Share inventory requirements and visibility with trading partners
Learn how the inventory add-on for SAP Business Network Supply Chain Collaboration enables companies to optimize inventory levels while improving supply predictability through close collaboration, resulting in greater supply assurance, improved customer satisfaction, and better supplier planning and fulfillment. See how this helps you effectively manage working capital, excess inventory, lead times, and carrying costs. Dokumentum letöltéseShare inventory
requirements and
visibility with trading
partners
Many enterprise buyers deploy supplier-managed
inventory (SMI) programs to enable mutually beneficial
buyer-seller collaboration. Suppliers gain visibility into
buyers’ current inventory and use it to speed response
times, increase fill rates, optimize buyer inventory levels,
and reduce excess safety stocks. All this can lead to
greater assurance of supply and increased process
efficiency.
But most suppliers can access only current, rather
than projected, inventory data, and they use inefficient
tools—such as e-mail, spreadsheets, and homegrown
portals—to collaborate with buyers and plan fulfill-
ment. This leads to an inability to respond to demand
and supply fluctuations and increased lead times
because suppliers must wait for purchase orders (POs)
to replenish inventory. It also drives up the need for
costly emergency orders that result in expedited ship-
ments and unpredictable costs, leaving suppliers
feeling they are continuously acting in a reactive
mode.
SAP Business Network Supply Chain Collaboration,
inventory add-on enables companies to optimize
inventory levels while improving supply predictability
through close collaboration. The result is supply
assurance, improved customer satisfaction, and
better supplier planning and fulfillment that helps
buyers effectively manage working capital, excess
inventory, lead times, and carrying costs.
requirements and
visibility with trading
partners
Many enterprise buyers deploy supplier-managed
inventory (SMI) programs to enable mutually beneficial
buyer-seller collaboration. Suppliers gain visibility into
buyers’ current inventory and use it to speed response
times, increase fill rates, optimize buyer inventory levels,
and reduce excess safety stocks. All this can lead to
greater assurance of supply and increased process
efficiency.
But most suppliers can access only current, rather
than projected, inventory data, and they use inefficient
tools—such as e-mail, spreadsheets, and homegrown
portals—to collaborate with buyers and plan fulfill-
ment. This leads to an inability to respond to demand
and supply fluctuations and increased lead times
because suppliers must wait for purchase orders (POs)
to replenish inventory. It also drives up the need for
costly emergency orders that result in expedited ship-
ments and unpredictable costs, leaving suppliers
feeling they are continuously acting in a reactive
mode.
SAP Business Network Supply Chain Collaboration,
inventory add-on enables companies to optimize
inventory levels while improving supply predictability
through close collaboration. The result is supply
assurance, improved customer satisfaction, and
better supplier planning and fulfillment that helps
buyers effectively manage working capital, excess
inventory, lead times, and carrying costs.
2 | 5
Using the inventory add-on’s dashboard,
suppliers can:
• View demand plans across a predefined hori-
zon, stock on hand, and projected stock alerts
to facilitate compliance
• Gain early visibility into customer demand with
instant calculation of projected inventory across
multiple time buckets
• Plan and execute replenishments against inven-
tory targets—predefined minimum and maximum
(min/max) levels—across the planning horizon
and share them with buyers
Further, buyers can:
• Share demand and forecast plans, stock on
hand, and min/max inventory requirements
with suppliers
• Integrate supplier-created replenishment plans
into ERP software
• Run an SMI program with standard or consigned
stock types
• For consignments, send consumption signals
to suppliers when inventory withdrawals and
ownership transfers occur
• Configure visibility of standard key figures in the
dashboard’s planning view
The figure below illustrates the capabilities of the
inventory add-on.
Figure: Capabilities of SAP Business Network Supply Chain Collaboration, inventory add-on
Using the inventory add-on’s dashboard,
suppliers can:
• View demand plans across a predefined hori-
zon, stock on hand, and projected stock alerts
to facilitate compliance
• Gain early visibility into customer demand with
instant calculation of projected inventory across
multiple time buckets
• Plan and execute replenishments against inven-
tory targets—predefined minimum and maximum
(min/max) levels—across the planning horizon
and share them with buyers
Further, buyers can:
• Share demand and forecast plans, stock on
hand, and min/max inventory requirements
with suppliers
• Integrate supplier-created replenishment plans
into ERP software
• Run an SMI program with standard or consigned
stock types
• For consignments, send consumption signals
to suppliers when inventory withdrawals and
ownership transfers occur
• Configure visibility of standard key figures in the
dashboard’s planning view
The figure below illustrates the capabilities of the
inventory add-on.
Figure: Capabilities of SAP Business Network Supply Chain Collaboration, inventory add-on