Product category:
RFID hardware and software
News Release from: WeSupply.com | Subject: Milestone monitoring solution
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 23 September 2005
On the right track
How a new approach combining RFID technology and an intelligent supply network developed by Wesupply has provided a 20% reduction in working capital tied up in excess inventory
How a new approach combining RFID technology and an intelligent supply network developed by Wesupply has provided a 20% reduction in working capital tied up in excess inventory The challenge consisted of:
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 14 Aug 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
Managing supply chain partnerships effectively
At a recent 'roundtable' discussion, industry Leaders concluded that collaborative technology is increasingly accessible for managing effective supply chain partnerships.
Back office integration supplied by Wesupply
Atchison Topeka adopts Wesupply's OneTime technology to translates the exchange of key transactions such as Sales Order, Stock Movement, Stock Update, and Despatch/Picking Confirmation
* Improve performance whilst utilising existing legacy systems.
* Advance warning to problems.
* Create full trace visibility of railcar/stock movement across the US rail network in remote situations.
Further reading
Collaborative business solutions for the future
Coca Cola Amatil uses Wesupply to achieve ambitious supply chain target
Wesupply announces an excellent year
Another great year for Wesupply as it builds on its electronic trading network with over 100 new clients in the last 12 months in its electronic enablement programme.
Simpler, faster and more agile supply chain
The Wesupply Electronic Trading Network allows companies to trade with all their partners in the chain regardless of data format and connection
* Improving accuracy of lead times used in the planning process.
* Reduce working capital tied up in excess unused stock.
* Reduce complexity with easy-to-use tools that are accurate.
* Everyone to have real time view of the same information.
Wesupply's proven approach in establishing electronic supply networks helps Amcor create a smart solution to a series of problems from supply to yard.
Benefits included:.
* Suppliers and Amcor have visibility coast to coast across the network.
* More than a 20% raw material reduction in working capital tied up in inventory.
* Reduced cycle and lead times built into the planning schedule based on a more realistic evaluation of the formerly agreed lead times.
* Reduction of back-up transport costs.
* Vastly improved service levels leading to better supplier relationships.
* Hosted web-based service with full back-up support.
* Deployment within 90 days - payback within 180 days.
Doug Wrathall, VP Supply Chain at Amcor says, "we'd been looking for some time for a solution that would improve our supplier's and our own visibility on the status and circumstances of the railcars delivering raw materials from our many suppliers.
In essence the problem was that we were holding more inventory due to a lack of information on the variables of the system - rail delivery being one of those key variables.
We simply did not have enough information to manage those variables." Amcor is one of the World's top global packaging companies.
With headquarters in Australia the company has manufacturing sites in 40 countries employing over 30,000 people.
The company produces a wide range of packaging and packaging-related services including corrugated boxes, cartons, aluminium and steel cans, flexible plastic packaging, PET plastic bottles and jars, caps and seals.
With freight journeys of thousands of miles across the length and breadth of the USA and products in transit for many hours, journey times by rail are influenced by sudden and unexpected variables caused by weather, track maintenance or at the worst, derailment or closure.
The smallest delay can seriously damage the profitability when using long haul deliveries.
And for a company like Amcor with a high dependency on the US rail network, punctuality is an imperative to meet crucial customer delivery dates.
"We needed a solution that wouldn’t involve teams of project managers", Wrathall explains, "a solution that could be installed quickly with an equally rapid return on investment.
We wanted a solution that would allow us to get on with our business without worrying about IT.
And we didn't want to find ourselves paying out for new hardware and software two years down the line.
We were looking for a reasonably quick-fix that would confront all our requirements.
Taking all these things into account the Wesupply solution seemed to give us what we were looking for".
So Amcor called in UK solutions provider Wesupply.
The company has offices in North America and Australia as well as a global European office in the Midlands.
Within 90 days Wesupply had developed and implemented a milestone monitoring solution combining the benefits of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) with a highly sophisticated stock replenishment system that allows visibility of the railcar journey from depot to depot, coast to coast across the USA network in the most remote parts of the country.
The system, part of a wider integrated process implemented for Amcor by Wesupply, triggers signals along the length of the track ensuring big brother visibility at every stage.
Nothing is left to chance in a process that tracks, monitors, documents and alerts at strategic points in the journey.
