Intense competition, rapidly declining prices, unpredictable customer demand, and constrained material supplies are facts of life in the global electronics supply chain. The pursuit of higher prices and margins leads to a continuous stream of new products, each able to command a premium price for a short period of time before becoming commoditized. This challenging cycle is faced every day by IBM as well as hundreds of other companies operating in virtually every segment of the electronics industry.
Supply Chain Performance Management with IBMIBMElectronics
IBM's white paper on Supply Chain Performance Management describes the need for effective, efficient performance management software to help drive success in today's complicated supply chains.
Bill Stankiewicz Copy Of Cvcr Summer 2010 NewsletterBillStankiewicz
Bill was also on the Board of Directors for the St.Vincent DePaul Foodbank in Roseville California helping with the fund raising and meals to the poor program. While based in Northern California he was successful in fund raising programs for the Crusade of Mercy and helped Father Dan Madigan at the Sacramento Food Bank also. For 2008, Bill is a member of the Board for WORKTEC on also an Advisory Board Member for Boys and Girls Club for Metro Atlanta-Clayton County Chapter. See www.worktec.biz or www.bgcma.org . Bill is also on the Board of Directors for the Southeastern Warehouse Association & represents Georgia for 2010-2012.
Bill Stankiewicz
Vice President and General Manager
Shippers Warehouse
Supply Chain Performance Management with IBMIBMElectronics
IBM's white paper on Supply Chain Performance Management describes the need for effective, efficient performance management software to help drive success in today's complicated supply chains.
Bill Stankiewicz Copy Of Cvcr Summer 2010 NewsletterBillStankiewicz
Bill was also on the Board of Directors for the St.Vincent DePaul Foodbank in Roseville California helping with the fund raising and meals to the poor program. While based in Northern California he was successful in fund raising programs for the Crusade of Mercy and helped Father Dan Madigan at the Sacramento Food Bank also. For 2008, Bill is a member of the Board for WORKTEC on also an Advisory Board Member for Boys and Girls Club for Metro Atlanta-Clayton County Chapter. See www.worktec.biz or www.bgcma.org . Bill is also on the Board of Directors for the Southeastern Warehouse Association & represents Georgia for 2010-2012.
Bill Stankiewicz
Vice President and General Manager
Shippers Warehouse
Enabling Sales and Distribution with the CloudInfosys
Cloud-based solutions can offer an ideal way forward, standardizing processes, business capabilities, ensuring better integration of data, lowering the total cost of ownership, improving time to market, and ensuring scalability and flexibility. This view point explores how CPG companies can leverage Cloud capabilities to support their growth aspirations in developing and emerging markets.
Supply chain management is the streamlining of a business' supply-side activities to maximize customer value and to gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Supply chain management (SCM) represents an effort by suppliers to develop and implement supply chains that are as efficient and economical as possible. Supply chains cover everything from production, to product development, to the information systems needed to direct these undertakings.
To achieve their business
objectives, increase competitiveness, and improve end user QoE, Communication Service Providers need to achieve a level of operational excellence — a philosophy of leadership, teamwork and problem solving resulting in continuous improvement throughout the organization — in all functional areas. This requires effective integration of network transformation programs
with efforts to consolidate the previous separate worlds of IT, network operations and customer care.
Technology Review | In Focus: Customers & ProductComarch
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Technology Review | In Focus: Next Generation Service ManagementComarch
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12 simple ideas for a greener supply chainPaul Brody
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Ibm The Supply Chain Of The Future BilcareBilcareltd
In the course of our research for IBM’s inaugural Global Chief Supply Chain Officer Study, we conducted face-to-face interviews with nearly 400 senior supply chain executives from 25 countries and 29 different industries.
Here, we focus on the responses of the 23 supply chain executives from the Life Sciences industry (see sidebar, Survey sample).
Enabling Sales and Distribution with the CloudInfosys
Cloud-based solutions can offer an ideal way forward, standardizing processes, business capabilities, ensuring better integration of data, lowering the total cost of ownership, improving time to market, and ensuring scalability and flexibility. This view point explores how CPG companies can leverage Cloud capabilities to support their growth aspirations in developing and emerging markets.
Supply chain management is the streamlining of a business' supply-side activities to maximize customer value and to gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Supply chain management (SCM) represents an effort by suppliers to develop and implement supply chains that are as efficient and economical as possible. Supply chains cover everything from production, to product development, to the information systems needed to direct these undertakings.
To achieve their business
objectives, increase competitiveness, and improve end user QoE, Communication Service Providers need to achieve a level of operational excellence — a philosophy of leadership, teamwork and problem solving resulting in continuous improvement throughout the organization — in all functional areas. This requires effective integration of network transformation programs
with efforts to consolidate the previous separate worlds of IT, network operations and customer care.
