Planning & Scheduling/Demand Forecasting Special feature
<< that have to interact with one another,” he also highlights Sales & Operations Planning someone else run our business-critical
said. “A change in one schedule impacts on support. “This helps to manage the risk and applications on their computers; they are
what can happen in the other, so this can increase profitability by enabling the whole saying that they want full control of the system
require extra messaging etc. to ensure that enterprise to operate from a ‘one number’ themselves,” he said. However, Novels
there is greater synergy.” Novels points out plan,” he explained. “Powerful functionality recognises that there is a situation where
that another key development is graphical makes it easy to synchronise the operational companies might increasingly want to rent
MPS, where finite planning takes place rather plans whilst maintaining alignment with the their software and pay as they use it. Ewing
company’s strategic goals.” comments that, in his experience, the effective
use of SaaS is directly proportional to server
Ewing also focuses on S&OP, with reference size and the processing power the user’s
to Demand Solutions’ Sales & Operations tools are hosted on. “This is often charged
Planning module. “The S&OP process is accordingly, making affordable solutions
essential in any well-run business, but in less so,” he said.
today’s climate of uncertainty it is no longer
an optional extra,” he said. “S&OP now has
a critical role to play in the effective running
of any company and of managing business “
… speed and ease of
configuration is key these days. Too
risk.” He added that the single most notable
many products provide a ‘strait-
recent development for Demand Solutions
jacket’ for the process, which then
has been in achieving the Microsoft Gold
Partner accreditation. This, says Ewing,
needs to be adapted to fit to the
allows Demand Solutions the luxury of
software – if it works at all.”
working closely with Microsoft directly to
– John Ewing, Demand Solutions.
ensure its products’ look, feel, interfaces
and ease of use are consistent with all
Microsoft Dynamics tools. Closing the loop
Then there is the topic of planning &
Jason Murphy: The breadth of
functionality out there, combined with
At your service execution; are vendors increasingly offering
the configuration and personalisation
And is there is a place for Planning & end users the ability to close the loop between
capabilities of software solutions today, Scheduling/Demand Forecasting functionality planning & execution, enabling them to
negates the need for modifications.
provided via Software as a Service (SaaS)? adjust plans faster in light of actual events?
Novels’ impression is that end-users are “Absolutely,” remarks Novels. “In fact we have
not yet fully ready yet for this leap. “Many just become a certified software partner of
than scheduling – how data moves between companies are saying we’re not going to let Wonderware MES. Wonderware wanted a >>
the long-term plan compared with the detailed
schedule. “Everybody’s trying to move away
from Make to Stock and move to Make to
Order, but where there are cyclical demands –
such as demand over the Christmas period –
companies have to build up stock in advance
and it’s not always possible to move to Make
to Order. So you still need Make to Stock
capability, and we’re seeing some
developments in this area.”
Murphy points to Life-cycle planning; the
ability to manage demand for those items that
are new or those items that are reaching end-
of-life. “Planning new products and the whole
new product introduction (NPI) process has
always been a difficult challenge,” he said.
“Specifically addressing the issue with life-
cycle curves and non-historical based
methods has a tremendously positive impact
on the ability to predict those items that will
Enjoying greater predictability of demand and a more reliable supply chain relies
succeed and those that will not – and most
heavily on the total cooperation of staff, since when all is said and done they are
importantly handle the supply chain
all working with one goal in mind.
considerations of both scenarios.” Murphy
52
MANUFACTURING
&LOGISTICSIT March 2009
www.logisticsit.com
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