Finalist: 2024 Best Run Digital Supply Chain
Testra: Building An Advanced Network Supply Chain Planning System with SAP IBP by transforming its supply chain management with SAP IBP, enhancing forecasting accuracy, inventory optimization, and operational efficiency. Download the DocumentSAP Australia and New Zealand
Best Run Awards 2024
Best Run Awards 2024
Best Run SAP
Industry WebsiteProduct and Services Featured SAP Solutions
Telecommunications https://www.telstra.com.au/Unified communications, Networks,
Security, Mobility solutions, Cloud
solutions, IoT solutions
SAP IBP
Telstra is Australia’s leading telecommunications and technology company, providing around 22.5 million retail mobile services and 3.4 million retail bundle and
data services in Australia. They facilitate over 2,000 network points of presence in more than 30 countries and territories around the world. Telstra brings innovative
and intuitive products and services to market, and offer a broad suite of media, content and connectivity options in Australia, as well as connectivity and enterprise
services globally. Our customer base is diverse including consumers, small business, large enterprises and government organisations
Telstra has recently updated their Enterprise Planning software capabilities with SAP HANA, Telstra's single source of truth - underpinned by a consolidated
platform that enables the management of our finances, assets, projects, procurement, and supply chain activities in a single place.
The establishment of a single Advanced Supply Chain Planning application, SAP IBP, complements the ERP strategy, shifting the Telstra Supplier Services, Supply
Chain Planning team, from a spreadsheet-based manual planning process and outdated technology to an integrated planning ecosystem across 3 x diverse Supply
Chains; Spare Parts, Materials (Construction) and Retail. Outside of building deep Supply Chain Planning capability across these supply chains, the consistency in
the design and approach of each SAP IBP deployment fosters consistent capability enabling leverage of team scale, during peak selling periods and emergency
season, drives productivity and supports Telstra’s growth trajectory
Building An Advanced Network Supply Chain
Planning System with SAP IBP
Telstra
Digital Supply Chain
Industry WebsiteProduct and Services Featured SAP Solutions
Telecommunications https://www.telstra.com.au/Unified communications, Networks,
Security, Mobility solutions, Cloud
solutions, IoT solutions
SAP IBP
Telstra is Australia’s leading telecommunications and technology company, providing around 22.5 million retail mobile services and 3.4 million retail bundle and
data services in Australia. They facilitate over 2,000 network points of presence in more than 30 countries and territories around the world. Telstra brings innovative
and intuitive products and services to market, and offer a broad suite of media, content and connectivity options in Australia, as well as connectivity and enterprise
services globally. Our customer base is diverse including consumers, small business, large enterprises and government organisations
Telstra has recently updated their Enterprise Planning software capabilities with SAP HANA, Telstra's single source of truth - underpinned by a consolidated
platform that enables the management of our finances, assets, projects, procurement, and supply chain activities in a single place.
The establishment of a single Advanced Supply Chain Planning application, SAP IBP, complements the ERP strategy, shifting the Telstra Supplier Services, Supply
Chain Planning team, from a spreadsheet-based manual planning process and outdated technology to an integrated planning ecosystem across 3 x diverse Supply
Chains; Spare Parts, Materials (Construction) and Retail. Outside of building deep Supply Chain Planning capability across these supply chains, the consistency in
the design and approach of each SAP IBP deployment fosters consistent capability enabling leverage of team scale, during peak selling periods and emergency
season, drives productivity and supports Telstra’s growth trajectory
Building An Advanced Network Supply Chain
Planning System with SAP IBP
Telstra
Digital Supply Chain
Challenges
The Network Planning Team manages the materials and spare parts planning for the Telstra Network across Australia. This includes
building new networks, such as the 5G Tower projects, and managing spare parts for network faults and maintenance. This service is
critical to support Telstra customers and the 5G rollout nationwide. As Telstra networks connect important infrastructures such as
hospitals and schools, spare parts must always be readily available in case of network faults. The impact of a missing part is high
when emergency restoration is required, as network service can be delayed if the part needs to be sourced interstate or from
overseas. Additionally, Telstra prides itself on sustainability, which manifests within our Network Supply Chain as the capturing and
returning of decommissioned products for repurposing, creating a circular economy that minimises product wastage and excess
cost.
