In today’s interconnected world, technological advancements have exposed more chaos in supply chains than ever before. This often forces teams into a reactive, fire-fighting mode. A strong focus on operational issues can stifle growth opportunities and hinder the effective use of powerful digital platforms like advanced planning systems (APS) – an endeavor that requires data maturity.
Yet an APS can unlock significant advantages in the supply chain. How can businesses manage this ongoing chaos from a process perspective while striving to meet corporate goals and strategies and remain open to new ways of doing things?
Guiding teams through change
Whenever attempting to change ways of working, tools, technologies or methods, it’s essential to consider change management. Resistance to change is a natural human reaction. Leaders and business managers must guide their organizations through the transition from old ways of planning to new ones, strengthening their businesses for the future.
In an APS implementation, user adoption is a common concern. It’s essential to get a team working in the same system to ensure data integrity. To avoid planners working outside the system, it’s best to start small and scale up use in phases. And, keeping a team involved in the process with constant communication is essential. This way, team members feel open to share their concerns.
KPIs for supply planning
The first step in any change initiative is to establish a clear vision for the project and define the key performance indicators (KPIs). It’s crucial for the management team to be aligned on the context and goals of the change – not only to track its success, but also to clearly communicate the benefits of the change to the wider team from the outset. This communication fosters trust and facilitates a smoother transition.
In supply planning, consider using the following KPIs to boost visibility across the business and support decision making:
Late revenue
This information allows supply planners to interact with leadership on a strategic level via S&OP planning to choose optimal planning scenarios
OTD/OTIF (on-time delivery and on-time, in-full)
This data connects supply chain activities across the network, from suppliers to customers
Schedule attainment
Understanding the accuracy of your scheduling drives improvement, whether from a manufacturing or purchasing perspective
At-risk supply
This information helps planners proactively communicate risks due to lateness at the level of individual supply orders
The data needed to track these metrics is usually readily available in most organizations – even without an APS. Below are just a few examples of where and how such data can be found.
Getting started with the data you have
When it comes to determining KPIs, consider your organization’s current level of data and business process maturity to identify metrics that align with what can reasonably be measured.
Data inconsistencies can reveal a lot about an organization’s current data maturity. For instance, if measuring OTD, is this metric based on the requested or confirmed delivery date? Each option reveals something different, so make sure such data is consistent.
As another example, sometimes schedule attainment is measured at 100%. This kind of result often points to an issue with the data – again, perhaps the wrong date field is being used, or tracking across the business is inconsistent.
Real-world success with APS implementation: improving data quality and user adoption
4flow collaborated with a medical technology OEM to implement Kinaxis Maestro. The business used the opportunity to improve its data maturity in addition to transforming the organization’s digital planning processes. As such, the leadership wanted to focus on user adoption and data quality.
4flow supported the team to implement a mix of automated and manual processes. Our team set up training and encouraged daily data integrity checks for planners to identify quality issues before releasing their plans. From a change management standpoint, these checks helped the team gain trust in the system and encourage adoption.
Additionally, the system was adjusted to identify when someone manually created and released an order, instead of following the existing plan. A customized dashboard provided transparency about these adoption KPIs for the project leadership. To make this change a success, it came down to messaging. By explaining how this information helped monitor adoption of the APS, the medical technology manufacturer secured buy-in from their team.
Interested in more details?
Discover more case studies and additional insights in this recent 4flow webinar.
Authors:
Teresa Dotta
Solution Architect
4flow consulting
Bethany Claps
Manager
4flow consulting