Technology Review | In Focus: Customers & ProductComarch
Published twice a year, Comarch Technology Review (Telecom Edition) provides expert commentary and analysis on current trends shaping the telecommunications market, as well as insight on how to solve problems most commonly faced by telecom operators
Technology Review | In Focus: Next Generation Service ManagementComarch
Published twice a year, Comarch Technology Review (Telecom Edition) provides expert commentary and analysis on current trends shaping the telecommunications market, as well as insight on how to solve problems most commonly faced by telecom operators
12 simple ideas for a greener supply chainPaul Brody
There are many opportunities to make supply chains green. The trick is figuring out how to define a green strategy, integrate ideas, and balance tradeoffs. Here are 12 ideas that are especially relevant to managers of supply chains for elec- tronic and high-technology products.
Ibm The Supply Chain Of The Future BilcareBilcareltd
In the course of our research for IBM’s inaugural Global Chief Supply Chain Officer Study, we conducted face-to-face interviews with nearly 400 senior supply chain executives from 25 countries and 29 different industries.
Here, we focus on the responses of the 23 supply chain executives from the Life Sciences industry (see sidebar, Survey sample).
Capturing Value from The Next 10 Billion DevicesPaul Brody
What can we learn from the last major diffusions of technology into our society (mobile & PC) and how will that apply to the Internet of Things? What strategies & business models should we consider to build sustainably profitable solutions.
20131202 Value of supply chain analytics for the electronics industry - a st...Thorsten Schroeer
This presentation gives a high level overview on the deployment opportunities of analytics in the electronics supply chain space given the actual supply chain trends within the global electronics industry.
Rebooting The Electronics Industry After The Economic CrisisPaul Brody
The reeling financial markets are challenging global business leaders to aggressively rethink their strategies. Across the electronics industry, effects are likely to be quite different, reflecting the enormous diversity of the industry itself. From consumer electronics to medical devices, industry sub-segments will have to respond – each in its own way – to lower consumer spending and stricter access to capital.
Customer centric digital platform for utilities: Process to valueCapgemini
New digital technologies like smart metering and smart
homes, together with the rise of mobile connectivity and
social media, are playing a major role in transforming
how utilities and customers interact
The Information Agenda Guide for CSPs - Transform your business through information and analytics. The elements of an effective Information Agenda plan for communications service providers to help ensure the right information is delivered to the right people at the right time.
Gearing Up for the 21st Century Revolution:
Industrial enterprises around the world are retooling their factories with advanced technologies to boost manufacturing flexibility and speed, achieving new levels of overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), supply chain responsiveness, and customer satisfaction in the process. This renaissance reflects very real pressures industry players face today.
Manufacturers, Retailers Look to Adaptive Supply Chains to Increase Revenue, ...Cognizant
Changing market dynamics and emerging technologies enables players across the consumer goods value chain to revisit their supply chain strategies to propel growth and gain operational efficiencies.
Buildings are the largest contributor to
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[White Paper] Europe’s Window of Opportunity for Terminal OperatorsSchneider Electric
As Europe is going through an unprecedented financial and economic crisis,
the oil and gas industry continues to face an uncertain business environment.
Another recession could lead to reduced demand and further increase the
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Ericsson white paper - Device connectivity unlocks valueEricsson France
Device connectivity unlocks value – operator opportunity in an emerging business environment
New revenue opportunities are emerging for mobile operators through the delivery of machine-to-machine (M2M) and consumer-device connectivity services, which add value for enterprises and consumers. Maximizing revenues in this area demands a cost-efficient, flexible approach that enables a high degree of differentiation and customization.
The world is already highly connected and it's about to get even more so: today, there are about five billion mobile subscriptions worldwide. As devices of all kinds become connected, there will be more mobile subscriptions than people on the planet. Ericsson envisions an increase in the number of connected devices by a factor of ten over the coming decade.
The mass market for M2M and consumer device connectivity is growing fast and represents an enormous opportunity for mobile operators who can address the challenge of delivering cost-effective and customized connectivity with minimal process costs.
A broad range of industries will deploy connected devices; everything from transport and health care, mining and agriculture, to manufacturing and commerce (in areas such as point of sale, vending, remote information displays and digital signage).
To serve the divergent needs of these different segments, operators will need provisioning systems capable of handling very large numbers of connections, as well as infrastructure with QoS mechanisms that can handle massive amounts of simultaneous differentiated sessions.
IoT And Inevitable Decentralization of The InternetPaul Brody
The Internet of things isn't just here, it's inevitable and it's going to re-architect the internet as a result. It's time to drop our obsession with analytics and focus on value creation.
The Golden Age of Wearables: Personal Networks, Smart Things & Intimate Know...Paul Brody
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Block chain 101 what it is, why it mattersPaul Brody
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The internet of things has some big problems: most of the "things" in it are useless and the ones that are valuable: bad security and high costs.
