Consulting Professionals, Inc.

Supply Chain Management

Are you experiencing any of these problems in your business?

	Sales forecasts are too inaccurate
	Declining customer service levels (performance below historical levels or increased requirements requested by customers or offered by competitors)
	Too much working capital tied up in inventory
	The need to make more with less in the manufacturing facility
	Total cost of information system ownership is increasing.

If you are experiencing one or more of these business problems, then our Supply Chain Service Offerings may be of interest to you

Consulting Professionals, Inc. Supply Chain Service Offerings are designed to assist Manufacturing and Distribution companies in improving the accuracy of sales forecasts, increasing on-time delivery and order fill rates, reducing the amount of working capital required for inventory, and in increasing manufacturing productivity.

We also assist clients in selecting, implementing, and supporting the software applications that enable their Supply Chain operations.

Each business problem, and the related Consulting Professionals, Inc. Supply Chain Service Offering is described in more detail below.

Business Problem: Sales Forecasts are too inaccurate

All sales forecasts are inaccurate, but some sales forecasts are too inaccurate. Poor customer service, low inventory turnover, and high obsolescence costs are all symptoms of a Demand Management business process that is producing too much sales forecast error. The levers for improving your Demand Management business process are functional integration, performance measurement, use of information technology, and overall management approach. Our Supply Chain service offerings for Demand Management will help you leverage these key areas to improve sales forecast accuracy and business results in the areas of customer service, inventory management, and obsolescence.

Business Problem: On-Time Delivery or Order Fill rates below customer expectations

Perhaps you have experienced a decline in customer service performance compared to historic results, or perhaps your competition has raised the bar by offering your customers increased levels of performance. If you need to increase your customer service performance the levers for doing so are the accuracy of your sales forecasts, the degree to which you collaborate with key customers and suppliers, and the productivity and nimbleness of your manufacturing facilities. Our Supply Chain service offerings for Customer Service will help you leverage these key areas to improve your on-time delivery performance and order fill rates.

Business Problem: Too much working capital tied up in inventory

If your business needs to reduce the amount of working capital tied up in inventory, the means to do so lies in changing your approach to Demand Management, Manufacturing, and Supplier Relationships. Increasing the accuracy of your sales forecasts will allow you to reduce finished goods inventory with no decline in customer service performance. Creating a more productive and nimble manufacturing facility will allow you to reduce work-in-process inventory without increasing manufacturing cost. Collaboration with key suppliers will allow you to reduce inventories of raw materials and purchased parts without increasing the total cost of acquisition. Our Supply Chain service offerings for Inventory Management will help you leverage Demand Management, Manufacturing, and Supplier Relationships the to reduce inventory and free up working capital for other uses.

Business Problem: The need to make more with less in the manufacturing facility

Nothing serves the interests of the owners of a manufacturing business more than increasing the amount of revenue generating output while reducing or holding constant the cost generating inputs. Is your factory floor in a constant state of expediting? Is your cost of goods sold trending higher? If so, these are indicators that you may be able to make more with less in your manufacturing facility. We have yet to find a manufacturing business that cannot make more with less by applying the best techniques of both Theory of Constraints (TOC) and Lean Manufacturing. Our Supply Chain service offerings for Manufacturing will help you apply the best of what TOC and Lean have to offer to increase the profitability of your manufacturing business.

Business Problem: Total cost of information system ownership is increasing

Are you getting your money's worth from the systems that support your Supply Chain operations? Do employees use informal systems (home grown desktop PC applications) in addition to or instead of the formal (IT supported) information systems? Does the IT department have a big backlog of user requests to improve/change the system that never seems to be completed? If the answer is yes, then you may have an opportunity to increase the return on your investment in the information systems that enable your Supply Chain operations. Our Supply Chain service offerings for Information Technology are designed to help you answer the following questions:

	Was the system implemented in compliance with the original design specifications?
	Are the original design specifications still valid given changes in the business since the original implementation?
	Are the people who use the system fully aware of all the functions and features and using the system to the maximum benefit of the company?
	Does the system still meet the needs of the business in a way that provides maximum benefit and lowest total cost of ownership?
	Does your Manufacturing or Distribution information system support or hinder your attainment of the current best practices of your industry?

If your Supply Chain system was not implemented as designed, if the original design specifications are no longer valid, if your people are not fully aware of all the functions and features, if you are not getting maximum benefit and lowest total cost of ownership, if your information system is hindering your attainment of the current best practices of your industry, then we can help you fine-tune or totally rework the implementation of the applications you currently use.

Information systems, like other assets, have a finite useful life. Changes in technology and changes in the needs of the business eventually result in a situation where a new IT solution could give the company the same capabilities at lower cost, or improved capabilities at the same cost. If you have this situation, we can also help you select, implement, and support new software applications to enable your Supply Chain operations. We assist in creating the business case for change, and guide the software selection process to reduce the risk of a selection decision that does meet the needs of the company long term.

In Summary:

Over time the best practices of all industries evolve and change. Information systems must continually evolve as well to support the needs of the changing business. For example, if your manufacturing system was implemented to support a traditional batch and queue job shop, while your Manufacturing organization has began to implement the principles of Lean Manufacturing, at some point improvement on the shop floor will be stalled unless the manufacturing system is reconfigured or replaced.

When business results are not as desired we assist clients in determining the true root cause and in implementing appropriate solutions that are designed to bring your information systems and business practices in sync by implementing change in either or both.

Detailed Supply Chain service offerings

Managing Principal for Supply Chain projects
Services
Principal Consultants