ERP & A ; Supply Chain Management Systems Innovation
Engelstatter ( 2010 ) stated that “ERP and SCM systems might positively surrogate innovative activity as they cut down idle times and salvage informations excavation or place constrictions and deficits, therefore supplying information for procedure sweetenings. With the firm-wide database updated in existent clip, which both systems provide, the effects of procedure inventions can be straight pictured, compared and controlled” .
Definition
Supply Chain Management ( SCM ) systems is about the control of merchandise flows from the providers to makers to distributor to stop client, it aims at incorporating the information flows within the supply concatenation to accomplish an efficient supply concatenation ( SearchManufacturingERP.com 2000 ) .
SCM systems Features
SCM systems enable:
SAP SCM delivers a complete set of characteristics and maps for constructing adaptative supply concatenation webs. The application enables:
* Supply concatenation planning and collaboration- With SAP SCM, you can pattern your bing supply concatenation ; set ends ; and calculate, optimise, and agenda clip, stuffs, and other resources. Supply concatenation planning functionality enables you to maximise return on assets and guarantee a profitable lucifer of supply and demand.
* Supply concatenation execution- SAP SCM enables you to transport out supply concatenation planning and generate high efficiency at the lowest possible cost. You can feel and react to demand through an adaptative supply concatenation web in which distribution, transit, and logistics are integrated into real-time planning procedures.
* Supply concatenation visibleness design and analytics- SAP SCM gives you networkwide visibleness across your drawn-out supply concatenation to execute strategic every bit good as daily planning. The application besides enables coaction and analytics, so you can supervise and analyse the public presentation of your drawn-out supply concatenation utilizing predefined cardinal public presentation indexs ( KPIs ) .
Functionality and Benefit of SCM systems that support Business Network Transformation
Harmonizing to Engelstatter ( 2010 ) , Caruso ( 2011 ) and SAP ( 2011 ) , the following are the functionalities and benefit that SCM systems provide:
- SCM systems provide the functionality to incorporate and organize the merchandise and information flows which allows better operational and concern planning. SCM systems besides provide real-time planning capablenesss that allow supply concatenation concern spouses to respond to provide concatenation alterations which help to function client better. To accomplish this, information sharing between concern spouses must be to the full integrated to and in real-time, which SCM systems can supply.
- SCM systems aid to better stock list direction by cut downing stock list degrees, transporting costs, and lead clip, which lead to increment of gross through cost decrease, avoiding lost gross revenues and client satisfaction betterment. To accomplish this, makers will necessitate to able to track the stock list throughout the supply concatenation, which SCM systems can supply. The ability of cognizing when and where stock list is needed will surely assist maker in production planning.
- SCM systems aid to better determination devising and demand prognosis by holding a better visibleness over the supply concatenation. To accomplish this, company must hold visibleness of the supply concatenation which involves acquiring supply concatenation informations from providers and clients which allows better analysis of the supply concatenation, which leads to betterment of determination devising, demand prognosis, production planning every bit good as stock control.
- SCM systems help to develop better client penetration and interaction by holding a wide position of those clients. To hold a wide position of clients, an incorporate position of supply concatenation systems, client service, gross revenues and selling, internal database information, cognition gather from unstructured interaction with client, etc is needed which an ERP systems can supply. Such position can assist maker to better order fulfillment activates and to understand clients better such as clients ‘ purchasing form, etc, which is helpful for company to accomplish merchandise distinction and to increase net incomes.
- SCM systems help to pull off for higher public presentation by supplying public presentation information such as cardinal public presentation indexs ( KPIs ) , which SCM systems can supply. These information will assist companies to find if there is a job in the supply concatenation, and it besides helps to move as an qui vive to the executive. To derive such information, an incorporate SCM systems that has an overview of the whole supply concatenation is indispensable. Many companies that are still utilizing disparate bequest systems find it hard to bring forth such information, which makes it hard for executive to mensurate the public presentation of the supply concatenation, which lead to difficulty in determination devising.
How SCM systems helps in Business Network transmutation
Harmonizing to Wikipedia ( 2010 ) , Business Network Transformation ( BNT ) involves foster of concern relationship between concern spouses as their competitory advantages which emphasize on coaction. Through BNT, “companies can drive top line growing through superior client value and fasterproduct innovationwhile supplying bottom line nest eggs throughoperational excellenceand responsivesupply chains” , Wikepedia ( 2010 ) .