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We believe that solution should include a big investment in Block Chain technology, the foundation that underpins bitcoin as well as a big focus on making every connected device part of the Economy of Things.
Intimate Things: How Wearables Are Changing The Internet of ThingsPaul Brody
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The business models most companies have for the Internet of Things just won't work: they are based on unrealistic assumptions about markets and strategy and the longevity of their own business. Herewith, a few suggestions on how to Peer To Peer (p2p), open source, and better software development to get it right.
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For more than a year, IBM has been researching the full impact of the software defined supply chain - 3D printing, advanced robotics, and open source hardware. Now, you can see how all these come together to make products cheaper, faster, and enable a new wave of start-ups.
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From the Siemens Global Innovation Summit in Phoenix, a look at how manufacturing transformation is changing the traditional rules of product design and development.
B2B Transformation in the Electronics IndustryPaul Brody
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Making Your Electronics Business SmarterPaul Brody
From IBM's global electronics industry leadership forum in Shenzhen in October 2011, the keynote address. All about how smart companies can and must adapt their business models.
Consumer electronics and office equipment companies must react quickly to volatile supply and demand conditions. Rapid changes in technology compress product lifecycles. Many products last less than a year, with production cycles of only three months. Consumers have their pick of a large variety of new and existing products that are being aggres- sively marketed. It’s difficult to predict what they will choose to buy. Frequent retailer and manufacturer promotions disrupt buying patterns and put downward pressure on prices. Poor forecast accuracy can lead to excess inventory or write-offs. Or it can lead to stock-outs, resulting in lost sales and poor customer service. Adding to the uncertainty is accelerating growth in the Asia-Pacific region. This growth extends and strains supply chains, which can affect delivery reliability and increase risks.
To achieve success in this kind of environment, all members of the supply chain need visibility into current and future events, along with the means to work together to solve problems and deal with delivery constraints as they arise. Therefore, it’s not surprising that retailers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have been cooperating for years on programs such as vendor-managed inventory (VMI) and Collaborative Planning, Forecasting and Replenishment (CPFR). l
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A Memorandum of Association (MOA) is a legal document that outlines the fundamental principles and objectives upon which a company operates. It serves as the company's charter or constitution and defines the scope of its activities. Here's a detailed note on the MOA:
Contents of Memorandum of Association:
Name Clause: This clause states the name of the company, which should end with words like "Limited" or "Ltd." for a public limited company and "Private Limited" or "Pvt. Ltd." for a private limited company.
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Registered Office Clause: It specifies the location where the company's registered office is situated. This office is where all official communications and notices are sent.
Objective Clause: This clause delineates the main objectives for which the company is formed. It's important to define these objectives clearly, as the company cannot undertake activities beyond those mentioned in this clause.
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Liability Clause: It outlines the extent of liability of the company's members. In the case of companies limited by shares, the liability of members is limited to the amount unpaid on their shares. For companies limited by guarantee, members' liability is limited to the amount they undertake to contribute if the company is wound up.
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Capital Clause: This clause specifies the authorized capital of the company, i.e., the maximum amount of share capital the company is authorized to issue. It also mentions the division of this capital into shares and their respective nominal value.
Association Clause: It simply states that the subscribers wish to form a company and agree to become members of it, in accordance with the terms of the MOA.
Importance of Memorandum of Association:
Legal Requirement: The MOA is a legal requirement for the formation of a company. It must be filed with the Registrar of Companies during the incorporation process.
Constitutional Document: It serves as the company's constitutional document, defining its scope, powers, and limitations.
Protection of Members: It protects the interests of the company's members by clearly defining the objectives and limiting their liability.
External Communication: It provides clarity to external parties, such as investors, creditors, and regulatory authorities, regarding the company's objectives and powers.
https://seribangash.com/difference-public-and-private-company-law/
Binding Authority: The company and its members are bound by the provisions of the MOA. Any action taken beyond its scope may be considered ultra vires (beyond the powers) of the company and therefore void.
Amendment of MOA:
While the MOA lays down the company's fundamental principles, it is not entirely immutable. It can be amended, but only under specific circumstances and in compliance with legal procedures. Amendments typically require shareholder
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India Orthopedic Devices Market: Unlocking Growth Secrets, Trends and Develop...Kumar Satyam
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As a business owner in Delaware, staying on top of your tax obligations is paramount, especially with the annual deadline for Delaware Franchise Tax looming on March 1. One such obligation is the annual Delaware Franchise Tax, which serves as a crucial requirement for maintaining your company’s legal standing within the state. While the prospect of handling tax matters may seem daunting, rest assured that the process can be straightforward with the right guidance. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll walk you through the steps of filing your Delaware Franchise Tax and provide insights to help you navigate the process effectively.
