Work Bench for improving Supply Chain Effectiveness
Work process effectiveness has direct impact on the profitability of the overall business it supports. As the saying goes, a good process is required to develop a great product; it is essential for businesses to review their current processes for improvements in areas like work style and collaboration, cycle times, accuracy, emotions and essentially TCO- Total Cost of Ownership.
Work bench offer a platform (one of our customers calls it sweet solution) for businesses to collaborate, manage exceptions and risks preemptively, set and monitor goals across the entire organization chain of command for desired outcomes. Work bench solutions can offer Supply Chain leadership with the required tools to improve visibility and quality of processes such as procurement, inventory management, sales, transportation and logistics and other areas that require metrics to sustain profitable operations.
Our recent experience with a Food services distributor was a fitting example of the use of Work bench. Within procurement functions the need to remain a metrics-driven supply chain calls for creative solutions besides transactional applications that help them procure from their suppliers meeting quantity, value and frequency requirements of their business. Most times, effectiveness and overall TCO have been measured and guided by Reports that are extracted from the transactional systems that help run their day-to-day operations. These reports remain the lynchpin for improvements to their current processes.
The notion of controlling the process from the outset brings new challenges and opportunities along. A procurement workbench can create a enterprise-wide platform for collaboration with peers and line command while following departmental and organizational goals that happen as business happens. Ability to communicate exceptions, warn early on and mitigating risks before they appear based on the strong analytical capabilities resident within the procurement workbench helps gain process visibility and control for supply chain officers. Further setting goals and key initiatives and following it through each transactions brings attention to detail connecting business leaders to see root causes eye-to-eye.
Other internal controls include mapping business process metrics to personal and divisional goals. Through initiatives-driven scorecards and KPI (Key Performance Indicators) dash boards, work bench provide provisions to business process owners to view, analyze and track measures that impact positively or otherwise. On the external front, work bench extend the platform to partners to communicate and share both strategic and tactical information creating opportunities for all entities to minimize risks and explore profitable steps together.
In closing, the customer summarized the benefit areas of work bench as a collaborative platform managing exceptions and risks alongside delivering a sustainable model for goal setting and tracking. Not to mention the early-to-market realization of such solutions that start delivering ROI value in months as opposed to long-term implementations typical of enterprise solutions. For more information, visit http://www.nextgenerationsupplychains.com/ProcurementWorkbench.aspx
Work bench is a best practice for organizations to adapt to managing processes that impact your bottom line.
