Sales & operations planning for midsize—now only $240,000
By Staff -- Manufacturing Business Technology, 12/1/2005 7:00:00 AM
It's not that the supply chains of midsize manufacturers are any less complex than those of the largest enterprises, says Sujit Singh, a VP with Supply Chain Consultants (SCC).
Rather, it's that manufacturers with revenues of less than $1 billion can't afford the lengthy implementations associated with the supply chain planning products of the largest enterprise vendors.
That's why, at the recent APICS show, SCC introduced Zemeter S&OP—a fixed price, five-step program meant to put a sophisticated sales & operations planning (or S&OP) solution in the hands of companies with revenues in the $100- to $500-million range.
"There's still a place for best-of-breed players in the supply chain planning space," says Singh. "If you're in a commodity business, planning can be a core competency and a competitive differentiator."
Zemeter S&OP is a pre-configured, out-of-the-box version of SCC's flagship Zemeter product for process manufacturers.
The five steps include understanding demand variability, analyzing inventory, demand process planning, balancing supply and demand, and sales & operations planning.
In fact, a company may choose to digest each of the steps one at a time. "By spending just $65,000," says Singh, "a company can gain an understanding of demand and use the gains from that to fund the next step."
SCC emphasizes that the solution doesn't scrimp on functionality. For example, it includes a complete optimization engine. "It's a highly sophisticated analytical tool, with an elegant simplicity that combines a Microsoft-centric platform with user-friendly desktop integration, requiring less training and support," says Singh.
For companies with revenues of less than $300 million, the cost of Zemeter S&OP is $240,000. For companies with from $300 to $900 million, the cost is $480,000.