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Remote sensing and monitoring are changing the mining industry for the better. These are providing innovative solutions to long-standing challenges. Those related to exploration, extraction, and overall environmental management by mining technology companies Odisha. These technologies make use of satellite imaging, aerial photography and sensors to collect data that might be inaccessible or from hazardous locations. With the use of this technology, mining operations are becoming increasingly efficient. Let us gain more insight into the key aspects associated with remote sensing and monitoring when it comes to mining.
1. IBM Global Services
All together now: Supply chain
collaboration in the electronics
value chain
Intense competition, rapidly declining prices, unpredictable customer demand,
and constrained material supplies are facts of life in the global electronics supply
Success through synchronization chain. The pursuit of higher prices and margins leads to a continuous stream of
in fast-changing markets new products, each able to command a premium price for a short period of time
before becoming commoditized. This challenging cycle is faced every day by IBM
as well as hundreds of other companies operating in virtually every segment of the
electronics industry.
At a strategic level, the electronics industry has also evolved dramatically since the
early 1980s. Vertically integrated companies have restructured themselves, focus-
ing on core competencies, slashing costs and building networks of suppliers and
partners that are also specialized and cost competitive. Cutting-edge products
now come together not solely from individual companies but from networks of
companies, each contributing a specialized, high-value aspect of the total solution.
In this complex manufacturing environment, with the challenging product introduc-
tion cycles of the industry, collaboration across the supply chain has become a
crucial element in the creation of business value.
2. Supply chain collaboration in the electronics value chain
Fabless design and
Service provider System design house
IP house
Raw material
Distributor Reseller
supplier
Capital equipment Semiconductor Component
System OEM End user
manufacturer manufacturer manufacturer
Indirect supplier Distributor
Foundry Assembly and test Contract manufacturer
1985
2002
Figure 1. Increasing complexity in the industry is driving the need for collaboration.
Source: IBM Business Consulting Services.
For an electronics manufacturer, the operational challenges companies must also keep capacity utilization high to
of running a successful business are enormous. Rapid spread fixed development and manufacturing costs across
and continual declines in selling prices for products make a high volume of product. Further, more electronics prod-
inventory ownership extraordinarily costly. At the same time, ucts today no longer enjoy a period of stable demand
continually improving products requires the introduction of between introduction and end-of-life, as promotions and
new components, many of which face ramp-up complexi- market conditions can lead to dramatic short-run changes
ties and low yields in the early phases, which any rational in end-customer demand.
supply chain planner would like to buffer with additional
inventories. Already facing a difficult situation, electronics
2
3. Supply chain collaboration in the electronics value chain
The combination of strategic industry change — specializa- Based on a detailed study of collaboration in the network-
tion and the creation of extended enterprise networks — ing, computer, consumer electronics and instruments
with the operational challenges of keeping inventories low industries, Professor Naren Agrawal of the Leavey School
but not disrupting the continuous cycle of new product of Business, Santa Clara University, found that the level
introductions — has given new importance to an old prob- of collaboration with external supply chain partners was
lem: how to work effectively with your business partners. extremely low for most supply chain processes. Further,
Waves of change have already washed across these rela- the penetration of collaboration software solutions is low.
tionships as electronics companies have restructured their For most supply chain processes, most external partners
procurement organizations around commodity councils to have no direct access to the hub firms’ IT systems: fewer
wring cost savings out of suppliers and experimented with than a third of the companies in his study allowed their
bypassing their distribution partners and going directly to partners direct access to their systems. Most importantly,
the customer. Now, the focus has to shift again, to smooth- he found that although higher levels of collaboration have
ing and accelerating the operational and planning not translated into higher profit margins or uniformly supe-
collaboration among enterprises. rior supply chain performance, they have led to shorter
1
product development times.
After a decade of strategic reorganization, procurement
transformation and supply chain management investment,
extended enterprise collaboration (EEC) with customers
and suppliers may appear to be the “20” in an “80/20”
solution: nice but not necessary.
3
4. Supply chain collaboration in the electronics value chain
Value chain management: A clear business case
Typical electronics companies spend between 65 and 85 Extended enterprise collaboration defined:
percent of their revenues on procured materials — activi- the act of connecting customers and sup-
ties that depend on partners outside the traditional “four
pliers across an entire value chain, with
walls” perspective.2 Despite this, industry analyst firm
AMR Research found that “although an impressive 96
the objective of working with multiple,
percent of companies have collaborative relationships
independent enterprises to serve the end
with customers, only 67 percent of transacted customer customer in the value chain with the con-
demand is supported by electronic means, 33 percent by sistency of a single integrated enterprise
information-sharing, and a scant 10 percent by joint plan- and the speed and efficiency of a nimble,
ning and forecasting.”3 This represents a big gap between independent specialist.
the business model and the supply chain reality.
