Integrates strategic design with inventory management to power demand-driven supply networks
Boston — September 29, 2005 — Supply chain solution provider Optiant today announced the availability of PowerChain Planner 2.0, a solution that the company said bridges the gap between sales, manufacturing and supply.
Optiant said the upgraded optimization solution was developed and tested in deployments by Optiant's customer base of manufacturers. It can be integrated with manufacturing execution systems, including SAP environments, via the recently released SAP-certified PowerChain Connector. Optiant explained that because it drives day-to-day engines of production, PowerChain Planner ties together the strategic stage, where decisions are made about where and how much inventory and associated inventory types should be placed to meet service level requirements, with the daily execution horizon that drives replenishment signals.
Supply chain planners, on the front lines of operational management, can use the solution to determine and implement optimal inventory levels, even for components with highly volatile supply and demand patterns, according to Optiant. With PowerChain Planner, manufacturers also have access to real-time information from up and down the supply network to modify inventory levels for each stock-keeping unit (SKU) as frequently as needed.
"Freeing up our planners and product champions to focus on more strategic product-centric initiatives, such as new product introductions and end-of-life transitions, means we are making the most of every resource," said Peter Smith, director of supply chain planning processes at Mass.-based Cabot Corp., $1.9 billion chemical manufacturer. "With PowerChain Planner, we can plan and deploy inventories to better manage working capital while providing superior levels of customer service — a critical strategy to achieve our performance goals."
Optiant said PowerChain Planner can be integrated into any existing enterprise resource planning (ERP) or advanced planning system for transfer of inventory planning data across the entire supply chain. PowerChain Planner also shares its data model with all other Optiant solutions.
