ERP, SCM Shortcomings Addressed

Amsterdam  February 10, 2003  Business intelligence provider SAS, in response to customer requests for help in creating efficiency and profit in their supply chains, announced a new suite of solutions, as well as a consulting practice, that is meant to address supply chain needs.

According to the provider, SAS Supply Chain Intelligence anticipates customer demand and improves procurement strategies by identifying actions that achieve set customer and quality service levels.

"Increasingly, customers are asking us to address the shortcomings of enterprise resource planning and supply chain management systems," said Jim Davis, SAS' senior vice president and chief marketing officer. "To solve their business challenges, SAS has developed an offering that combines technology with consulting services. SAS Supply Chain Intelligence enables organizations to generate insights, deliver them to decision makers at the right time, and take the actions necessary to enable performance improvements."

SAS Supply Chain Intelligence is based on the SAS Intelligence Architecture. Including data access, warehousing, cleansing and data mining, this foundation allows customers to generate intelligence from their existing transactional supply chain management (SCM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. SAS Supply Chain Intelligence is comprised of four solutions: SAS Supplier Relationship Management (SRM), SAS Value Chain Analytics, SAS Demand Intelligence and SAS Process Intelligence. Customers can deploy all or use them individually to solve their specific supply chain problems.

SAS said Alcon, an eye care company, has already selected the Supply Chain Intelligence suite for its Houston-Texas manufacturing plant. Alcon explained that its goal is to ensure high customer service levels for its Custom Pak and Consumables products, and its plant has already developed a SAS-based forecasting solution that has reduced back orders, saved staff time and optimized inventory levels. "SAS is the linchpin of our supply chain management strategy," said Gary Keathley, Custom Pak materials manager. "SAS brings integrity to the whole process. Whether we're negotiating with suppliers over price or working with customers on delivery, SAS delivers essential time and cost saving efficiencies."

SAS also announced a new SAS Supply Chain Analytics Consulting Group to eliminate the hurdles that have been keeping many companies from achieving their supply chain goals. According to the March 2002 Forrester report, "Bite-Sized SCM Projects," 64 percent of companies surveyed said supply chain implementations were more difficult than expected. And, among others, companies complained that traditional SCM implementations take too long.

The Supply Chain Analytics Consulting Group applies SAS' market-leading technology to address the complex needs of supply chain customers. Under the direction of Mike Haydock, vice president of supply chain intelligence, the group uses SAS' local consulting services organization to reduce implementation time and drive return on investment.

Haydock previously served as president, CEO and member of the board of directors at Cray Inc., a supercomputer company based in Seattle. He also worked for a number of years as a vice president at IBM.