In a framework with global markets, competition between companies is not between their products but between their supply chains. Whoever gets the most efficient one, will be better able to compete based on their advantages. For this purpose, it is necessary to coordinate actions between companies of the same chain (manufacturers, suppliers, distributors …) to minimize the total costs while offering good service to the end customer.
However, this is not trivial. Emerging markets, international operations, increasingly short product life cycles, fast changing specifications, etc. add complexity to the supply chain. Moreover, the activities within Supply Chain Management (procurement, production and distribution) are practically interrelated. These activities have their own objectives that are often in conflict. There is a need for the organizations and for these activities to be aligned, coordinated and synchronized since changes in one part of the SCM are likely to affect the performance of other processes. This complexity in supply chain logistic processes, as well as the increasing number of parties involved, create the need for efficient decision making.
Supply Chain Planning focus in coordination of processes in order to improve supply chain efficiency. Supply Chain Planning refers to all the activities related to modeling, evaluation and decision-making related to the following supply chain areas:
- Inventory management and order policies.
- Collaborative forecasting.
- Supply chain scheduling.
- Distribution strategies.
- Capacity assignment.
- Facility location/allocation.
Effective strategies are determined through simulation and optimization techniques.
Our expertise
Our expertise covers:
- Collaborative forecasting in different industries: Distribution, automotive, food…
- Activities scheduling through supply chain.
- Distribution flow strategies assignment to products: Stocking, direct/indirect crossdocking, direct shipping.
- Capacity analysis of distribution logistic networks.
- New warehouse facilities location and customers allocation.
- Order lot sizing in multiechelon supply chains.
- Impact analysis on supply chain processes of intelligent transportation systems, Services-Oriented-Architectures, etc.
- Operations research applied to supply chain.
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