Vigilance is developing what it calls supply chain event management, or SCEM. The company claims that SCEM enables companies to respond to unplanned events on an exception basis. While basic supply chain software automates order forecasting, planning and scheduling, it does not provide the process control to assure that the forecast/planning and transactions are being executed as planned. Vigilance's SCEM technology is designed to provide this ability.
AMR Research predicts that the need for SCEM systems will exceed $1.2 billion by 2003, and that this segment of the supply chain market will be the fastest-growing area.
SCEM is supply chain management's next frontier in supporting e-business strategies, said Michael Bittner, research director for AMR Research. It is the hot, new supply chain application, so businesses looking to coordinate and control supply chain activities are supporting SCEM. Supply chain velocity and the need for micro-level, real-time event and exception information and management will drive the market for SCEM, he added.
Vigilance's SCEM applications enable users to define and personalize events, including late orders in customer service, equipment malfunction in manufacturing management and supplier noncompliance in supplier management. Once there is an exception to the defined event, Vigilance immediately notifies all members of the community affected by the event via the Internet or any wireless device. Vigilance then provides a means for people to collaborate and resolve exceptions to events through its integrated tracking and workflow application. Users can also employ Vigilance's powerful analytical tools to help them identify weak links throughout an entire global supply chain and constantly refine and improve business processes.
Individuals within an organization need to monitor specific event or exception occurrences. In the past, there was no efficient way to do that without having to weed through reams of voluminous reports while searching for relevant information, said Dr. Jonathan Golovin, CEO of Vigilance. We founded Vigilance on the premise under which JIT (Just-In-Time) inventory was created deliver needed information to the user in real-time instead of waiting for data to be delivered in a report via the Web, he added.
Vigilance's SCEM technology gives us another set of eyes to monitor exceptions and provide insight throughout our entire organization, said Walt Albright, director of information technology at Dresser Valve, a division of Halliburton. Our managers and key employees are alerted as to problems or opportunities in time to minimize/maximize their impact. They are able to stay on top of events as they occur and get a handle on the critical issues of the day inventory, costs, late orders and streamline efficiency. This has resulted in our being proactive instead of reactive to customer needs.
