Are You In Control? (FBI March 2007)
With the increasingly competitive nature of the fashion industry, it is imperative that businesses have accurate and up to date information concerning the status of their orders and their position in the supply chain.
Fashion Business International March 2007
Sourcing
Are you in control? – Andy Hinton, of Fast React Systems, explains the importance of visibility in the supply chain
With the increasingly competitive nature of the fashion industry, it is imperative that businesses have accurate and up to date information concerning the status of their orders and their position in the supply chain.
When manufacturing was performed locally by suppliers or even in your own factory, it was comparatively easy to determine the status of your orders and any problems. As businesses have become more geographically spread and the time to respond in any given situation has reduced, the need for good visibility, coordination and communication is now essential for survival.
Against this background, most businesses have ‘managed’ to date with a variety of, often unconnected, systems. These may include a business (ERP) system, which manage transactional activities such as inventory management, purchase and sales orders. Very typically these systems are supported by numerous independent spreadsheets, each of which may cover different elements of the supply process (e.g. critical path). These methods, by which businesses have ‘managed to cope’ to date are not adequate tools to meet the demands of the current and future environment.
The Most Effective Approach
UK-based Quantum Clothing Group Ltd (formerly Coats Viyella Clothing), like many others in the industry, have had to become an international business with sources all over the world in order to remain competitive.
This shift to an extended supply chain has brought its own problems, with lack of visibility being a key problem. Carl Pate of Quantum comments. “Having shifted much of our production overseas, the availability of the key information to make the correct planning decisions is absolutely vital. What we needed was a tool that would improve visibility, flexibility and responsiveness, support the decision making process and enable us to generate achievable plans”.
There are three key elements that can help ensure that a sourcing company is in control of its extended supply chain:
- Integrated Planning (critical path, capacity and materials management)
- Visibility of order status with an automatic alert of problems
- Easy and effective communication with suppliers
Integrated Planning
Within any complex supply chain it is essential that all the information required can be made visible in a single place so that the appropriate planning decisions can be taken. It should be possible to view the full critical path, any capacity restrictions or any materials availability constraints.
Visibility of order status with an automatic alert of problems
Given the fact that the volume and complexity of the orders that need to be managed by each merchandiser is increasing, it is important that the merchandiser is able to focus on those orders that need immediate attention. It should be possible to easily view the status of all orders and those with any issues/problems should be clearly highlighted so that the merchandiser can take the appropriate action. It should also be possible to have pro-active alerts of any problems (e.g. overdue critical path activities).
Easy and effective communication with suppliers
As suppliers are now based in a variety of different countries (often in different time zones and with language issues) it is imperative that communication with these suppliers is as easy and effective as possible. The typical approach of phone, fax, email with some uncoordinated spreadsheets will not suffice in today’s complex supply chain. What is needed is an automatic, fast and effective mechanism, where the supplier can receive details of the latest specifications and perform remote plan updates, without the need to manually retype production information.
The Evolution software from Fast React provides complete supply chain visualisation including critical path tracking, effective planning of both own production and fully sourced products including materials requirements planning and full supplier collaboration facilities.
Chris Heath, Managing Director of Slimma Contract, commented “We have been a satisfied user of Fastreact for a number of years. It has enabled us to remain competitive in our very difficult market. The highly visual system builds on the firm foundation that we have created in our business. It enables us to work closer with our suppliers and react quickly to our customer requirements”.
