Manufacturers face a dilemma in balancing low-cost global sourcing with minimizing supply chain risks and costs. Traditional inventory management leads to expensive expedited shipping and excess buffer stock. A cloud-based supply chain platform provides full visibility into inbound inventory status and estimated arrival times, allowing manufacturers to better plan production without additional costs. This solution connects suppliers, shippers, and plants on a single network to share shipping updates in real-time.

1. © GT Nexus, Inc.
How to Minimize Inventory and Expediting through Detailed, Real-Time
Visibility to Inbound Inventory
Increase Inbound Supply Visibility
A GT NEXUS STRATEGIC INITIATIVE FOR MANUFACTURERS
www.gtnexus.com

2. Today, manufacturers must maintain a delicate balance
between sourcing from cheaper production sites and minimiz-
ing excess costs that occur along the supply chain. Often, the
measures taken to lower supply chain risk will cost more to
maintain than the savings gained by sourcing from an afford-
able region. Faced with this dilemma, manufacturers must
find another way to lower supply chain risk and know the
status of their inbound inventory.
When there is a black hole
of information during lead
time, companies will expedite
inbound components from sup-
pliers via expensive air freight
to guarantee arrival in time for
production.This strategy doesn’t do much for the company’s
product margins — it accepts as the norm a blind, reactive
approach to inventory management.
Holding buffer stock contradicts a lean inventory strategy,
but manufacturers do so to lower supply chain risk.Again,
the results encroach on the bottom line; excess inventory and
obsolescence cuts into any savings that strategic sourcing
accomplishes.
Impact of Poor Visibility
As global sourcing requirements cause increasing lead times
and extra buffer stock in the inbound supply chain, customers
experience high levels of delivery uncertainty and lead time
variability.
In this scenario, manufacturers are forced to deal with:
Increased COGS from expedited air freight
Increased net assets from excess inventory
Delay in production if components do not arrive on time
Difficulty planning production around variable delivery
times
Customer dissatisfaction due to poorly estimated
delivery date
The Root of the Problem
Traditional software does not capture the data needed to
give accurate delivery estimates to customers without raising
supply chain costs. Managers mitigate risk by spending more
money on back-up plans.This strategy may keep production on
track, but leads to other problems.
1. Loss of visibility in ERP/MRP after material release
(order placement)
Often, supplier EDI (ASN) compliance is low. EDI connec-
tions break when the supply base changes.With low visibil-
ity, shipment ETAs are static — they don’t change during a
20-30 day ocean transit period.This causes:
Completely unreliable information
Material managers that are firefighting
Massive air freight (7x$ ocean)
Increased landed unit cost
2. Bad lead time assumptions in Materials Resource
Planning (MRP)
When reliable information is not available, lead times
are buffered and standardized to “be safe”. By gradually
increasing lead times, companies suffer from:
Inventory growth and increased obsolescence
Increased variability and an amplifying effect
Plant
Plant
Network
Connectivity
Agility
Customers
Customer
DC / Warehouse
Plan
Actual At-Risk Delay
Dynamic ETA
B
A
Sense more accurately
Operate more efficiently
Respond faster
Make better decisions
© GT Nexus, Inc.
3
2
The Solution
Companies with traditional software systems and EDI net-
works have struggled to find a way to balance increasingly
complex global sourcing with lean inventory strategies.The
only way to avoid a reactive approach is to shine light into the
inbound supply chain. However, manufacturers can only do
this by moving their supply chain into the cloud.
A cloud-based platform for supply chain management brings
to the table full visibility into inbound inventory.This allows
in-transit goods to be counted as on-hand. Instead of expedit-
ing shipments of product at the last minute via expensive air
freight, supply chain managers can easily view inventory that
will be soon be available and rely on the arrival of those ship-
ments instead.
Monitor inbound activity on a cloud-based network of
your supply chain partners.
Marry order, shipment, and event data to provide an ac-
curate view of inbound flows and dynamic ETAs
Handle complex, multi-leg intercontinental flows (origin
consols, destination transload/JIT warehouses)
How to use it for inbound supply chain visibility:
1. Identify “at-risk of shortage” exceptions
2. Evaluate transportation alternatives, expedite where
needed
3. Determine reliable “realized lead times” planning in MRD
Value Propositions
The value of inbound supply
chain visibility lies in the power
to operate an agile global supply
chain. In the cloud, processes
can be streamlined and decisions
made based on accurate data.
1. Achieve greater supply
chain agility in order to
profitably respond to
volatile global demand
Gain full visibility into inventory supply, fulfillment alter-
natives, and cost tracking
2. Reduce net assets of inventory and obsolescence
Increase delivery reliability and control of inventory
Eliminate in-transit inventory by reducing “dead time” at
hand-over points
3 Reduce COGS by lowering expedited freight
Eliminate 90% of costly just-in-case expedites
4. Realize better performance of supplier and LSP pro-
viders
Use strategic KPI scorecarding to evaluate partner
performance
Inbound Supply Chain Visibility Innovation and
the Networked Company
To shine light on the inbound supply chain, companies must
transform themselves from silo-based, inward-facing corporate
operators to interconnected, highly agile business network
orchestrators.
Global sourcing requirements are at odds with just-in-time practices.
The Challenge
How can just-in-time, lean
production methods work in a
world where your suppliers are
40 days and thousands of miles
away? When the typical fixed
buffer stock and expedited
shipments costs too much, how
can you make sure you can ship
on time?
Cloud brings everyone to one network and allows for dynamic ETAs.
Truckers Consol Air/Ocean
Suppliers Plants
Plan
Actual
ASN
Events
At-Risk Delay
Dynamic ETA
Deconsol Trucker
Events EventsConsol
ASN
Transload
ASN
Pre-Carriage DistributionLine Haul
Manufacturers need a way to
respond to volatile demand
without increasing supply chain
costs.

