynamically redeploying machines and parts from real-time connectivity. low demand regions to high demand regions.

Real-time connectivity Together with Terex, Barkawi is envisioning an IoT based solution in the ClearOps platform that will ClearOps, a specialized software developed by automate service workshop management and in turn Barkawi, connects supply chain partners in a single will allow schedule maintenance right before the platform, where they collaborate to achieve superior machine fails. End customers are no longer subject to operational efficiencies as a whole. The connectivity the unpleasant surprise of a machine failure and the of several players in a single platform is by itself a subsequent long process of figuring out which part powerful lever but what really makes collaboration failed and then replacing it – all of that will have been most effective is the fact that ClearOps keeps data foreseen and prevented by a combination of predic- refreshed. tive maintenance, service parts replenishment and workshop scheduling. With this solution, uncertainty Whenever a partner logs in, they will see the current in parts availability and technician capacity planning status of the network and they will be able to collabo- are mitigated. rate with one another on the basis of the same, most current, information. Artificial intelligence

This is real-time connectivity and it lets the supply As businesses deploy AI, they acquire capabilities chain act on the spot. Without needing to wait for that bring their operational efficiency to whole new overnight batch runs, planners can figure out whether levels. In some cases, these acquired capabilities open the parts that are in demand are stocked in the net- the possibility to revolutionize their business models. work and relocate them as needed. Take Amazon as an example.

I 18 Thanks to their highly digitalized supply chain, vast scenario engine analysed weather, track conditions amounts of information flow into their systems and, and other drivers’ positions to make predictions. The by using AI, Amazon creates very accurate demand engine then made course of action recommendations forecasts. But what if their forecast accuracy were to based on its predictions for driver Sam Bird . become so high that it eliminates most all uncertain- ties? Amazon could ship product to customers before they even place the order, giving Amazon an incredible „Formula E is a sport that’s as market shaping advantage. This thought experiment is mentioned in McKinsey and Company’s article much about the technology behind “The economics of artificial intelligence”. it as what happens Demand analytics and the Envision on the track“ Virgin Racing challenge Richard Branson Information is very valuable and, in the form of advanced analytics, companies have a tool to extract Just like with Sam Bird on the value out of information. Quite literally, analytics the race track, Barkawi and is a machine that converts information into mone- Genpact’s advanced ana- tary benefits. Take for example advanced demand lytics expertise helps busines- forecasting: the more precise the forecast, the lower ses improve performance. Just by the uncertainty and thus the lower the safety stocks improving forecasts, inventories will go (lower costs) and the higher the service level (higher down and customer satisfaction will go up. revenue). This means higher profitability for the firm. Just by employing better algorithms, firms can signi- It is clear that these technologies are providing enor- ficantly improve economic performance, all without mous benefits to their adopters. Gartner analysts making major capital investments – information is have estimated the future adoption of AI, advanced money on the table and advanced analytics lets com- analytics and IoT. By 2023 over half of large global panies grab it. companies will have their supply chain operations supported by them. The Envision Virgin Racing challenge is a demons- tration of the sort of advanced demand analytics that At Barkawi, we help companies effectively adopt Barkawi and Genpact are capable of deploying. For these technologies and transform their supply this Formula-E race, an artificial intelligence based chains.

19 I How AGCO and 4. ClearOps show the path

I 20 ith products like its Fendt tractors, AGCO is one In AGCO‘s case, these predictive capabilities lead to an Wof the top manufacturers in the agricultural 8 % increase in its sales and those of its dealerships. machinery segment. AGCO uses a ClearOps solution How? The keyword is availability! Take for instance to collaborate with the dealerships and offer the end non-essential repairs, like a rear-view mirror of a customers, the farmers, even better service. tractor.