Success in synchronized value chains can deliver faster
Yet several early adopters have proven that effective col-
time to market, higher margins, greater capital productivity
laboration with business partners can create value: a large
and significantly lower costs. The strategic rationale and
telecom original equipment manufacturer (OEM) used
business case for extended enterprise collaboration is as
a common infrastructure to collaborate on forecast and
strong as the case was a decade ago for procurement
orders with vendors and increased its order fill-rate by five
transformation or supply chain planning.
points.4 A consumer electronics company deployed a fore-
cast collaboration process and reduced planning cycles
For more and more electronics companies, managing
from four weeks to one.5 Our experience has shown that
extended relations with a wide network of business part-
the business case for investment in extended enterprise
ners is at the core of their businesses. As an electronics
collaboration in electronics companies often provides
executive told us five years ago, “We are in the business of
positive returns.
managing our customers and suppliers efficiently using
superior information.”6
4
5. Supply chain collaboration in the electronics value chain
Investment in extended enterprise collaboration represents Results varied significantly depending on the business
one of the key opportunities for companies to level the environment for the enterprise being modeled. Inventory
playing field with industry leaders. The competitive battle- reductions typically represented the most reliable element
ground is shifting from purely internal optimization to value of benefits in the business models, showing reductions of
chains that function well together. Recent work done by 5 percent to 30 percent. In the case where supplier col-
the Financial & Accounting Research Group at the IBM laboration included a vendor-managed inventory process,
Thomas J. Watson Research Center shows that electronics a large portion of those savings benefited suppliers. For
companies can base return on investment (ROI) expecta- businesses with capacity constraints, such as semicon-
tions around the following major areas: ductors, improved capital productivity was the second
major source of benefit, with effective capacity rising by
• Inventory reduction — Keep supply chains operating an estimated 1 percent to 7 percent.7 However, added
smoothly without buffering unreliable component supplies. capacity will do little to help some business models until
the economy improves again.
• Capital and staff productivity — Reduce the cost of plan-
ning and managing the supply chain by shifting staff
IBM experience, as well as customer experience in solution
work from data entry and routine operations to problem
implementation and business transformation, has shown
solving. Increase uptime in capital-intensive operations
that payback from investments in extended enterprise
with more-reliable raw materials supply.
collaboration solutions often occurs between nine and
• Sales and margin uplift — Get new products to market twenty-four months from initial investment.
sooner and operate at higher capacities with reliable
supplies. Replan operations based on information about
supply and demand shifts instead of reacting to inventory
pile-ups, redirecting work toward profitable products and
available supplies.
5
6. Supply chain collaboration in the electronics value chain
Easier said than done
Designing a collaborative supply chain is far simpler in the Putting extended enterprise collaboration on track and
lab than it is in reality. Process change involves multiple keeping it there means staying focused on different and
organizations that both compete and collaborate, as well critical sets of activities:
as multiple technology standards and business processes.
Internal politics may seem to be a relaxing pastime after • Governance and metrics
getting half a dozen major electronics companies to agree
• Process and roadmap design
on a collaborative business process. And these challenges
are going to grow as enterprises find themselves on the • Internal process change
sending and receiving ends of numerous collaboration • External process change
requests, each of which may run on a different schedule
• Collaborative infrastructure.
and use different formats or technical standards.
Gaining the agreement of all collaborators When these different activities work together effectively,
— including some that are competitors as extended enterprise value chains work together hon-
estly and efficiently. Success means getting on a path of
well — can be difficult.
continually improving trust, speed and efficiency, where
customers provide accurate forecasts and planners use
that information along with reliable supply data to gener-
ate feasible and accurate plans. On the downside, poor
forecasts and infeasible plans lead to a destructive cycle of
manipulation and dishonesty in the network (see Figure 2).
6
7. Supply chain collaboration in the electronics value chain
Infeasible
production plan
Manipulated
customer forecast Inaccurate
supply commit
Accurate Accurate
production plan supply commit
Accurate Improved
Customer forecast customer forecast supply stability
Reliable
customer fulfillment
Reduced
supply stability
Unreliable
customer fulfillment
Figure 2. Productive and destructive cycles of customer forecasts.
Source: IBM Business Consulting Services.
7
8. Supply chain collaboration in the electronics value chain
Governance and metrics single initiative all possible opportunities to collaborate
Successful extended enterprise collaboration starts with a with business partners. To create a governance perspec-
strong governance and measurement model. Enterprises tive, enterprises must identify their most immediate pain
must set priorities and understand both their own capa- point, determine whether it is customer or supplier facing,
bilities and those of their business partners. The setting and whether it is around tactical activities or more stra-
of priorities supporting a staged implementation is most tegic forecasting activities. Starting with a well-focused
essential, as success in collaborative environments is project does not preclude the deployment of a solution
incremental — starting with one or two business processes, architecture for collaboration that can be reused for future,
building trust, and expanding both the base of partners additional collaboration initiatives; to the contrary, it is the
and the number of collaborative activities. At a consumer opportunity to validate the architecture in the context of a
electronics company, the forecasting collaborative process project with well-controlled scope. This approach proved
was first tested with one individual business partner before helpful for a telecommunication OEM. After a success-
being rolled out to a larger group representing over 70 per- ful collaboration project with logistics providers, the firm
8
cent of sales. decided to use the same infrastructure to enable order col-
laboration and visibility with contract manufacturers.
