It was a lovely fun filled morning of 14th January, and there I was sipping my morning coffee and was thrilled about spending this day with friends and family. This is a big day in India, especially in western part of the country, where the festival of kites also called as Sankrant / Uttarayan is celebrated with a lot of fanfare. It was 11 am and my phone rang. I was in a rush to the terrace with my sister who was running around in the house with kites in her hand.  
I told her you carry on and I will join soon after I had to pick up the call.

On the line, was a leader representing a global automotive parts manufacturer with focus on wire harness, instruments, and components. With the company’s origin and headquarters in Japan. It was interesting to discuss more with the client about the Indian supply chain situation. The client team faced issues of line stoppages as well as excess inventory. 

Supply Chain and Inventory Optimization Management in Manufacturing

The automotive wire harness manufacturing facility has multiple assembly lines. which carry out activities like cutting and crimping, sub-assembly, layout, testing, and packing. In case of a shortage of material, the whole line comes to a standstill. Yet, another challenge mentioned was several items in stocks had coverage of more than 100 days which increased the inventory costs!

With our background and experience, we do understand such a complex situation and also acknowledge that the cost associated with excess inventory as well stockouts (which is a crime as the opportunity cost has much higher stakes on the ground). I spoke to him to understand his concern and in the subsequent weeks. We worked out a customized Inventory and Supply Chain Optimization Program & Execution (ISCOPE) for their complex nature of operations and needs. 

We deployed one of our expert consulting teams for rolling out this power packed ISCOPE module to deliver phenomenal results. To understand the current state, a detailed supply chain study and business process mapping was conducted. The consulting team worked out a solution not only considering consumption patterns. But also variations in customer demands and delays in supply.  A PFEP (Plan For Each Part) was devised and each component was treated as per the need leading to a robust inventory management model which can later be integrated with the client ERP system. 

 

Benefits of Supply Chain and Inventory Optimization

1. Reduction in overall inventory value by ~31%
2. A faultless framework to indicate when to order and how much to order
3. Avoid excess ordering
4. The levels of inventory will cover all variations
5. Reduction in air freight orders 
6. An easy and user-friendly mechanism that will ensure no items are missed for ordering
7. Standardized buyer workflows across all the plants of the client
8. Zero stock outs
9. Linkage to existing ERP

So glad to be able to contribute towards the competitiveness of this global automotive parts supplier headquartered in Japan with team Faber Infinite Consulting. The Inventory and Supply Chain Optimization Program & Execution (ISCOPE) module can support to address all your material challenges even in this VUCA environment. 

Narrated by: Faber Deepak Rane

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