3. Today, manufacturers must maintain a delicate balance
between sourcing from cheaper production sites and minimiz-
ing excess costs that occur along the supply chain. Often, the
measures taken to lower supply chain risk will cost more to
maintain than the savings gained by sourcing from an afford-
able region. Faced with this dilemma, manufacturers must
find another way to lower supply chain risk and know the
status of their inbound inventory.
When there is a black hole
of information during lead
time, companies will expedite
inbound components from sup-
pliers via expensive air freight
to guarantee arrival in time for
production.This strategy doesn’t do much for the company’s
product margins — it accepts as the norm a blind, reactive
approach to inventory management.
Holding buffer stock contradicts a lean inventory strategy,
but manufacturers do so to lower supply chain risk.Again,
the results encroach on the bottom line; excess inventory and
obsolescence cuts into any savings that strategic sourcing
accomplishes.
Impact of Poor Visibility
As global sourcing requirements cause increasing lead times
and extra buffer stock in the inbound supply chain, customers
experience high levels of delivery uncertainty and lead time
variability.
In this scenario, manufacturers are forced to deal with:
Increased COGS from expedited air freight
Increased net assets from excess inventory
Delay in production if components do not arrive on time
Difficulty planning production around variable delivery
times
Customer dissatisfaction due to poorly estimated
delivery date
The Root of the Problem
Traditional software does not capture the data needed to
give accurate delivery estimates to customers without raising
supply chain costs. Managers mitigate risk by spending more
money on back-up plans.This strategy may keep production on
track, but leads to other problems.
1. Loss of visibility in ERP/MRP after material release
(order placement)
Often, supplier EDI (ASN) compliance is low. EDI connec-
tions break when the supply base changes.With low visibil-
ity, shipment ETAs are static — they don’t change during a
20-30 day ocean transit period.This causes:
Completely unreliable information
Material managers that are firefighting
Massive air freight (7x$ ocean)
Increased landed unit cost
2. Bad lead time assumptions in Materials Resource
Planning (MRP)
When reliable information is not available, lead times
are buffered and standardized to “be safe”. By gradually
increasing lead times, companies suffer from:
Inventory growth and increased obsolescence
Increased variability and an amplifying effect
Plant
Plant
Network
Connectivity
Agility
Customers
Customer
DC / Warehouse
Plan
Actual At-Risk Delay
Dynamic ETA
B
A
Sense more accurately
Operate more efficiently
Respond faster
Make better decisions
© GT Nexus, Inc.
3
2
The Solution
Companies with traditional software systems and EDI net-
works have struggled to find a way to balance increasingly
complex global sourcing with lean inventory strategies.The
only way to avoid a reactive approach is to shine light into the
inbound supply chain. However, manufacturers can only do
this by moving their supply chain into the cloud.
A cloud-based platform for supply chain management brings
to the table full visibility into inbound inventory.This allows
in-transit goods to be counted as on-hand. Instead of expedit-
ing shipments of product at the last minute via expensive air
freight, supply chain managers can easily view inventory that
will be soon be available and rely on the arrival of those ship-
ments instead.
Monitor inbound activity on a cloud-based network of
your supply chain partners.
Marry order, shipment, and event data to provide an ac-
curate view of inbound flows and dynamic ETAs
Handle complex, multi-leg intercontinental flows (origin
consols, destination transload/JIT warehouses)
How to use it for inbound supply chain visibility:
1. Identify “at-risk of shortage” exceptions
2. Evaluate transportation alternatives, expedite where
needed
3. Determine reliable “realized lead times” planning in MRD
Value Propositions
The value of inbound supply
chain visibility lies in the power
to operate an agile global supply
chain. In the cloud, processes
can be streamlined and decisions
made based on accurate data.
1. Achieve greater supply
chain agility in order to
profitably respond to
volatile global demand
Gain full visibility into inventory supply, fulfillment alter-
natives, and cost tracking
2. Reduce net assets of inventory and obsolescence
Increase delivery reliability and control of inventory
Eliminate in-transit inventory by reducing “dead time” at
hand-over points
3 Reduce COGS by lowering expedited freight
Eliminate 90% of costly just-in-case expedites
4. Realize better performance of supplier and LSP pro-
viders
Use strategic KPI scorecarding to evaluate partner
performance
Inbound Supply Chain Visibility Innovation and
the Networked Company
To shine light on the inbound supply chain, companies must
transform themselves from silo-based, inward-facing corporate
operators to interconnected, highly agile business network
orchestrators.
Global sourcing requirements are at odds with just-in-time practices.
The Challenge
How can just-in-time, lean
production methods work in a
world where your suppliers are
40 days and thousands of miles
away? When the typical fixed
buffer stock and expedited
shipments costs too much, how
can you make sure you can ship
on time?
Cloud brings everyone to one network and allows for dynamic ETAs.
Truckers Consol Air/Ocean
Suppliers Plants
Plan
Actual
ASN
Events
At-Risk Delay
Dynamic ETA
Deconsol Trucker
Events EventsConsol
ASN
Transload
ASN
Pre-Carriage DistributionLine Haul
Manufacturers need a way to
respond to volatile demand
without increasing supply chain
costs.