Five Steps to Achieve Supply Chain Synchronization

Many manufacturing facilities are pursuing the goal of supply chain synchronization, but how exactly do you get there and what does it look like? Supply chain synchronization looks like a world where information is collected, analyzed, and utilized in real time. This process aids production facilities through buyers being able to manage their path order lifecycle with accuracy in real time. Suppliers are able to organize raw materials and plan production according to realistic lead times, which ultimately enables logistics providers to also be able to determine shipping requirements with certainty.

All of these components working together help push the production process along in the most efficient and optimal manner through supply chain synchronization. While this may sound rather simple, there are a few steps to take in order to efficiently synchronize your supply chain process. Therefore, here are the five steps to achieve supply chain synchronization.

The Five Steps to Achieve Supply Chain Synchronization

The five steps to achieve supply chain synchronization include the following:

• Collaboration and Engagement Facilitation - Collaboration and engagement facilitation are key within the first step of supply chain synchronization. You must enlist supply chain participants as stakeholders and ensure that everyone is engaged within their role in making production run as smoothly as possible, both internally and externally. You must segment your suppliers and identify any relationships that yield profits and begin the process with them. Without everyone on the same page, your supply chain will be unsynchronized and overall inefficient, which is why it is important to ensure that everyone understands their part within the process.
• Visibility Establishment - Thorough visibility allows you to make decisions based off of all of the information provided. You do not want cloudy information that is hard to understand or is missing important components/factors, which is why visibility establishment is an absolute must for supply chain synchronization. Map your end-to-end processes among various departments and ensure that you identify and road test every process to provide exact lead times with all considerations and known buffers. Share the data with everyone and you will easily enhance visibility within your supply chain.
• Collecting Real-Time Data - It is important to define who provides data, how you can capture it, and where it needs to go in order for all parties to work off one version of the truth. Collecting real-time data is an integral step in supply chain synchronization.
• Monitoring, Managing, and Executing - Monitoring, managing, and executing ensures that the system informs everyone in real time on any deviation to the plan or where disruption may loom. This enables all participants to collaborate and take action where it is needed.
• Measuring, Remodeling, and Re-Engineering - It is important to measure your supply chain synchronization efforts regularly instead of waiting until the end of the year. This allows you to continuously examine whether or not your efforts are effective and if you should continue in the direction that you are heading. Therefore, let the system analyze and predict to help plan for future ordering for your production process.

A software that can easily help with supply chain synchronization is PlanetTogether’s Advanced Planning and Scheduling Software (APS). Advanced Planning and Scheduling Software (APS) has become an integral part of manufacturing operations that are seeking to take their production process to the next level. APS software allows you to have a visual representation of your production process and aid in the location of potential bottlenecks, constraints, and areas where production could be improved. APS software offers various features such as finite capacity scheduling, gantt drag and drop, what-if scenarios, and others that allow you to easily design your production process in the manner that you wish. PlanetTogether’s Advanced Planning and Scheduling Software (APS) can turn your manufacturing operation and shop floor into a goldmine.

Advanced Planning and Scheduling Software

Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) software has become a must for modern-day manufacturing operations due to customer demand for increased product mix and fast delivery combined with downward cost pressures. APS can be quickly integrated with a ERP/MRP software to fill gaps where these system lack planning and scheduling flexibility and accuracy. Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) helps planners save time while providing greater agility in updating ever-changing priorities, production schedules, and inventory plans.

• Create optimized schedules balancing production efficiency and delivery performance
• Maximize output on bottleneck resources to increase revenue
• Synchronize supply with demand to reduce inventories
• Provide company-wide visibility to capacity
• Enable scenario data-driven decision making

Implementation of Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) software will take your manufacturing operations to the next level of production efficiency, taking advantage of the operational data you already have in your ERP.

Related Lean Video

 APS Resources