The old fashion way of supporting the dealer- Fig.: Reducing excess inventories ships is through sales €80 m reps holding daily phone calls with the dealer- -75 % ships to figure out €20 m which spare parts are in need. The AGCO way does away with this. In Before After its stead, AGCO offers its dealerships a global customized platform. A typical customer will not replace it if they need to order it, wait several days and then pick it up personally 1,100 dealerships around the world are connected at the dealership. But what if the mirror is already to the ClearOps platform. As soon as they open their sitting there in their first visit? One more sale! doors in the morning, a virtual shopping cart full with the products they will specifically need is awaiting in With the aid of ClearOps’ forecasts, increased availa- the platfom. bility does not come at the cost of higher inventory. Inventory costs are indeed lower because only the Yes, AGCO offers its dealerships an innovative ‘Vendor parts that are really needed are kept in stock, and not Managed Inventory‘. The OEM knows which parts will the loathsome shelfwarmers! Precise mathematics be required on a given day, even before the dealership and interconnectedness make even the long tail, the and its customers do. This is thanks to ClearOps‘ C parts, plannable! accurate forecasts, outstanding planning and predictive maintenance. Weather conditions, harvesting In addition, the system brings the OEM closer to its seasonal patterns and other external variables all customers. No longer is a close relationship with the go into the system to improve the forecasts which customers reserved for the dealers only; the manu- ultimately enables taking proactive action. facturer itself can now have an active influence on

21 I Fig.: Increasing part availability

Before After

More sexy! 78 % 98 %

customer satisfaction, costs, prices, etc. The same eliminate the feared ‘bullwhip effect‘ that often system can be used to measure things like customer causes manufacturer/OEM order volumes and inven- loyalty, using the data that it collects. tories to skyrocket due to fluctuating customer needs. A specialized supply chain software product like Without additional effort you can answer a myriad of ClearOps helps reduces costs and soon pays for questions such as ‘does my customer buy 20 % or 80 % itself! of its spare parts from the dealer?‘ directly from the system’s visualizations. Consider an example from the aircraft industry: how long does a helicopter stays grounded if its gearbox With the insights gained from this, you can design needs to be replaced? 18 months – that’s how long it individually customized campaigns for heightening takes to procure it! Having such an expensive machine customer loyalty, develop discount concepts and re- out of order for such a long time is definitely not good gional programs. The list of possibilities for improving for the business. turnover is long, but they all need good, hard facts at the most granular level. And of course having several gearboxes in the storeroom just in case is not an option since each one Close relationships with the customers, recording costs around 60,000 Euro. A predictive approach like and processing the acquired data and a high level the one AGCO uses will spare these problems. of forecasting precision can reduce or even entirely

I 22 “The technology from ClearOps makes our highly complex Marco Piovano, AGCO International GmbH, supply chain transparent. With clear key figures, we can Project Team Lead now manage and optimize in real time. It connects us with more than 1,100 repair shops and dealerships around the world at the press of a button, helping us guarantee the best service for our customers.“

23 I With the ClearOps cloud platform, the 1,100 AGCO Barkawi is the specialist in this field! Our decades dealerships have 20 % less capital tied up and the of practical experience show that a more than 20 % number of machines waiting for parts has halved. reduction of inventories across all warehousing stages is no problem at all. And not only that: In addition to the improved service at lower costs, dealerships are reporting an 8 % In the case of extremely expensive parts and/or large increase in their spare parts sales. replacement part inventories, having the right inventory secures competitiveness. Innovative supply chain Clever supply chain management software with its software transforms dead, tied-up capital back into inventory management, modern Vendor Managed agile working capital.

Fig.: Reducing spare parts inventories

> -20 %

Before After

Optimum inventory based on excellent data

Smart inventory management

Improved ability to deliver

At falling costs

Inventory (VMI), collaboration and customized mathe- matical algorithms improve the ability to deliver the required parts, and simultaneously decrease costs and inventories.

I 24 Barkawi Management Consultants and Genpact

All authors work for Barkawi Management Consul- This triggered Genpact to establish supply chain tants, a Genpact company. Innovative supply chain as a dedicated service line that serves as a holistic solutions across industries is the core competence of partner. The Barkawi experts together with the Barkawi. Being part of the larger Genpact organization operational strength of Genpact bring a unique offers extended opportunities. offering to the supply chains services market making change manageable and technology affordable. With a network of operational centers across the globe it is not just the design of supply chain solutions that can be offered. Many clients decide to hand over operational responsibility to Barkawi and Genpact receiving a committed gain in efficiency and performance. “We combine consultancy with real The concept of supply chain maestro and the solution based on ClearOps for AGCO are examples of that operational responsibility.“ approach. Companies design supply chain innovations together with Barkawi and rely on the same competence during implementation and operation.