The efficiency and sustainability of our Network Supply Chain were limited by our reliance on manual processes and programs such
as Excel, various disparate databases and other non-integrated tools for planning. Monthly supply plans were created using
spreadsheets, with no holistic view of critical data and limited inventory visibility. Our spare parts consumption forecasting lacked
accuracy and flexibility, often leading to the over and under-forecasting of certain items. Data updates, reporting and other vital
processes relied on the manual handling of large amounts of data, increasing the risk of human error and impacting data veracity.
Collaboration between the Network Planning team members and with other stakeholders was also limited to email, forums and
spreadsheets with no real-time interactivity. These combined challenges prevented the Network Planning team from engaging in
proactive demand and supply planning with negative ramifications for employee engagement, our customers and the business itself.
The Network Planning Team manages the materials and spare parts planning for the Telstra Network across Australia. This includes
building new networks, such as the 5G Tower projects, and managing spare parts for network faults and maintenance. This service is
critical to support Telstra customers and the 5G rollout nationwide. As Telstra networks connect important infrastructures such as
hospitals and schools, spare parts must always be readily available in case of network faults. The impact of a missing part is high
when emergency restoration is required, as network service can be delayed if the part needs to be sourced interstate or from
overseas. Additionally, Telstra prides itself on sustainability, which manifests within our Network Supply Chain as the capturing and
returning of decommissioned products for repurposing, creating a circular economy that minimises product wastage and excess
cost.
The efficiency and sustainability of our Network Supply Chain were limited by our reliance on manual processes and programs such
as Excel, various disparate databases and other non-integrated tools for planning. Monthly supply plans were created using
spreadsheets, with no holistic view of critical data and limited inventory visibility. Our spare parts consumption forecasting lacked
accuracy and flexibility, often leading to the over and under-forecasting of certain items. Data updates, reporting and other vital
processes relied on the manual handling of large amounts of data, increasing the risk of human error and impacting data veracity.
Collaboration between the Network Planning team members and with other stakeholders was also limited to email, forums and
spreadsheets with no real-time interactivity. These combined challenges prevented the Network Planning team from engaging in
proactive demand and supply planning with negative ramifications for employee engagement, our customers and the business itself.
Solution
SAP IBP provided us readily accessible planning data with a user-friendly interface, improving product visibility,
better forecasting, real-time decision-making, optimized inventory, automated supply planning, and centralized
information for stakeholder collaboration.
The SAP IBP Excel Interface offers a seamless integration between SAP IBP and Microsoft Excel, providing users
with familiarity and ease of use. It empowers users to utilize Excel's robust features while accessing SAP IBP data,
facilitating efficient data manipulation, analysis, and reporting. Additionally, the Excel Interface
simplifies data entry and updates, accelerating decision-making and enhancing overall productivity
Accenture, our implementation partner for SAP IBP, utilized their expertise in the domain to craft a solution for
attachment rate planning, within SAP IBP by consolidating our data from Excel and multiple other sources,
enhancing our forecasting accuracy, by seamlessly connecting into upstream planning processes and critical
network installation data.
SAP IBP provided us readily accessible planning data with a user-friendly interface, improving product visibility,
better forecasting, real-time decision-making, optimized inventory, automated supply planning, and centralized
information for stakeholder collaboration.
The SAP IBP Excel Interface offers a seamless integration between SAP IBP and Microsoft Excel, providing users
with familiarity and ease of use. It empowers users to utilize Excel's robust features while accessing SAP IBP data,
facilitating efficient data manipulation, analysis, and reporting. Additionally, the Excel Interface
simplifies data entry and updates, accelerating decision-making and enhancing overall productivity
Accenture, our implementation partner for SAP IBP, utilized their expertise in the domain to craft a solution for
attachment rate planning, within SAP IBP by consolidating our data from Excel and multiple other sources,
enhancing our forecasting accuracy, by seamlessly connecting into upstream planning processes and critical
network installation data.
Impact
Improved Product Availability across
600+ regionally dispersed stocking
locations from 92 - 97%
Improved average time to make
Spares available for fault restoration
by 16%
Reduced forecast error from an average
of 76% to 42%
At Telstra, SAP’s Integrated Business Planning (IBP) has been a game-changer for us, significantly enhancing our supply chain management and operational
efficiency.
Before the implementation of SAP IBP, our forecasting was primarily manual. This constrained our scenario planning and our ability to apply assumptions to base
forecasts. Now, with SAP IBP, we can derive forecasts through typical Maintenance, Repair, and Operations (MRO) concepts, such as failure rates and the
population size that requires maintenance. This has empowered us to assess the impact of various scenarios and apply them to our consensus forecast
processes.
