Tuesday, October 22, 2002

Perspective : Manugistics Unveils V7 Architecture, Re-emphasizes Profit Optimizer
Manugistics used its recent user conference to unveil a totally updated architectural framework — Manugistics 7 — and to promote its Enterprise Profit Optimization (EPO) Vision.
Manugistics 7 is a Java-deployable Internet solution that does not rely on Microsoft technology, thereby easing any customers' concerns of hardware and operating system deployability. Removing the dependence on client-server technology also takes away the related application maintenance burden. Moreover, the browser-based solution means that it can be deployed as needed for employees and trading partners.
Manugistics 7 EPO is a componentized solution suite made up of modular applications that broadly incorporate Supply Chain Management (SCM), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and Pricing and Revenue Optimization (PRO). Customers can pick and choose only the "pieces" that are most desperately needed to address current business challenges and later add additional solutions as the business needs dictate.

Wednesday, October 16, 2002

APICS Mag article- Is Forecasting always wrong? Sustained forecast bias creates tremendous inventory problems.
Forecasts will never quite match actual data; rather than ignore forecasts completely, measure and then manage the forecast to improve the forecasting process.
Statistical knowledge is needed to measure the forecasting process.
Forecast measures should be meaningful, actionable, and robust.
Reward (pay) forecasters and their managers based on forecast accuracy.

Monday, October 14, 2002

Perspective : Manugistics Unveils V7 Architecture, Re-emphasizes Profit Optimizer
Manugistics used its recent user conference to unveil a totally updated architectural framework — Manugistics 7 — and to promote its Enterprise Profit Optimization (EPO) Vision.
Manugistics 7 is a Java-deployable Internet solution that does not rely on Microsoft technology, thereby easing any customers' concerns of hardware and operating system deployability. Removing the dependence on client-server technology also takes away the related application maintenance burden. Moreover, the browser-based solution means that it can be deployed as needed for employees and trading partners.
Manugistics 7 EPO is a componentized solution suite made up of modular applications that broadly incorporate Supply Chain Management (SCM), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and Pricing and Revenue Optimization (PRO). Customers can pick and choose only the "pieces" that are most desperately needed to address current business challenges and later add additional solutions as the business needs dictate.

Tuesday, September 17, 2002

Started Work on Promotion Planning and Like Modelling on APO. Did some background reading on Promotion Planning in APO.
In APO Demand Planning, you can plan promotions or other special events separately from the rest of your forecast. You can use Promotion Planning to record either one-time events, such as an earthquake, or repeated events such as quarterly advertising campaigns. Other examples of promotions are trade fairs, coupons, free-standing inserts, competitors' activities, market intelligence. Examples of events that also have an impact on consumer behavior are upward/downward economic trends, and acts of nature, such as tornadoes etc.

The advantages of planning promotions separately are:
You can compare forecasts with promotions to those without promotions.
You can correct the sales history by extracting past promotions from it, thus obtaining unpromoted historical data for the baseline forecast.
The processes of interactive planning and promotion planning can be kept completely separate. For example, the sales force might be responsible for interactive planning while marketing is responsible for promotion planning.
Promotional uplifts can be defined in units or percentages by promotion patterns. A promotion pattern that occurred in the past can be automatically detected and recreated for future periods. A promotion pattern can be archived in a promotion catalog; it can therefore be reused if a promotion of the same type is repeated.

Thursday, September 05, 2002

What is Supply Chain?
Supply chain management is the combination of art and science that goes into improving the way your company finds the raw components it needs to make a product or service, manufactures that product or service and delivers it to customers.

Wednesday, September 04, 2002

The Sapphire Conference is on at Lisbon. Am waiting for the presentations on the Discrete industry specifically the Automobile ones

Monday, September 02, 2002

I have to prepare for the CPIM exam conducted by APICS. I am giving the exams in the Basic Supply Chain Management and the Master Planning of Resources module. I would be putting up some of the material relevant to that out here.

Wednesday, July 31, 2002

Wednesday, July 24, 2002

The Supplychain.com's Glossary of SCM terms.
Logistic Cases is a great site with a lot of articles and white papers.
Some of the best book list for SAP is here

Thursday, July 18, 2002

There is some good market news in the Supply Chain Brain site. Click here to subscribe to Global Logistics & Supply Chain Strategies or Supply Chain e-Business magazine
Morgan Stanley estimates China's annual spending on logistics is $200 billion20 percent of GDP and double the percentage dedicated to logistics in the United States. But the barriers to successful logistics operations are daunting. Corruption is rampant and planning is poor. Four separate government bodies regulate air, rail, road and river transport. There's no single nationwide trucking firm. In fact, the average Chinese trucking company owns less than two vehicles. By train, meanwhile, delays are widespread because commercial cargo takes a back seat to key bulk shipments like coal and grain, not to mention passengers and the military. With only three exceptions, foreign logistics firms cannot operate outside the country's free-trade zones unless they form joint ventures. In addition, perhaps the biggest single handicap is provincial protectionism. Local companies often have a stranglehold on rights to deliver within a city. And truckers outside their home provinces are regularly shaken down for tolls, official and otherwise, causing more delays and cost overruns. (Source: Far Eastern Economic Review)

Tuesday, July 16, 2002

The Supply Chain World on the net is so huge. I will first try to put some good links on this page. Also there is this link to SCOR model . SCOR is the Supply Chain Operations Reference model whats recommended by the Supply Chain Council.