Different types of collaboration yield different results and
operate in different time frames. In our view, collaboration In addition to prioritizing processes, enterprises should
may be divided into two basic areas: customer facing also prioritize their partner relationships. This means focus-
and supplier facing. On the customer-facing side, an OEM ing initial collaborative activity with business partners that
will collaborate with a customer by sharing forecasts and are deemed to have the best combination of overall supply
supply commitments or by reserving capacity for a specific chain impact and technical and process readiness for col-
anticipated demand. On the supplier-facing side, buyers laboration. For example, a large computer OEM company
are most often concerned about two different operational decided to start its vendor collaboration project with only
time frames: the strategic sharing of sales forecasts and seven anchored suppliers9 (considered to be leaders in
the tactical management of inventory levels and invoicing. their segments) on the basis that they would be technically
In the electronics industry at the operational level, “stra- ready and process capable, but also because they would
tegic” often means anywhere from 2 to 20 weeks in the set up a dynamic in the industry that the company felt
future, whereas “tactical” is measured in days and hours. would result in other vendors wanting to join the collabora-
tion program.
Our experience shows that collaboration projects are most
successful when they are in line with a clearly defined
business objective without trying to incorporate into a
8
9. Supply chain collaboration in the electronics value chain
Although the end goal of any collaborative investment may Measuring the success of a collaboration initiative can be
be near realtime system-to-system integration with busi- difficult. Often, internally-focused metrics cannot capture
ness partners, that reality is some way off. The engine of the the progress made by both business partners through col-
electronics industry is a vast network of suppliers across laboration. For example, although improving inventory turn
the globe, particularly in Asia, with an enormous range of is a valid objective for a collaboration project, one needs to
size as well as technical and process sophistication. Critical make sure that inventory-turn increases are measured for
components are often supplied and integrated by family- the entire value chain (at both the supplier and customer).
owned firms, some of which have only recently gained Based on our experience, the main issues with measuring
access to dial-up Internet service. For example, for a large the progress of collaboration are: first, the agreement on
Asian electronics company, IBM found that although 100 metrics that track progress for all parties; second, the col-
percent of its suppliers have Internet connectivity, only 50 lection of data over a large group of business partners; and
percent use materials resource planning (MRP), 22 percent third, the management of data often considered confidential.
have an advanced planning and scheduling (APS) system,
and 0 percent use Extensible Markup Language (XML).
Putting together a migration plan of increasing capability
and understanding where business partners are headed
is one of the first activities in a collaborative process. This
plan lays the groundwork for a process of continuous
improvement — establishing acceptable minimums and
communicating future directions to business partners.
Signaling commitment to emerging industry standards,
such as RosettaNet, in roadmaps given to business
partners can increase participation rates in collaboration
initiatives. Business partners will have a greater expecta-
tion that their investments will be reusable with their other
customers or suppliers. For example, for the large Asian
electronics company mentioned above, the collaboration
migration plan first called for a simple spreadsheet-
based solution. After a validation period of a few months,
this simple solution was replaced by a Web-based tool.
Eventually, some of the most capable suppliers will migrate
to a server-to-server type of collaboration architecture,
while others will keep the Web-based solution.
9
10. Supply chain collaboration in the electronics value chain
Process and roadmap design Understanding in detail the process implications of collab-
Although it is possible for powerful buyers to push their oration is one of the key steps of developing the front-end
suppliers toward a particular business process and stan- agreement. At a large electronics company, IBM observed
dard of communication, the results are much more likely to the creation of an iterative test process based on exchang-
lead to a negative cycle of dishonesty and manipulation. ing spreadsheets through e-mail on a weekly basis. As the
business partners began exchanging their data, they were
Our experience leads us to recommend a more consen- surprised to find that they both defined their planning cycle
sual approach based on the development of front-end times differently — for one company, a month was always
agreements — the short, typically nonbinding documents four weeks, whereas one of their suppliers considered the
that outline roles, responsibilities and timing of activities planning horizon to be the current month and the next
between the participants. Though there is often a desire to month, a window that ranged from five weekly buckets to
make these agreements contractually binding, complete as many as nine weekly buckets. They also found that the
with penalties for nonperformance, this may not always be days of the week where they conducted planning activi-
a trust-building path. Powerful buyers can force agreement ties needed to be synchronized. A lot of effort had to be
with their suppliers. However, the process of contractual invested in rationalizing the planning cycles and agreeing
review even within the buying organization can slow the on common definitions.
implementation of collaborative processes significantly.