Users can then react to problems as they occur in real time - so there are no nasty and unexpected surprises.
"Wesupply demonstrated they an understanding of our requirements" said Wrathall, "they helped us react faster improving our inventory performance.
They applied their Collaborative Value Assessment methodology to the problem to identify the opportunity.
They listened and understood the problems and the root causes.
From there we were able to work together to construct a plan that addressed the issues quickly at measurable incremental stages.
It was a solution that our supply base and our own users could feel happy with".
There was every reason for users to feel comfortable with the solution.
Wesupply provides a content-rich graphical console that displays current status and recommendations and supports interactive verification of what-if scenarios.
This helps plan a trouble-free journey that in the past would have involved massive overstocking to allow for disasters.
"The Wesupply solution has given Amcor a clearer view of shipments, minimising inventory waste and maximising sales" said Andrew Hubbard, Product Director at Wesupply, "each railcar is automatically tracked using RFID technology and the information is accessed as a Web service and used to update he status and location of individual railcars.
Potential changes to the estimated delivery date can be assessed from the moment the railcar leaves the supplier and these changes are factored into the Inventory Management Intelligent Process Agent (IPA), the engine room of the Wesupply solution".
And according to Hubbard, "because the majority of the raw materials are delivered from the suppliers by rail and may be shipped coast to coast management and visibility of goods in transit are an important part of the replenishment plan.
Before Wesupply was implemented, users had limited visibility and it took longer to get the data." So there was little visibility of goods in transit until they arrived at the rail depot and because of exceptional circumstances along the way over huge distances this resulted in over compensation against unexpected delays.
For all they knew there could have been a major landslide along the track and news would have percolated through perhaps 24 hours after the event.
That meant over-stocking with unused inventory tying up huge amounts of capital." The Wesupply solution, applying the Inventory Management Intelligence Process Agents or IPA provides dynamic replenishment recommendations based on a real-time view of inventory on site, at remote holding locations, in transit from suppliers and on order.
The Agent senses and responds to changes in the supply plan, in forecast demand and in actual consumption.
It then recommends remedial action.
So, the anticipated inventory balance is a true and accurate reflection of the inbound deliveries.
The users can then interrogate further to establish the status and estimated arrival time of each railcar.
The process offers as much as or as little as detail subject to the needs of the user organisation.
The Wesupply Event Management Intelligence Process is used to observe unforeseen changes in the delivery that could be detrimental to the outcome.
This intelligent layer monitors the status of the goods, proactively informing the users thousands of miles away in another State of any changes that might affect the inventory balance.
It will then re-assess estimated delivery times of each railcar on a specific journey.
Configuration of the Event Manager can be fine-tuned by the users to ensure that the only reported events are those that have significant impact on delivery status.
So if the most significant event occurs, such as a derailment then Amcor can be given adequate time to enable a new delivery from its suppliers through an alternative route.
All contingencies are covered in this safety chain solution.
Amcor has seen a 20% decline in raw material working capital that was once tied up in inventory.
This absolute control, has given them reduced stocking levels and wastage- through end to end integration of supply information Amcor can not only control costs and enhance business efficiency but the Wesupply solution has given them what if scenarios taking the guesswork out of inbound logistics.
"We’ve enjoyed a direct payback and in a relatively short period of time" said Wrathall.
"Before Wesupply our users had reduced visibility of a supplier's order until it was in our yard or at the rail depot - now we are watching the movement more clearly.
We are now using technology that allows us to optimise our supply chain".
The implementation of the solution has resulted in lower stocking levels, return levels are markedly reduced and less inventory is needed - so in overall terms less is shipped following the implementation.
With Wesupply's electronic supply network now established across its supply chain, Amcor has positioned itself for maximum competitive edge.
And what of the future? A supply chain will only succeed if all suppliers, trading partners and customers are working in harmony, at the same speed to different demand and forecast information.
Such Supply Demand Driven communities are only limited by the imagination.
The inherent nature of how Wesupply approaches each project means that the solution easily evolves as plans and goals change.
The strength of Wesupply lies in how configurable the solution is.
This drives a flexible path to addressing the most pressing needs, keeping costs down and minimising risks and enhancing customer service. Request a free brochure from WeSupply.com ...
• WeSupply.com: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Manufacturingtalk email newsletter
• Manufacturingtalk Home Page
Search the Pro-Talk network of sites
