Managing Automation - March 2009 - (Page 26)

DEEPDIVE SupplyChains–TechnologyDirections a similar direction. The company’s network manages the transmission of EDI and other B2B transactions between trading partners. Recently, the company launched a module in its productivity and visibility suite that supports supplier scorecarding. Manufacturers can specify KPIs such as on-time performance, accuracy, and fill rates, and then get reports on how suppliers are doing. TRADE COMPLIANCE RISK As manufacturers continue to outsource production and pursue fast-growing international markets, they can use a wide range of tools to mitigate risks inherent in global trade. High on the list of such risks are constantly changing trade regulations that manufacturers and their third-party logistics providers must meet if they are to avoid costly transportation delays. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency, for example, recently enacted new documentation regulations — known as 10 plus 2 — that require impor ters to provide 10 addimanagingautomation.com tional pieces of information prior to shipping. Ocean carRELATED ARTICLES: riers are required to provide Managing Outsourcing: Ensuring Quality Across Oceans two more, hence the name. www.managingautomation.com/managingoutsourcing Other governments are escaBoeing’s Big Supply Chain Wager lating their own customs docwww.managingautomation.com/boeing umentation requirements. The New Supply Chain Reality “Regulations mean that comwww.managingautomation.com/newreality panies have to have more information earlier or they face COMPANIES MENTIONED: delays,” says Alex Thompson, GXS www.managingautomation.com/GXS vice president of marketing IBM/Cognos and product strategy at global www.managingautomation.com/IBM trade management software Kinaxis vendor TradeBeam. www.managingautomation.com/Kinaxis Vendors including TradeManagement Dynamics Beam, Management Dynamwww.managingautomation.com/MgmtDynamics ics, and Oracle, in addition to Manhattan Associates of fering on-demand supply www.managingautomation.com/Manhattan chain visibility services, proOracle vide customs clearance and www.managingautomation.com/Oracle3 global trade documentation SAP management applications that www.managingautomation.com/SAP3 provide daily updates on cusSigmaQuest toms documentation globally. www.managingautomation.com/SigmaQuest At TradeBeam, for example, a SmartTurn Inc. global staff of 40 collects imwww.managingautomation.com/SmartTurn por t and expor t rules, and Sparta Systems stores them in an online catawww.managingautomation.com/Sparta log that manufacturers use to Sterling Commerce www.managingautomation.com/SterlingCommerce automate global trade comTradeBeam pliance processes. www.managingautomation.com/TradeBeam “Since the 1990s, the number of global trade rules has grown from about 100 to over 500,” Thompson says. “To the extent manufacturers are not looking at managing the compliance process, they are at risk of serious competitive disadvantage.” Also threatening to place manufacturers at a competitive disadvantage are rising problems with product quality. As more companies turn to outsourcers, many located in difficult-to-monitor remote locations, they run the risk that quality problems will result in costly recalls or, worse, damaged brands. Software vendors such as Sparta Systems and SigmaQuest can help manufacturers automate the process of managing escalating quality problems, and tracing and fixing the causes of poor quality. Fifteen-year-old Sparta Systems’ Trackwise application, for example, keeps track of errors and other deviations reported through MES systems or other sources, such as incoming inspection. The system uses workflow to route events to the proper individuals for resolution, and can be used to perform root cause analysis into what’s behind the quality problem. Also, the tool can be used to report on supplier quality performance and analyze the risk involved in, for example, scrapping or reworking material with reported quality problems. “Increasingly it’s becoming vital for manufacturers to incorporate risk analysis into each step of the quality process,” says Matt Kopecky, product manager at Sparta. “That means when dealing with suppliers, looking at incoming risk, and in post-production release inspection processes, looking at outgoing risk.” SigmaQuest, a provider of on-demand quality management tools that, like Sparta’s, track quality problems and provide alerts, recently added a feature, Process Flow Visualization, to help manufacturers unearth breakdowns in product testing processes that may lead to quality problems. The tool analyzes quality test data and determines whether all testing processes are operating as planned. Recently, says SigmaQuest CEO Nader Fathi, a high-tech manufacturer that was experiencing quality problems used the Process Flow Visualization tool to discover that a key suppler had begun omitting a time-consuming test in order to reduce cycle times. Unfortunately for the brand owner, the results were higher failures and costlier warranty claims. “Today, manufacturers are relying more and more on suppliers and contractors, so they need to do everything they can to reduce the risk that they have poor quality product going out the door,” Fathi says. I maonline ma March 26 2009 http://www.managingautomation.com http://www.managingautomation.com/managingoutsourcing http://www.managingautomation.com/boeing http://www.managingautomation.com/newreality http://www.managingautomation.com/GXS http://www.managingautomation.com/IBM http://www.managingautomation.com/Kinaxis http://www.managingautomation.com/MgmtDynamics http://www.managingautomation.com/Manhattan http://www.managingautomation.com/Oracle3 http://www.managingautomation.com/SAP3 http://www.managingautomation.com/SigmaQuest http://www.managingautomation.com/SmartTurn http://www.managingautomation.com/Sparta http://www.managingautomation.com/SterlingCommerce http://www.managingautomation.com/TradeBeam

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Managing Automation - March 2009

Managing Automation - March 2009 Contents Take 1 Sober Outlook, Cost-Cutting Techniques Dominate at Automation Conference Sale Canceled, i2 Searches for Its Focus Accenture Unveils a Service for the Factory Floor Solar Is Bright Spot for MES Player Eyelit Other Industries Outspent Auto on Robots in 2008 Integrators to Play a Bigger Role at ILS Technology Notes Deep Dive Supply Chains Reader Poll Technology Directions Expert Q&A User Resources Special Report Transformation Product Scan Advertiser Index Next

Managing Automation - March 2009

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