SCM Insights · Technology Easy transfer of inspection certificates with the Advance Shipping Notification (ASN) We are frequently approached by customers seeking a solution for transferring quality and production data generated by a supplier as part of the manufacturing and quality assurance processes. As an attachment to SupplyOn's electronic delivery note, the so-called ASN (Advance Shipping Notification) is exactly what they are looking for. Following the transfer, structured electronic certificate data can be seamlessly processed, analyzed and saved. (more…)
SCM Insights · Use Cases Successful supplier rollout in China: Strategic onboarding in the Middle Kingdom January 1, 3:55 a.m. Just back from a New Year's Eve party and full of excitement, I take a look at the Seeburger EDI monitor and press the refresh button again. Then once more. Then again and again. But nothing happens.4:09 a.m. Still nothing. I'm starting to get a little nervous. My customer in Shanghai wanted to go live at 10 a.m. local time. That was nine minutes ago, which seems like an eternity to me.4:13 a.m. Nervously, I press the refresh button on the EDI monitor every 20 seconds. Finally! A delivery instruction and three call-offs. Status: "SUCCESS!" I quickly log into SupplyOn to check if posting is correct and find everything is just as planned. Relieved, I pick up the phone to call my Chinese colleague and tell him about the successful posting. "Liang, the initial messages were booked successfully. Let's go!" (more…)
Use Cases Elbe Flugzeugwerke GmbH turns to AirSupply to digitalize its supply chain A little over one year ago, Elbe Flugzeugwerke GmbH (EFW) selected SupplyOn’s AirSupply solution to improve the aircraft company’s ordering processes with its most important suppliers.In taking this step, EFW wanted to implement a collaborative ordering process that would enable delivery quantities and dates to be easily and transparently coordinated with its suppliers. Another goal was to improve supplier performance. (more…)
Industry News 600Minutes Supply Chain in Munich: Just where is the supply chain headed? Munich once again played host to a successful event that serves as a very good platform for cross-company business discussions.The 600Minutes Supply Chain conference at The Charles Hotel in Munich brings together specialists from production companies and relevant service providers once a year. The event gives them an opportunity to hear addresses and, above all, have one-on-one discussions (similar to speed dating, naturally with a different goal in mind) about the latest logistics and supply chain developments. (more…)
Industry News · Technology Supplier master data remains an issue in the automotive industry Automobile manufacturers were as conspicuous as never before at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Yet the focus was not on the industry’s traditional attractions, such as design or performance, but on infotainment systems that are integrated in the interior and implemented in the form of flat screens fitted in the cockpit: “The car is the ultimate smartphone on wheels and as such rightfully deserves a place at the world’s largest electronics show,” said Gary Shapiro, President and CEO of CES, in Las Vegas.For IT departments at automobile manufacturers, as well as at suppliers, that means: Interaction with service providers is a growing focus alongside traditional tasks. That’s a challenge that begins with long-familiar issues such as supplier master-data management. (more…)
Industry News · Inside Digital collaboration in the railway industry – optimized with RailSupply Thorsten Fülling, Director of Consulting at SupplyOn AG, gave Privatbahn Magazin #05/2015 an interview on the subject of "Collaboration between suppliers and production companies in the railway industry".Mr Fülling, what are the greatest challenges in the supply chain at present between suppliers and production companies in the railway industry?The biggest challenge for the railway industry stems from the effects of globalization in the procurement markets. The fact that this industry has no generally applicable standards with respect to supply chain processes results in highly complex and variable processes, particularly when purchasing from a global market. Furthermore, the rail industry too has seen the depth of production become considerably smaller in recent years, while the increased division of labour has led to a higher level of interaction and collaboration in the respective processes. Moreover, the railway industry has been forced to raise its productivity due to persistent cost pressure, in order to remain competitive in a future global environment. (more…)
Industry News Supply Chain Excellence Forum 2015: Joint efforts to improve the supply chain – from correction to anticipation For the second consecutive year, Aerospace supply chain managers from BavAiria, but also from other clusters/associations like SPACE and Niedersachsen Aviation met at the Aerospace Industry Park of Oberpfaffenhofen to discuss how to manage the challenges of Tier n in the German Aerospace industry.In their welcome address, Mr Gundel and Mr Schwarz from the BavAiria welcomed over 150 participants, about 50% of them Aerospace SC managers from Bavaria. In their opening, they made a strong statement that clusters and associations take a responsible role to foster stable supply chains and support process innovations, which are perhaps sometimes neglected, in comparison to product innovations. (more…)
SCM Insights Are you collaborating already, or do you just exchange data? In spite of the continuing spread of the Internet and the associated improvements to companies’ electronic networks, business processes are still largely based on the exchange of unstructured data by e-mail or even fax.This may well surprise us, particularly as the fourth industrial revolution, ‘Industry 4.0,’ was proclaimed some time ago, (more…)
Industry News Highlights from the Aviation Forum 2014 in Hamburg – brief and to the point Storm or no storm – this was one of the crucial questions when the Aviation Forum 2014 started – as in 2013, storm “Xaver” was the reason why many participants of the Aviation Forum had to leave earlier.This time, everybody was lucky: the predicted storm staid an announcement without consequences. So there were no time-wise restrictions to discuss crucial issues derived from the motto of the conference: “Strategic Evolution of the Aerospace Value Chain: Strategies – Concepts – Solutions”. (more…)
SCM Insights Has the aerospace industry outdistanced the automotive industry? This seems to be a valid question: The figures reported by aerospace market analysts and managers can only seem a dream scenario for the automotive sector. Annual growth rates of approximately 7 per cent for commercial aircrafts with 150 seats – subsequently doubling the projected number for the next 10 years.The automotive sector, on the other hand, is struggling with over-capacities: The core markets are saturated and where rapid growth is present, particularly in China, new competitors are emerging. These will certainly get their share of the pie simply due to the fact that European manufacturers must engage in joint ventures, paying the price with precious know-how. Then add to the equation the growing expectations of end customers: Which end customer is willing to wait 6 months after ordering his individually customized dream-vehicle when the competitors can deliver a comparable, self-configured vehicle much faster? (more…)