GAINING VISIBILITY TO PROFITABLE DECISIONS

There is a world of difference between the phrase "May I take your order?" vs. "Should I take your order?" Today, few companies really know whether an order will be profitable at the time they accept it. Most often, this is only known well after the order has been fulfilled and settled as shown in the following graphic. This is largely due to the fact that (a) a great deal of variability (from unplanned events) can occur during the fulfillment phase that can make or break profitability, and (b) until now, tools to provide a real-time view of supply chain capabilities were not available.

No sales organization wants to turn away orders - however, they need the visibility to help make decisions that meet the global objectives of the company and not just revenue targets. Nextjet's Order Sourcing Execution, an extension of its core Transportation and Inventory Management applications, solution enables companies to move fulfillment decisions closer to the point of order capture while optimizing fulfillment decisions which balance profitability objectives and customer service expectations.

As shown above, Nextjet enables this crucial linkage by integrating the order management system with a powerful sourcing execution engine that models the supply chain network with a real-time view of inventory along multiple tiers and the corresponding consumption rules. The result is a proactive approach to order management which integrates the front-office (CRM strategy) with the back-office (SCM strategy). It allows the supply organization to define the rules that maximize profitability and customer service AND the sales and marketing organization to define the "boundary of personalized choices" to satisfy specific customer demands based on various segmentation attributes.

SETTING REALISTIC EXPECTATIONS AND MEETING SERVICE COMMITMENTS

The value proposition for Nextjet Sourcing Execution is to help companies make promises they can keep by respecting predefined rules and constraints AND keep the promises they make by enforcing those rules and constraints during fulfillment. Key sourcing rules supported by the optimization engine include:

• Promising rules - Depending upon the required sophistication of the order promising capability, a number of computations ranging from simple ATP to Capable-To-Promise (CTP) that considers current inventory levels, production plans, and transportation constraints are supported.
  
  
• Profitability rules - Multiple pricing policies (margins, discounts) based on customer segments can be implemented to support yield management strategies.
  
  
• Substitution rules - Cross-selling and upselling opportunities can be leveraged to meet customer service/profitability constraints.
  
  
• Allocation rules - Companies can enforce inventory allocation rules to ensure inventory availability for high-priority customers.
  
  
• Replenishment rules - Lot sizing and VMI policies are supported.
  
  
• Transportation rules - Compliance to carrier/3PL contracts and rates can be enforced through mode and carrier selection rules.
  
  
• Location rules - Both multiple ship-from & ship-to locations are supported.
  
  

ENABLING SCALABILITY AT AFFORDABLE COST

Finally, the Nextjet Order Sourcing engine is a highly scalable system that uses parallel processing technology running on standard hardware configurations to meet the computational demands of simple to complex supply chains.