At a consumer electronics company, the story was similar.
More important than legal status of front-end agreements A collaboration project almost came to a halt when it was
are the responsibilities that they outline, as well as the met- realized that some customers were starting their planning
rics that are to be used for measuring success. Detailed cycles on Monday while others were doing it on Tuesday.
agreements often spell out response times and acceptable With different starting points, it was very difficult to aggre-
error rates between the parties. Preparation for front-end gate all forecasts and plan all orders in a single weekly
agreement includes both an internal process-design activity cycle. This company had to review the design of its collabo-
and an external process-review activity. Business partners ration process and solution to accommodate more flexibility.
are selected not only for their technology infrastructure, but
also their planning and operational processes.
10
11. Supply chain collaboration in the electronics value chain
Internal business transformation Managers reviewing the initial weekly schedule saw signifi-
The most common reason why extended enterprise col- cant time devoted to management of the vendor-managed
laboration activities fail to meet expectations is an inability inventory (VMI) system. On closer inspection, it seemed
to make use of the information exchanged. For example, that what was actually in place was “vendor-owned inven-
getting frequent updates of suppliers’ available capaci- tory.” The buyers were planning the daily deliveries for the
ties will be of little value to an OEM if it cannot replan to vendors into the warehouse, providing the “management”
take advantage of spare supplier capacity. Although it may that was supposed to be vendor-provided. Because the
be tempting to ask for more information than absolutely collaboration solution included realtime visibility into VMI
necessary, over time, business partners come to realize levels and forecasts, the vendors could easily manage their
that although they are taking time to provide the data, it is own inventory levels at the hub, eliminating unnecessary
not being used. Ultimately, this erodes the credibility of the planning time.
whole process.
For the electronics industry, process change is an oppor-
Alignment of internal process capability with the process tunity to leverage emerging industry standards such as
requirement resulting from the collaboration initiative is RosettaNet and, by doing so, converge on process defini-
paramount. In some cases, the need to improve inter- tions with which business partners can easily integrate. The
nal process capability may not be apparent initially. For benefit of process standardization is twofold. First, it will
example, at a communication OEM, the business conse- increase business partners’ acceptance of the collabora-
quences of a lack of forecast accuracy became obvious tion as the proposed process will be more likely to fit their
when this company outsourced part of its manufacturing own processes. Second, it will greatly facilitate the ongoing
process and had to collaborate with the contact manufac- maintenance of the collaboration solution because only
turing company, which, in turn, had to make purchasing one unique process instance needs to be maintained and
decisions based on that forecast. When the forecasting upgraded over time.
and procurement functions were reporting into the same
organization, process inaccuracies could be masked with
inventory. This was not possible with business partners
contractually committed to target inventory levels based
on the agreed forecast. In order to transition successfully
to an outsourced model, this company had to upgrade its
forecasting capabilities significantly.
It is not unusual to find that adding planning or col-
laboration activities results in a “time crunch,” especially
when the “hub” organization needs to collaborate with
both customers and vendors on the same weekly cycle.
Executives at one Asian electronics company treated this
as an opportunity to reengineer out unnecessary activities.
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12. Supply chain collaboration in the electronics value chain
Collaboration infrastructure development The most critical component of the infrastructure solution
Given the global nature of the electronics industry and is the collaboration hub itself. Significant requirements are
huge variations of technical capability between enterprises, placed on the hub’s activities, including security, availability,
selecting and building infrastructure that accommodates reporting and analysis, and translation. On the security
all is no small achievement. Not only is it unusual for every side, standards must typically exceed what most enter-
partner to have advanced capabilities, it is highly unlikely prises use internally, to help assure business partners that
that, at any given time, most partners will be in agreement their confidential information will remain separate. These
about critical capabilities and direction. Consequently, a solutions should also offer high levels of uptime: it is not
degree of flexibility improves participation rates. atypical for a collaboration activity to rely on a response
from all partners within a 24-hour window to a new fore-
Internally, the large enterprises that are often driving these cast, or on the confirmation of inventory levels every 30
collaboration activities tend to have similar infrastructures: minutes. Downtime can quickly lead to infeasible plans or
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems and supply wasted planning cycles.
chain planning solutions. For these organizations, our
experience is that key aspects of infrastructure include Other key capabilities for hubs include translation—such
process modeling and middleware connectivity to leverage as from electronic data interchange (EDI) to XML or
their existing infrastructure investments. Similarly, for busi- spreadsheet template to RosettaNet format— as well as
ness partners, middleware and connectivity can enable the reporting and analysis that provides performance data
reuse of existing planning and enterprise solutions (from on all participants. Many of these capabilities and require-
flat files or a spreadsheet up to realtime ERP integration) in ments are highly standardized and therefore, frequently
the implementation of collaboration. represent a one-time investment. IBM has observed this in
the repetition of procedures to “on-board” new collabora-
tive partners into the same collaboration hub. This is also a
case where outsourced service providers can be effective
and competitive from a cost and speed standpoint.
