Capabilities
Our demand planning solutions help companies like yours:
• Deal with supplier continuity and execution risks
• Develop increased visibility to the Asian supply chain
• Improve forecast accuracy
• Increase on-time delivery performance
• Lower production costs
• Reduce obsolescence
• Respond to extraordinary events including economic, political, financial and environmental
• Slash inventory investments and increase turns
Demand planning in uncertain times
Demand planning in a deep recession is a huge challenge, especially when the source of supply may be 12 time zones away from your production or assembly processes that are operating in an environment of uncertainty in customer demand.
In a recent poll by Prime Advantage, 93% of CFOs say “an inability to measure customer demand is among their top three external concerns.” Interestingly, while the credit crunch is getting most of the headlines, it is only indirectly a primary threat for these companies. It’s the impact of unpredictable demand patterns that is a much bigger direct issue. In fact, 76% of the respondents cited demand uncertainty as their top concern.
MWI has wrestled with this issue through recessions that harken to the days when it was a manufacturer and not a supply chain, consulting and procurement service. Our demand planning services are sensitive to the hyper lean and dynamic economics of customers. Our Better than Direct approach to demand management includes:
• Collaboration with customer engineering, procurement and financial departments to properly develop estimated annual usage (EAU) requirements. [We can be included in your inter-departmental planning process on collaborative basis, or make independent assessments before entering into stocking agreements, or on a continuing basis.]
• Our core products can often entail backup domestic production when forecasted demand and safety stocks fail and require “pulse” procurement requirements
• Set up consolidation points in China to develop demand-based pooling to provide shipping frequency and pricing flexibility
• We can increase your visibility to the entire supply chain channel using simple or complex reporting.
• MWI offers buffer purchasing economics (based upon customer credit) that include Strategic Stocking [credit] Programs that essentially constitute variations of Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) programs that include:
• Just in time –“take or pay” extended terms to provide product at the site of consumption when it is needed.
• Demand pull – based upon forecasts we agree to, we can develop controlled programs that involve passing of title based upon your forecasted demands that we collaborate upon.
• Controlled consignments – based upon a “take or pay” and forecasting we collaborate upon, we can keep product at your disposal, but off balance sheet by us consigning product with you.
• On-site: Kan ban, in-plant storehouses (we set up segregated areas inside your facility), bailment and field-warehouse-like programs that can facilitate your own secured financing.
• Meshing financial requirements with demand: Our programs and collaborative approach to translating your forecasts into ongoing contracts that provide a lean environment is paramount to our master purchase order and our EAU contract procurement activities.
MWI UNDERSTANDS THAT IN AN ENVIRONMENT OF UNCERTAINTY, CUSTOMER COLLABORATION IS NO LONGER A GOOD IDEA; IT IS MANDATORY TO HAVE ALL PARTIES IN THE SUPPLY CHAIN VISIBLE AND COMMUNICATING.
Demand Management Planning