For instance, we’ve been able to forecast spare part requirements based on decommissioning plans for our legacy Copper network and predict future demand
for our 5G network by applying ‘growth’ and manufacturer-provided failure rates. SAP IBP has also enhanced our ability to calculate distribution requirements, a
task that was previously a challenge given our massive product installation base of over 7,000 SKUs, 500,000 installation locations, and restoration SLAs of under
4 hours.
Inventory optimisation is another area where we’ve seen significant benefits from implementing SAP IBP. We have seen forecast error rates to reduce by 45% in
the first six months, equating to potential capital savings in the millions and a significant reduction in monthly storage costs.
Our changemaker culture at Telstra is all about striving for operational supply chain excellence to deliver first-class outcomes for our business. By reducing the
touchpoint frequency of some items within our Network supply chain, we’re achieving operational cost savings. Our Network Planning team is also experiencing
significant time and cost savings by moving away from manual processes and spreadsheets to manage our supply chain.
In summary, the implementation of SAP IBP has streamlined our operations, increased our resilience, and allowed us to focus more on achieving strategic and
sustainable business outcomes. We’re excited about the future and the further improvements we can make with SAP IBP.
We successfully partnered with Accenture to deliver the SAP IBP solution across our Network Spares and Materials Supply Chain Planning teams.
Accenture’s deep industry knowledge and proven best practices were instrumental in tailoring the SAP IBP solution to our specific needs. Their team worked
closely with us, understanding our business model, our challenges, and our goals. This collaborative approach ensured that the solution we implemented was
the right fit for our business.
Improved Product Availability across
600+ regionally dispersed stocking
locations from 92 - 97%
Improved average time to make
Spares available for fault restoration
by 16%
Reduced forecast error from an average
of 76% to 42%
At Telstra, SAP’s Integrated Business Planning (IBP) has been a game-changer for us, significantly enhancing our supply chain management and operational
efficiency.
Before the implementation of SAP IBP, our forecasting was primarily manual. This constrained our scenario planning and our ability to apply assumptions to base
forecasts. Now, with SAP IBP, we can derive forecasts through typical Maintenance, Repair, and Operations (MRO) concepts, such as failure rates and the
population size that requires maintenance. This has empowered us to assess the impact of various scenarios and apply them to our consensus forecast
processes.
For instance, we’ve been able to forecast spare part requirements based on decommissioning plans for our legacy Copper network and predict future demand
for our 5G network by applying ‘growth’ and manufacturer-provided failure rates. SAP IBP has also enhanced our ability to calculate distribution requirements, a
task that was previously a challenge given our massive product installation base of over 7,000 SKUs, 500,000 installation locations, and restoration SLAs of under
4 hours.
Inventory optimisation is another area where we’ve seen significant benefits from implementing SAP IBP. We have seen forecast error rates to reduce by 45% in
the first six months, equating to potential capital savings in the millions and a significant reduction in monthly storage costs.
Our changemaker culture at Telstra is all about striving for operational supply chain excellence to deliver first-class outcomes for our business. By reducing the
touchpoint frequency of some items within our Network supply chain, we’re achieving operational cost savings. Our Network Planning team is also experiencing
significant time and cost savings by moving away from manual processes and spreadsheets to manage our supply chain.
In summary, the implementation of SAP IBP has streamlined our operations, increased our resilience, and allowed us to focus more on achieving strategic and
sustainable business outcomes. We’re excited about the future and the further improvements we can make with SAP IBP.
We successfully partnered with Accenture to deliver the SAP IBP solution across our Network Spares and Materials Supply Chain Planning teams.
Accenture’s deep industry knowledge and proven best practices were instrumental in tailoring the SAP IBP solution to our specific needs. Their team worked
closely with us, understanding our business model, our challenges, and our goals. This collaborative approach ensured that the solution we implemented was
the right fit for our business.
“”I’ve witnessed firsthand the transformative power of SAP IBP. Our supply chain management was once
a complex web of disconnected systems and spreadsheets relying on the knowledge of our people to
ensure we forecast demand accurately, optimize inventory levels, and align sales and integrated
business planning.
Sasha Samac
Supplier Services Group Owner
a complex web of disconnected systems and spreadsheets relying on the knowledge of our people to
ensure we forecast demand accurately, optimize inventory levels, and align sales and integrated
business planning.
Sasha Samac
Supplier Services Group Owner