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Using enterprise grade solutions to strengthen the connection between manufacturing operations and supply chain execution will be critical in 2023
By Frank Kapper, General Manager, Upland Ultriva
With an impending recession on the horizon, a major trend
for business leaders in 2023 will be to strengthen the connection between
manufacturing operations and supply chain execution. The first step in that
journey is to look at the external factors and internal factors that make
supply chains so complex.
Supply chain professionals have heard the acronym PESTED that
looks at Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, and
Demographic external factors. On their own and even together they impact supply
chains. Supply chain complexity is also a reflection of how a business runs internally,
which is also complex. There are lots of departments and people and priorities,
all happening at the same time. That's internal pressure.
These two pressure points - externally and internally - make
it difficult for business leaders to decide where to focus, not from just a
supply chain perspective, but from a business perspective. The most important
first step is to look at internal business processes. Savvy business leaders
will see there are always improvements that can be made to strengthen the
connection between manufacturing operations and supply chain execution that'll
make a big difference on business and supply chain performance.
Internally, each of the components in an organization's end-to-end business
system must fit together seamlessly for the bridge between supply chain
execution (SCE) and manufacturing execution systems (MES) to occur. There are
different phases an organization goes through with each business cycle. They
include the Planning Phase, the Implementation Phase, the Execution Phase, and
the Review Phase.
One of the least understood and most impactful nodes is the
feedback loop between the Execution Phase and the Review Phase. The overall
success of a manufacturing plan hinges on the availability of near real-time
information on "Plan to Actual" performance of each organization's key
performance indicators. One such example is the ability of a supply chain
organization to ensure the right parts are delivered in the right quantities at
the right time and to the right location. If any one of these supply chain
deliverables fails, then the overall performance of manufacturing operations
suffers.
Peeling the onion back a little further, you'll find supply
chain and IT systems designed specifically to meet the informational and data
management needs of the owning organizations within each node.
Organizations that are considering large supply chain and IT
projects in 2023 must first understand how each major node in their primary
line-of-business systems are performing before making decisions on new systems
or system replacements. But it doesn't stop isolated assessments of each
individual node. Strengthening the connection between manufacturing operations
and supply chain execution only occurs when the key data hand-offs between each
node meet the informational and data management needs of downstream
organizations.
To that end, applications designed to support business
processes are perfectly positioned to play a major role in addressing the twin
challenges of increasing supply chain complexity and getting the most out of
existing line of business systems.
Specialized solutions accomplish this by quickly relieving
pressure at the most constrained part of the supply chain. The need to find
efficiencies in the supply chain has made it necessary to look at every detail
from the inside out. For example, integrating a supply chain execution solution
with an organization's primary line-of-business ERP system will help by
providing near real-time information on potential or actual supply chain
disruptions, along with the ability for buyers and suppliers to collaborate and
execute best-case recovery plans has become a top priority for manufacturing firms
of all types and sizes. Key steps to take:
-
Start slow to go fast: Engage the
key stakeholders in current state business process and system assessments
-
Examine operational flow: Focus on key hand-off
points between business process and systems
-
Check your technology performance: Multi-vendor
ecosystems are common, so make sure your systems work for your
business so mission-critical data is readily available and accurate
-
Build a consensus: Ensure process owners,
leaders, and experts agree on process and system improvement opportunities
In the end, you want to easily do three things:
-
Get the right information as fast as possible.
-
Provide easy access to that information with all
internal and external stakeholders.
-
Work together with your stakeholders to make the
best decisions possible.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Frank is General Manager of Upland Ultriva, a cloud-based supply chain management and manufacturing execution solution. Frank leads product strategy and positioning for Ultriva.