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ModusLink Debuts Next-gen Optimized Configuration Solution
New network analysis and simulation service aims to help clients minimize costs and maintain inventory levels by building a multi-location and dynamic supply chain
Waltham, MA — March 19, 2008 — Supply chain solution provider ModusLink has debuted its next-generation Optimized Configuration Solution for demand-driven supply chain design, aimed at helping companies build multi-location and dynamic supply chains.
Developed to improve supply chain productivity and profitability by identifying the most efficient and cost-effective supply chain model and inventory strategy possible, the solution is now available with a new network optimization and simulation service designed to enable clients to minimize costs and maintain targeted inventory levels across the global supply chain.
According to ModusLink, companies using the Optimized Configuration Solution can determine the best time and place in the supply chain to perform the complete range of activities required to optimize assembly, configuration and/or packaging of generic base products or components into a market-ready state.
The Need for Optimization
Lorcan Sheehan, senior vice president of marketing with ModusLink, notes that trends like SKUs proliferation in consumer electronics and the move to push configuration closer to the final consumer is driving many companies to reexamine how they are configuring their supply networks. ModusLink has been offering services and solutions around this kind of optimization for a number of years, Sheehan said.
"What we traditionally have been doing is taking the inputs of where a product is built, what are the characteristics of a product in a vanilla state versus a final assembled state, taking a look at the amount of variation and the variability in demand for those products," Sheehan explained.
"Then we do an analysis of where is the best place in the world and what is the optimal time in the supply chain to most effectively configure the product, taking into account factors like fixed supply chain points where there are investments in fabs or physical infrastructure or the demand profile that a particular plant's products are going to," he said.
While in the past companies have used tools like Excel to prepare this sort of plan, Sheehan said that ModusLink saw a market for a solution that could do this sort of planning quickly and allow planners to run multiple "what-if" scenarios to determine the optimal supply chain configuration.
Improved Speed, Real-world Metrics
ModusLink's new network optimization and simulation service leverages a tool from LLamasoft called Supply Chain Guru, a network design tool for enterprise strategic planning, combined with ModusLink's own expertise and knowledge of local input costs and logistics lane costs.
The service provides clients the option of using design and modeling software tools to expedite the analytical process and ensure more granular and precise evaluation of large amounts of critical data and operating variables. These tools also perform simulation and testing to predict how well the suggested network design will perform in real-world environments, resulting in valuable metrics for inventory levels cycle time and measurement.
Benefits of the new supply chain design services, according to ModusLink, include improved speed and accuracy of analysis, ensuring all cost trade-offs and critical operating variables are considered for maximum results; detailed, real-world metrics to facilitate better planning and implementation; and tailored optimization capable of solving specific challenges and addressing top priorities.
Additional benefits that the solution provider is citing include comprehensive analysis to reduce total supply chain costs; and reduced risk of inefficiency and waste by maintaining a regular schedule of network optimization.
Developed to improve supply chain productivity and profitability by identifying the most efficient and cost-effective supply chain model and inventory strategy possible, the solution is now available with a new network optimization and simulation service designed to enable clients to minimize costs and maintain targeted inventory levels across the global supply chain.
According to ModusLink, companies using the Optimized Configuration Solution can determine the best time and place in the supply chain to perform the complete range of activities required to optimize assembly, configuration and/or packaging of generic base products or components into a market-ready state.
The Need for Optimization
Lorcan Sheehan, senior vice president of marketing with ModusLink, notes that trends like SKUs proliferation in consumer electronics and the move to push configuration closer to the final consumer is driving many companies to reexamine how they are configuring their supply networks. ModusLink has been offering services and solutions around this kind of optimization for a number of years, Sheehan said.
"What we traditionally have been doing is taking the inputs of where a product is built, what are the characteristics of a product in a vanilla state versus a final assembled state, taking a look at the amount of variation and the variability in demand for those products," Sheehan explained.
"Then we do an analysis of where is the best place in the world and what is the optimal time in the supply chain to most effectively configure the product, taking into account factors like fixed supply chain points where there are investments in fabs or physical infrastructure or the demand profile that a particular plant's products are going to," he said.
While in the past companies have used tools like Excel to prepare this sort of plan, Sheehan said that ModusLink saw a market for a solution that could do this sort of planning quickly and allow planners to run multiple "what-if" scenarios to determine the optimal supply chain configuration.
Improved Speed, Real-world Metrics
ModusLink's new network optimization and simulation service leverages a tool from LLamasoft called Supply Chain Guru, a network design tool for enterprise strategic planning, combined with ModusLink's own expertise and knowledge of local input costs and logistics lane costs.
The service provides clients the option of using design and modeling software tools to expedite the analytical process and ensure more granular and precise evaluation of large amounts of critical data and operating variables. These tools also perform simulation and testing to predict how well the suggested network design will perform in real-world environments, resulting in valuable metrics for inventory levels cycle time and measurement.
Benefits of the new supply chain design services, according to ModusLink, include improved speed and accuracy of analysis, ensuring all cost trade-offs and critical operating variables are considered for maximum results; detailed, real-world metrics to facilitate better planning and implementation; and tailored optimization capable of solving specific challenges and addressing top priorities.
Additional benefits that the solution provider is citing include comprehensive analysis to reduce total supply chain costs; and reduced risk of inefficiency and waste by maintaining a regular schedule of network optimization.
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