Streamlining Global Supply Chain Operations for a Leading Machinery Manufacturer

The customer is a leading American corporation that designs, develops, engineers, manufactures, markets, and sells machinery, engines, financial products, and insurance to customers via a worldwide dealer network. It is the world’s largest construction equipment manufacturer. The company operates on a global scale, with an interconnected network of company-owned manufacturing plants, subsidiaries, and third-party manufacturers. The company was seeking a solution to streamline its end-to-end planning process on a single platform, including demand signal management, global supply planning, and inventory planning.

The case study revolves around a leading American corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells machinery, engines, financial products, and insurance globally. The company was grappling with the challenge of streamlining its end-to-end planning process on a single platform. This included demand signal management, global supply planning, and inventory planning. The company aimed to match demand and supply across the globe, support scheduled order demand, and improve planner productivity. However, planning across a global network was a significant challenge due to the interconnected nature of the company's operations, which included company-owned manufacturing plants, subsidiaries, and third-party manufacturers. Additionally, the company faced difficulties in matching supply and demand due to long lead times and a complex global supply chain. This made the process resource-intensive and required manual effort.

The company partnered with o9 to overcome its challenges. With o9, the company was able to conduct network planning based on Business Object Document (BOD), accounting for global, dependent, and independent requirements. This allowed for rapid inventory moves and alignment of customer and supplier calendars. The solution also enabled the company to respond to customer demand with a supply plan updated with frequent refreshes of on-hand inventory, receipts, and ASNs. Exception management workbenches were used to target shorts, surplus, lot size, and ship day exceptions. Furthermore, the company was able to automate actions based on business rules, leveraging global visibility to identify exceptions via a Demand Cockpit used by demand and forecast analysts. The Global Replenishment Plan was implemented to ensure the right quantity of the right part was available at the right time and location. The company replaced its homegrown solutions, SAP, and Excel with o9's solution.

• The implementation of o9's solution brought about significant operational improvements for the company. The company was able to streamline its end-to-end planning process on a single platform, improving efficiency and productivity. The solution allowed for rapid inventory moves and alignment of customer and supplier calendars, enhancing the company's ability to respond to customer demand. The use of exception management workbenches helped the company target shorts, surplus, lot size, and ship day exceptions, further improving supply and demand matching. The company was also able to automate actions based on business rules, leveraging global visibility to identify exceptions. This led to a more efficient and effective planning process, enabling the company to grow without the need for additional headcount.

• Achieved inventory savings of $12M.
• Improved operational efficiencies in managing multi-currency.
• Enabled business growth without the need for additional headcount.