A clear, transparent grasp of the current state of the supply chain is as important as the vision of where the company should be headed. Only a sound understanding of the current state will initiate the need for improvements. For example, there could be increasing inventories in certain facilities, declining sales in some market areas, or poor on-time delivery for some countries. This kind of data is generally available within corporate data systems, but regular analysis to turn the data into tangible information is seldom performed.
Key Questions
- How is the supply chain currently performing in critical areas such as sales, cost, customer service, inventories and other supply chain assets?
- Where in the supply chain should improvement initiatives be prioritized and targeted?
Supply Chain Visibility and SimFlex
SimFlex provides flexible data analysis capabilities for current state data residing within corporate systems. It is possible to customize a “dashboard” for constant monitoring of key performance metrics within the supply chain. The scope of this analysis can be as aggregated or broken down as necessary – from company, to facility, or even SKU level. The current state analysis can be performed on a regular basis and submitted to key decision makers, empowering them to react accordingly.