PowerChain Connector aims to drive optimization with demand data for more responsive operations
Boston — September 26, 2005 — Supply chain design specialist Optiant has released a new solution that allows for integration of the provider's flagship suite with SAP NetWeaver integration and application platform, targeting manufacturers who rely on SAP solutions to manage their operations.
SAP has certified Optiant's PowerChain Connector 1.0 for integration with SAP NetWeaver as an ABAP Add-on based on the SAP Web Application Server (SAP Web AS) Release 6.20.
According to Optiant, PowerChain Connector streamlines communications between the provider's flagship PowerChain Suite, enterprise resource planning (ERP) and planning and execution systems. The off-the-shelf solution downloads data to drive optimization strategies and then uploads optimal targets to planning and execution systems, the solution provider said.
"Connector is the industry's only solution that ensures that targets are set using the most comprehensive demand profile, based on sales orders, production consumption and interplant transfers," Optiant said in announcing the offering. "This ability to capture shifts in business conditions means that customers can further leverage investments in SAP NetWeaver, SAP R/3 and SAP Advanced Planning & Optimization (SAP APO) for more frequent and detailed supply chain analysis — resulting in fewer stock-outs, more strategic inventory deployment and higher efficiency and productivity."
"Effective demand management and inventory optimization are the new benchmarks for operational excellence," said Jonathan Colehower, president and CEO of Optiant. "With PowerChain integrated with SAP NetWeaver, it's much easier to capitalize on unexpected changes in demand with new inventory strategies that reduce risk and improve opportunity."
More than 75 percent of Optiant's customers are SAP customers, including companies in consumer packaged goods, industrial manufacturing, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and high-tech electronics. These companies use Optiant's PowerChain Suite to help optimize inventory levels and locations throughout the supply chain, and SAP systems for ensuring that operational targets are met.
"Our customers expect us to deliver strategic and tactical supply chain solutions that can transform their business," said Tim Vaio, managing vice president for Hitachi Consulting's supply chain practice. "With Optiant's solution for integration with SAP NetWeaver, we can offer our customers the complete package — the optimal strategies for driving business advantage and the power to turn those strategies into proven results."
Hitachi, Ltd. is a global integrator of SAP solutions. Hitachi Consulting worked with Optiant on the design, implementation and testing of PowerChain Connector.
Additional Articles of Interest
— Learning the right things to say to your colleagues and your customers can help you win big for the Supply Chain. Read more in "The Price of Talk," the Final Thoughts column in the August/September 2005 issue of Supply & Demand Chain Executive.
— Increased opportunities for customer interaction create new operational challenges for Sales, Marketing and Service the Demand Chain. Organizations must look beyond technology to the true foundation of creating and managing demand. For more information, read the SCDExec.com exclusive "Trends in the Demand Chain."
— Is it possible to preemptively address the business risks associated with product quality? One industry executive thinks so. Read more in "The Quality Risk," the Executive Memo column in the August/September 2005 issue of Supply & Demand Chain Executive.
Boston — September 26, 2005 — Supply chain design specialist Optiant has released a new solution that allows for integration of the provider's flagship suite with SAP NetWeaver integration and application platform, targeting manufacturers who rely on SAP solutions to manage their operations.
SAP has certified Optiant's PowerChain Connector 1.0 for integration with SAP NetWeaver as an ABAP Add-on based on the SAP Web Application Server (SAP Web AS) Release 6.20.
According to Optiant, PowerChain Connector streamlines communications between the provider's flagship PowerChain Suite, enterprise resource planning (ERP) and planning and execution systems. The off-the-shelf solution downloads data to drive optimization strategies and then uploads optimal targets to planning and execution systems, the solution provider said.
"Connector is the industry's only solution that ensures that targets are set using the most comprehensive demand profile, based on sales orders, production consumption and interplant transfers," Optiant said in announcing the offering. "This ability to capture shifts in business conditions means that customers can further leverage investments in SAP NetWeaver, SAP R/3 and SAP Advanced Planning & Optimization (SAP APO) for more frequent and detailed supply chain analysis — resulting in fewer stock-outs, more strategic inventory deployment and higher efficiency and productivity."
"Effective demand management and inventory optimization are the new benchmarks for operational excellence," said Jonathan Colehower, president and CEO of Optiant. "With PowerChain integrated with SAP NetWeaver, it's much easier to capitalize on unexpected changes in demand with new inventory strategies that reduce risk and improve opportunity."
More than 75 percent of Optiant's customers are SAP customers, including companies in consumer packaged goods, industrial manufacturing, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and high-tech electronics. These companies use Optiant's PowerChain Suite to help optimize inventory levels and locations throughout the supply chain, and SAP systems for ensuring that operational targets are met.
"Our customers expect us to deliver strategic and tactical supply chain solutions that can transform their business," said Tim Vaio, managing vice president for Hitachi Consulting's supply chain practice. "With Optiant's solution for integration with SAP NetWeaver, we can offer our customers the complete package — the optimal strategies for driving business advantage and the power to turn those strategies into proven results."
Hitachi, Ltd. is a global integrator of SAP solutions. Hitachi Consulting worked with Optiant on the design, implementation and testing of PowerChain Connector.
Additional Articles of Interest
— Learning the right things to say to your colleagues and your customers can help you win big for the Supply Chain. Read more in "The Price of Talk," the Final Thoughts column in the August/September 2005 issue of Supply & Demand Chain Executive.
— Increased opportunities for customer interaction create new operational challenges for Sales, Marketing and Service the Demand Chain. Organizations must look beyond technology to the true foundation of creating and managing demand. For more information, read the SCDExec.com exclusive "Trends in the Demand Chain."
— Is it possible to preemptively address the business risks associated with product quality? One industry executive thinks so. Read more in "The Quality Risk," the Executive Memo column in the August/September 2005 issue of Supply & Demand Chain Executive.
- More articles about Optiant.
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