UNIFYING SUPPLIER, CUSTOMER DATA FOR

EFFECTIVE MANUFACTURING ORGANISATION

Unify Customer & Supplier Data for Manufacturing

Business Intelligence
Implement the right manufacturing data management tools and best
practices to boost actionable analytics for manufacturing excellence.
Installing the building blocks for enterprise data volumes will grow This large and constantly
manufacturing business intelligence 650% in the next five years.
updated flow of data can create
(BI) can feel like a lot of heavy lifting. severe data consolidation and
After all, components such as Data volumes arent the only issue. synchronisation headaches.
master data management (MDM) Its also waves of information coming Fortunately, theres a payo for
systems and enterprise data from a variety of sources. Were the pain when this foundation
warehouses represent some of the seeing the convergence of the supports timely forecasts that
most expensive and complex IT physical, the digital and the are based on the latest
projects many organisations information supply chains. Along information from supply chains
undertake.
with all the traditional sources, such and the marketplace. And that
as ERP systems, there is point of can be the key to attaining the
All this up-front data management sale [POS], remote monitoring of elusive data-driven supply chain
work is required because equipment and now even social and realising the promise of
manufacturers are swimming in ever media are converging. Manufacturerslower inventory costs, increased
larger volumes of highly detailed that respond to these technological sales and a sharper competitive
data, and thats not going to change. convergence with eective analytical edge for capitalising on new
Research firm Gartner Inc. tools will lead the pack in the future. opportunities.

(Stamford, Conn.) estimates that

 DEMAND SIGNAL
REPOSITORIES
These are the key set of
technology that are made for
demand-sensing using key
business indicators. The key is
fine tuning the the whole
analytic eort not only to
collect relevant data but to
integrate it with analytic
systems for an insight into the
data. So much stress needs to
be provided in this area for the
final integrated system to add
value to the organisation.

UNDERSTANDING THE DEMAND SIGNAL REPOSITORIES THE EVOLVING ROLE

The key is fine-tuning data management systems so they not only collect relevant OF SUPPLY SIGNALS
data, they consolidate and integrate it for analytics systems. The demand side of While demand-side analytics
the supply chain planning equation has traditionally received the most attention. grab a lot of attention, analysts
After all, its a highly volatile area that in recent years has seen a variety of options
warn that focusing entirely on
for collecting POS data and establishing demand-signal repositories (DSRs) to
demand may blind
standardise and manage the relevant data. DSRs are a variation of data
manufacturers to other
warehouses for organising large volumes of information, including store- and
SKU-level records, and integrating everything into a coherent whole that important elements of supply
accommodates analytical applications.
chain analytics. A better strategy
DSRs create a foundation for demand-sensing software that flags key business is to also look closely at supply
indicators, such as inventory levels, stock-outs and spikes in buying patterns that signals. There has been a lot of
presage an emerging sales trend. DSRs, along with good MDM practices and the interest in the demand-driven
right analytics, can result in significant reductions in inventory costs through better supply chain, but supply can be
inventory turns. The combination also aids sales and marketing managers with the just as volatile in some markets.
information they need to evaluate the success of promotions and other demand- This points to uncertainties in
shaping activities. the high-tech industry resulting
In the future, DSRs available as Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions could from recent supply chain
increasingly help jumpstart the data management and consolidation eorts disruptions in Japan.
associated with supply chain number crunching, especially for smaller, resource-
constrained manufacturers.

The importance here is the

understanding the correlation
of the leading indicators that
correlate perfectly to the plant
for the eective decision
making and optimising the
production and lowering the
cost and increased eciency.
The good news is that integrating supply data doesnt Gartner calls this a game changer. It fundamentally
require fundamentally dierent technology than transforms the supply chain management model that
whats used for demand data. Its all about having a was based on aggregate information, averages and
data repository, so it doesnt matter if its demand, generalised models into a tailored response based
supply or operational data.
on the unique characteristics of customers, products
or suppliers, the report said.
Modern data warehouses can use logic for detecting
data inaccuracies, including information thats not in
the right form or numbers that are out of the logical
range that is expected for a specific category. Added
to that are embedded analytics, which enable
companies to slice and dice data without having to
send it out of the repository to a separate BI system.

Eliminating this step when dealing with extremely

large data sets not only saves time, it reduces the
drain on the networking infrastructure.

Manufacturers are using supply data in more

sophisticated ways, such as attempting to anticipate
the future. For example, the maturing discipline of
predictive analytics can combine statistics, artificial
intelligence and data management to help a firm
navigate unexpected supply shortages, Gartner said
in a new report, Next-Generation Supply Chain
Predictive Analytics: A Cornerstone to Demand-
Driven Value Networks. By analysing each
customers tolerance for late shipments, the
company can then decide who to serve first and who
will more easily deal with delays.
ABOUT JD SOFT
JD SOFT is a global IT and data consulting and technology services
company, with more than 125 people serving clients in 5 continents.
Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across
all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the
worlds successful companies, JD SOFT collaborates with clients to help
them become high performance business in the face of competition. To
know more about JD SOFT please visit www.jdsoft.in

FOR FUTHER INFORMATION

D Joel K Pandian

joel@jdsoft.in

Prasun Mitra

prasun.Mitra@jdsoft.in