12
13. Supply chain collaboration in the electronics value chain
IBM collaboration experience has been a key source of
Are you ready to collaborate?
insights in the area of infrastructure development. Early
• Can you relate the benefits of collaboration to your key
partners found shortcomings in system availability, and
strategic objectives?
infrastructure had to be revised to provide adequate
response times as the number of online partners grew. • Do you have an overall vision and governance model for
Another complaint voiced by partners was slow response what collaboration will bring to your organization?
times as they accessed IBM systems in North America
• Do you have a migration plan for how you want to go
from across the Pacific. To address these issues, IBM
from simple spreadsheet-driven collaboration to a com-
has conducted several important infrastructure upgrades
plex, integrated collaboration environment?
since launching collaboration activities in 1997 These have
.
resulted in significant improvement in system availability, • Do you have a process to select business partners to
which, in turn, was critical to the extension of its vendor include in a collaboration initiative?
collaboration program. In order to gain efficiency and • Do you have a process to bring on board a large number
increase availability farther, IBM is now migrating its col- of business partners after an initial pilot with a few
laboration environment to a network-delivered, outsourced selected business partners?
environment to enable the company to reach any business
• Do you have a front-end agreement in place to manage
partner around the world through the same security-rich,
your collaboration relationship?
scalable and efficient infrastructure, thus providing a con-
sistent collaboration experience. • Have you defined with your partners the metrics that you
will use to measure the success of the collaboration?
• Have you integrated your internal processes and plan-
ning capability with your collaboration process?
• Are you deploying a collaboration environment flexible
enough to support additional collaboration processes?
• Is your collaboration environment scalable enough to
accommodate a large number of business partners
across the world?
13
14. Supply chain collaboration in the electronics value chain
All together now: Synchronized supply chains
The trend toward increased supply chain complexity with a As network supply chains become the norm, traditional
greater number of critical business partners appears likely success factors in supply chain management (SCM) will
to accelerate in the coming years. The trend for companies cease to provide a competitive edge. Optimization of pro-
to focus on core skills and competencies driven by the cesses within the four walls of the enterprise is becoming
need to reduce cost will likely accelerate in the current an ever-smaller factor in enterprise success. This presents
economic downturn, resulting in a more efficient but also a new opportunity for electronics companies to reset their
more complex and interrelated electronics value chain. competitive positions by creating a solid collaboration
strategy, leveraging the strength of their partners as well as
The accumulation of empirical evidence increasingly points their own, and closing the best-in-class performance gap.
to the value and importance of supply chain collaboration
solutions. Individual enterprises have built ROI cases based
on inventory reductions, increased capital and asset pro-
ductivity, and less frequently, from logistics costs reductions.
As the evidence accumulates, the uptake of collaboration
solutions appears to be accelerating through the electron-
ics sector. It is increasingly likely that your suppliers and
customers are already collaborating with at least one of
their other partners.
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15. Supply chain collaboration in the electronics value chain
About the authors References
1
Christophe Begue is a Principal with IBM Business Interview with Professor Naren Agrawal, Leavey School of
Consulting Services Supply Chain and Operations Business, Santa Clara University, 2002.
Solutions Practice, where he focuses on the Electronics 2
IBM Business Consulting Services analysis.
industry. Mr. Begue leads the development and deploy-
3
ment of the Electronics Value Chain Management solution Bacon, Allison, Larry Lapide and Janet Suleski. “Supply
that helps electronics companies to improve operational Chain Collaboration Today: It’s a Tactic, Not a Strategy.”
effectiveness by enabling rapid execution of business AMR Research. September 2002.
processes in today’s complex outsourced environment. 4
IBM Business Consulting Services, client project, 2001.
He has fifteen years of experience in Supply Chain 5
IBM Business Consulting Services, client project, 2000.
and Operations Management, both in consulting and
6
operational positions, in the U.S. and in Europe. Contact Kapur, Vivek and Denis Mathias. “Collaboration: Using
Christophe at beguec@us.ibm.com. eHubs to Create Value in High-tech.” IBM Business
Consulting Services, 2002.
Paul Brody is a Consultant with the Supply Chain & 7
IBM Business Consulting Services, client projects, 2002.
Operations Services sector of IBM Business Consulting
8
Services. He has seven years of experience in supply IBM Business Consulting Services, client project, 2000.
chain management, business consulting and software 9
IBM Business Consulting Services, client project, 2002.
implementations. Over the past three years, Paul has
worked extensively on inter-enterprise collaboration proj-
ects, helping companies to manage the complexity of
global, extended supply chains from both a customer and
supplier perspective. Contact Paul at pbrody@us.ibm.com.
15