THE CHALLENGE
A large manufacturer of oil & gas struggled with a lack of visibility and control over the sourcing activities of their supply base. They were experiencing uncontrolled raw material costs, difficulty managing continuity of supply and an inability to leverage the broader purchasing volume of their suppliers because of inadequate supply chain data.
We determined that the company had no consistent material classification standards, preventing them from identifying common groupings of materials. The original equipment manufacturer (OEM) had tried to build and leverage their own corpus of material data by hiring contractors to perform material take offs. These results were inconsistent, as many key material attributes were missed or mischaracterized.
THE SOLUTION
As a first step, we performed Part Attribute Characterization (PAC), our proprietary process that captures the key attributes of an OEM’s parts and assemblies. This software and engineering driven process allows for the characterization of materials according to a uniform structure and taxonomy and is Step One in restoring supply chain visibility to an OEM.
We began by arranging all their parts and components into hierarchical Bills of Materials, and documenting detailed attributes down to the component level. We characterized 1,000’s of parts and loaded this data into our supply chain visibility and analytics platform, SDX. In SDX, the common materials across multiple suppliers could be easily identified. This data became the basis for strategic supply chain action.
THE IMPACT
SDX enabled our OEM customer to visualize aggregate demand for raw materials across their extended supply base. Visibility surfaced opportunities to leverage buying volume and drive cost savings. Having this data in a central platform also provided the opportunity for their part suppliers to log in, validate part attributes, update lead times and other frequently changing data. The OEM developed a corpus of structured data and a means to keep it up-to-date and accurate over time. They now had the supply chain visibility and control they were looking for. We characterized 1,000’s of parts and delivered visibility and control across their extended supply chain.
About Exiger & Supply Dynamics
Recently acquired by Exiger, Supply Dynamics provides Fortune 500 manufacturers with real-time visibility and control over the material requirements of their extended supply chain. Supply Dynamics’ product, SDX, is a highly secure, multi-tier supply chain collaboration platform, designed for complex, distributed manufacturing supply chains. To learn more, read about Exiger’s recent acquisition of Supply Dynamics to Create the First End-to-End Supply Chain Visibility and Supplier Risk Management Solution here and learn more about our products here.