An additional advantage is at hand to ensure innova- tion is actually realized. Leveraging all the possibilities which come with new digital capabilities not only require investments – in addition project management capacities are needed to an extent which is new for supply chain organizations.

Own resources are often not available to the necessary extent. Working with a partner offering design, Dr. Andreas Baader implementation and operation overcomes that shor- Managing Partner & Head of Europe tage. Barkawi Management Consultants

25 I Excellence in supply chain management Disclaimer

Barkawi‘s strict focus on supply chain topics leads to Data contained in this document is not binding and outstanding and sustainable results. As we jump into serves information purposes only. a project, we roll up our sleeves and muck in together with our clients to together tackle their most pressing Liability claims filed against Barkawi Management supply chain challenges. Consultants GmbH in relation to material or intangible damages resulting from the use of this All of our recommendations are well-founded on publication shall be principally excluded. data, numbers and analyses since facts give us and our clients the confidence that we are making the © 2019 Barkawi Management Consultants GmbH. right decisions. We develop a profound understanding All rights reserved. of the operational conditions and business processes of our clients and use this as a basis to develop new Image rights Shutterstock: concepts and strategies, and optimize processes and organizational structures. The fact that we do the im- Pages 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 17, 20, 22, 23, 24, 26, plementation is another USP of Barkawi Management 28 Consultants. Barkawi Management Consultants GmbH & Co. KG We combine consulting with real ope- Baierbrunner Str. 35 rational responsibility! Barkawi has won 81379 Munich many awards such as ‘Beste Berater‘ and ‘Hidden Champion‘, and it repeatedly Phone: +49 89 749826-0 comes ahead of the major strategy [email protected] consultancies in rankings in the fields of www.barkawi.com logistics and supply chain management

2006 2009 2012 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Hidden Champion Hidden Champion Hidden Champion Best of Consulting Hidden Champion Beste Berater Beste Berater Beste Berater Best of Consulting Best of Consulting Hidden Champion I 26 Beste Berater Best of Consulting Digital Transformation Award

As a specialized management consultancy, we are Excel spreadsheets just don’t cut it anymore; not to the experts in all things supply chain related, be it mention that joining, transforming and interpreting technology, processes, organization, strategy or these pieces of information requires deep supply even its underlying mathematics. chain management knowledge. It is time to leave behind the custom IT reports and the spreadsheets When talking about technology and analytics, created monthly by the intern. A hyperconnected, we often find that the data needed to determine real-time, purpose-built system is what is required the causes of performance problems and take to find the causes of performance issues and make decisions resides in many different data sources. effective decisions. Building these up is our daily With data volumes growing at exponential rates, bread and butter!

Short communication paths for a successful technology transformation:

Dr. Andreas Baader Henry Greulich Managing Partner & Head of Europe Vice President [email protected] [email protected] Phone +49 89 749826-712 Phone +49 89 749826-803

27 I Customers are more demanding than ever and the world is just complex and unpredictable. Traditional reactive supply chain management methods would require ridiculous amounts of safety stock to deal with the situation. There is a better way: predictive, autonomously-adapting supply chains – and technology is the key to achieve this. Supply chain planning systems help companies attain real time end-to-end visibility and assist proactive decision making with analytics augmentation. Digital champions simultaneously achieve great customer satisfaction and improved operational efficiency.

Good-bye Excel chaos! Become a digital champion with the right supply chain software

Even today, despite the many advances in information technology, chaos prevails in many companies. Count- less Excel spreadsheets fly around, each with a different format and formula, or even macros that might break at any moment! Consolidating information to make decisions is as titanic exercise. The daily struggle costs time, money and ultimately customer satisfaction. Companies know that digitization is the way to go but don’t know where to start.

Should we keep using our ERP system for planning or acquire specialized planning software? If so, which one is the most appropriate from the multitude of vendors? Do we want end-to-end visibility or individual modules? How much does it cost? How long does it take to implement? Are our processes even mature enough to embark on the digitization journey?

These and many more other questions are important and Barkawi Management Consultants helps clients answer them and has the expertise to further assist with the implementation. Become a digital champion with the right supply chain software.

Barkawi Management Consultants www.barkawi.comI 28