Supply chain
The supply chain encompasses all operations that bring added value to customers, from the launch of new products to the implementation of new services. Today, controlling the supply chain has become a must because it provides substantial benefits regardless of the sector’s maturity: reduction of costs/working capital requirements, gains in market share and premium price. By way of example, leading companies have been able to reduce finished product stocks by 30% to 40% after transforming their supply chain.
A host of levers that are often complex and technical (production system, demand management, order reception, commercial provisions, heavyweight IT systems, etc.) are generally set up with disappointing results.
Faithful to our results-producing approach, we focus on factors that make the difference:
- Segmentation of customer expectations (timelines, reliability, third party offers, etc.)
- In-house response mechanisms (decoupling stocks, delayed differentiation, etc.)
- Definition of services on offer (products, timelines, reliability, etc.) by customer profile: strategic customers are offered a competitive advantage
- Management of volume x capacities (including contribution management)
- Optimization of the logistics network (distribution levels, platforms, flows, direct delivery, etc.)
- Operational excellence (structure, layout, equipment, organization, layout, equipment, cross-docking, rounds, loading rate, etc.)
Our tried and tested method is applied over a period of two years: 1) description of supply chain fundamentals (2 to 3 months) and 2) demonstration, for example by implementation in a series of waves (3 to 6 months).
The results are rapidly tangible: timelines cut in half (packaging), +20 points in IRD (steel), finished-product inventories reduced by 40% (aluminum), customer turned sole supplier (automobile OES) or global reference (aerospace).