Supply Chain Management

Supply Chain management – Optimizing flow and adapting to surprises

Constant balancing between changing customer requirements, cash flow optimization, and cost-efficient operations – sounds like an impossible equation but can be tackled with a pragmatic approach.

An efficient supply chain provides a solid backbone for your company to seek growth, utilize scarce resources optimally and maintain responsiveness in a turbulent world. We help you find practical and sustainable ways to solve the complex formula of supply chain optimization and turning it into a competitive edge of your company.

Supply chain optimization varies e.g. from managing fluctuating demand via the S&OP process to organizing sourcing in a more systematic way. No matter the challenge, companies need to find tools, ways of working, and transparency to support them in their day-to-day decision making.

Even more, it requires a mindset change in operative processes from a reactive mode to a proactive search for change opportunities and then implementing those effectively. Improved service level, shorter lead times, faster inventory turn, and portfolio profitability are key drivers for these optimization actions.

These initiatives are not one-off activities but rather form a journey that takes place over time. Once supply chain responsiveness has been embedded into the organization as a self-sustained and standard way of working it makes daily work more engaging and meaningful for professionals – and forms a source of competitive advantage that is very hard for competitors to copy.

Supply chain optimization takes strict scoping to find bottlenecks with highest impact but benefits reflect throughout the company

Optimized processes as a backbone to enable scaling up your business

Quickly identify changes in demand and supply and understand the root causes per each phase of the supply chain. Plan coordinated responses and implement the changes fast. A responsive supply chain allows you to minimize your risk position and maximize growth potential.

Synchronized S&OP, flexible supply chain and risk-sharing solutions supported with scalable analytics are driving your business to the right direction to win in the new markets or businesses.

Boost profitability from cash, margin and cost-structure perspectives

Agile supply chains absorb little cash in e.g. inventories and thus enable profitable organic growth. Start with stock level optimization and continue to more comprehensive portfolio management by analyzing current product offering from COGS and ROCE perspectives to be able to plan correct actions.

Transparency, cross-functional collaboration, firm decision making and practical item-level actions lead to visible results in increasing inventory turn, improved service level and healthier cost-structure.

Responsive supply chain to adapt to constant change

A responsive supply chain can turn surprises into opportunities. In order to become responsive, a company must take decisive actions to reduce the effort, capital and risks required to operate the company in a normal state. This requires supply chain management designed to keep options open, transparency to detect changes early on and operative practices that enable fast and coordinated responses.

Winning tomorrow requires a supply chain that is built for agility.

What we do

Challenge #1 Lost sales, material shortages and high stocks

Symptom
Missing S&OP process

Solutions

Define maturity level of the current S&OP process
Create and implement process and its elements with key functions involved
Piloting process, proactively gathering feedback for improvement
Setting up KPIs, decision-making process and clarifying responsibilities for all stakeholders

Impacts

Enabling company to work through one-set of numbers
Transparent and fact-based decision-making
Improved service level, less shortages, lower stocks

Challenge #3 High stock levels despite heavy investments in a forecasting tool

Symptom
MTS operations executed on a daily level based on inaccurate forecast data

Solutions

Decouple planning from execution at production
Forecast utilized for trend estimation and campaign management while daily execution and planning based on demand-driven model
Creating tools, rules, metrics and process for demand-driven planning

Impacts

Improved inventory turn
Better service level
All-time record for most of the operations-related metrics for the whole business area

Challenge #2 Decreasing customer service level

Symptom
Unclear process to handle delays and errors in deliveries

Solutions

Defining root causes for poor delivery performance (internal vs external reasons)
Setting target and metrics per each identified gap, task force per high priority topics
Ambitious goal setting, management team involved in execution and follow-up

Impacts

Better awareness of underlying issues
Service level improved from <50% to +95%

How we work with you - From a business case to measured sustainable results

We work hands-on with our customers to build the insights, visibility and tools needed to improve capabilities, empower people and achieve measurable profitability improvement, now and in the future.

Read more about our Changemakers toolbox, project framework, and pricing on How we work -page.

Other services

Working Capital Optimization

We help release cash from operations to finance your growth and strategic initiatives by optimizing your working capital.

Customer Profitability Management

We help you improve customer profitability to achieve your profit targets by smarter pricing and better cost efficiency.

Capacent Group

Capacent Group

Supply Chain Management

We help you build and operate a supply chain that gives a competitive edge through increased agility.