Besides, harmonizing to Word ( 2009 ) , “BNT helps companies achieve competitory advantage by developing and automatizing concern procedures that extend across their web of spouses, providers, and customers” . SCM systems can decidedly assist to back up BNT by leting coaction between concern spouses, a antiphonal supply concatenation will besides necessitate a good SCM systems to assist incorporate the supply concatenation in order to accomplish a seamless supply concatenation. By incorporating with concern spouses, companies will hold a better visibleness of merchandise and information flows in the supply.
For illustration, a maker can entree client ‘s supply concatenation information which includes Point-Of-Sales ( POS ) information, an accurate demand prognosis can be generated which allows better production planning, AA as the information is available throughout the supply concatenation, providers will hold entree such information excessively.
In add-on, a maker can authorise a provider to hold entree to the SCM system, provider can supervise the stock list degree in maker and be informed of a new order demand triggered by a low stock qui vive. By holding existent clip information about stock list stock degrees, providers can pull off the vendor-managed stock list more efficaciously excessively. Supplier will be informed to restock when the stock list degree is low ( Heinricher n.d. ) .
Purchase order and bills could be sent through SCM system which helps to rush up the concern processes, it besides helps to better hard currency direction determination and truth of informations which will assist the maker and concern spouses to pull off the supply concatenation more expeditiously ( Heinricher n.d. ) .
As the SCM system is to the full integrated, a more accurate Key Performance Indicator ( KPIs ) can be generated which provides an overview of the providers ‘ public presentation in footings ofAA monetary value, bringing, and quality. Suppliers will be able to see their ain KPIs and seek to better their evaluations ( Heinricher n.d. ) .
Effectss of SCM and ERP system on Firms ‘ innovative Performance
Harmonizing to Engelstatter ( 2010 ) , SCM systems allow all sections to acquire real-time information which helps to cut down the constrictions and waiting clip. He farther explained that “both systems together generate a suited and more flexible working environment and, with merchandise lifecycles and resource use shown in real-time, room for procedure betterments and inventions should be easy to place. In add-on, with the house broad database updated in existent clip, the consequences of the inventions can be straight pictured, controlled and compared, supplying even more room for improvements” .
Case Study: How SCM systems and ERP systemshelp to back up invention in Zara
Zara is a Spanish vesture retail merchant, which is under the Inditex group. Harmonizing to 123HelpMe.com ( 2011 ) , “Zara ‘s cardinal construct is to keep design, production, and distribution processes that will enable Zara to react rapidly to displacements in consumer demands” .
Zara ‘s invention is about larning from the rivals in the manner industry and come up with their ain concern theoretical account which is different from the rivals. Their invention includes utilizing a pull system in their supply concatenation alternatively of the normal push system which is the ordinary pattern in the manner industry. Pull system means when there is a petition from client, so merely an order will be created ; in contrast, a push system is where the merchandises are pushed through the channels to the terminal client judgment from the gross revenues record from the yesteryear.
Harmonizing to Barletta and Hartman ( 2006 ) , the cardinal aim of Zara is to acquire the shortest clip to the market. Presently, the lead clip for new garment are about 4-5 hebdomads, and 2 hebdomads for restock, compared to the industry norm which is 6 months. As Zara is seeking to cut down the lead clip at its best, SCM systems can surely assist them to cut down the lead clip by supplying a better visibleness of the whole supply concatenation as a consequence of holding existent clip integrating between HQ and the shops every bit good as the makers and channels.
SCM systems can assist Zara to better the whole supply concatenation in footings of production planning, forecast demand, etc. As mentioned, Zara is utilizing the pull system for their supply concatenation. In current state of affairs, Zara provides PDAs to its shop directors in all of the shops. The shop director will observed the gross revenues record and the purchasing form of client, and analysed these informations and direct it to the HQ by the terminal of the day.AA
SCM systems can assist Zara to better the communicating by supplying real-time synchronism between the shops and HQ. If Zara is utilizing SCM systems, shop director will non necessitate to direct to gross revenues information to the HQ manually, which reduces the hazard of misreckoning between gross revenues and order as a consequence of manual computation. The point-of-sales ( POS ) information from the check-out procedure point will incorporate with the system in HQ automatically ; HQ will be able to detect the gross revenues informations in existent clip, which allow Zara to closely supervise the demand from client and helps to bring forth a better forecast demand.
By sharing such information in the whole supply concatenation, maker will profit most from it as there will be no waiting clip when it comes to information sharing. A more accurate production planning could besides be generated based on the existent clip POS informations provided by the integrating capableness of SCM systems, which lead to more optimum production and cut down the hazard of holding inordinate stock list.
