Business Objects said its Supply Chain Intelligence application enables companies to analyze their supply chains from the initial source through to the final destination. The software allows enterprises to access, integrate, analyze and share their supply chain information internally, as well as externally with strategic customers, partners and suppliers, according to the solution provider.
Supply Chain Intelligence is composed of a series of modules that provide a view of a company's supply chain, including orders, procurement, production, delivery and returns. The three new modules are Plan Analytics, Make Analytics and Return Analytics.
Plan Analytics is designed to help companies balance planned supply with demand to improve overall supply chain performance. The software enables users to monitor costs across the supply chain, check asset utilization and analyze inventory levels with a view to ensuring that the company has the flexibility and responsiveness to reliably meet customer demand in the most profitable way.
Make Analytics enables businesses to analyze the manufacturing process with the goal of improving efficiency. The software includes pre-built analytics to help managers identify where unplanned downtime, quality issues or poor scheduling could be negatively affecting throughput and costs. This enhanced visibility into the manufacturing process could help organizations better manage manufacturing costs and resources and maximize throughput.
Return Analytics aims to help organizations better monitor returns to minimize the return supply chain. The module provides analysis of return reasons, return value, disposal choices and costs, and the reverse supply chain performance over time. Organizations could use this information to improve customer and supplier management, reduce return costs and optimize their return supply chain performance.
Supply Chain Intelligence also includes Source Analytics and Deliver Analytics, both available since January 2002. Source Analytics enables companies to analyze their inbound supply chain to manage supplier relationships, optimize the procurement process and monitor inventory levels and costs. Deliver Analytics helps companies analyze the outbound supply chain to improve delivery costs, optimize inventory levels and deliver on customer demand in the most cost-effective way.
Plan Analytics, Make Analytics and Return Analytics are all expected to be generally available on Windows NT and Windows 2000 by the end of July 2002.
