What is the logistics control tower? Why do we need tA?
- 2018-06-11 11:38
- Logistics control tower supply chain Internet electricity supplier sharing service
The original concept of control tower (Control Tower) is the control tower of the airport. In order to control the aircraft and ground vehicles, the aircraft is commanded to take off and land.
Some supply chain management experts and transnational large freight forwarder borrowed the concept to launch the Logistics Control Tower, which is composed of a series of supply chain management processes and tools, through Internet technology, planning logistics warehousing networks, monitoring orders to perform state, tracking goods in real time, Industry provides end to end, visual supply chain services.
Why do we need to control the tower? This has a close relationship with economic globalization.
Pain point
Under the background of economic globalization, the supply chain of enterprises is becoming more and more complex.
In order to get the most competitive raw materials, a company in the United States may make inquiries and orders to suppliers around the world. How to manage different time zones and manage suppliers from different countries is a difficult problem.
Sales channels are becoming more diversified. They used to be sold to distributors only. Now there are channels for e-commerce providers to go to terminal consumers. The requirements of customers are getting higher and higher. How to respond quickly to customer orders and meet demand is a difficult problem.
Economic downturn, market competition pressure, enterprises to supply chain cost savings, increase efficiency.
The supply chain of enterprises is facing great challenges, and the logistics control tower arises under such a background. Another concept must be mentioned here, Share Service Center.
origin
Over the past 20 years, large multinational companies have entered China to invest and build factories. As an example of auto parts company, parts and components giants represented by BOSCH (Bosch) and Valeo (Bosch) have a joint venture or a sole proprietorship in China. The production and sales networks throughout the country can quickly and efficiently meet customer and market demand.
These large auto parts groups have set up a shared service center (Share Service Center) in China, the idea of which is to centralize the shared functions within the group, and to provide standardized services to various business units with high quality and low level, which was initially promoted and used in the financial and IT/IS functions. Now, it is also gradually applied to the field of supply chain logistics.
In the decentralized organization structure, each country has its own finance, IT (Information Technology, partial hardware) / IS (Information System, partial software) and supply chain functions, but there is a lack of internal communication among the multinational business units, and the efficiency of cooperation is low.
In the organizational structure of the shared service center, a regional functional department has been established to establish a unified standard and system to coordinate the business between countries.
In the supply chain shared service center model, this is the most common organization structure. In addition to reporting to the general manager, the supply chain manager of each factory needs to report to the director of the supply chain of the shared service center.
The factory needs to report to the shared service center a monthly operation of KPI, such as inventory, on time delivery rate, freight and so on, and Share Service Center, based on the factory situation, combined with the group's supply chain strategy, to develop some continuous improvement action plans, and cooperate with the factory to implement.
Not only the experience of factory supply chain needs to be reported to the supply chain director of the shared service center, but also the continuous improvement function of the factory.
The logistics control tower is a product of the organizational structure of the shared service center. In order to enhance the core competitiveness of enterprises, large multinational companies outsource logistics business to third party suppliers.
How do you manage so much logistics? It is not only inefficient, but also a lack of control for large suppliers, because the logistics suppliers look at the volume of the business, because there is no sufficient quantity of goods, and the best price and service can not be obtained.
The shared service center can integrate all the logistics operations of the factory, negotiate with the suppliers to obtain preferential quotations, and by virtue of professional knowledge and skills, better control the logistics activities.
The establishment of a logistics control tower can visualize the logistics activities around the world, realize the savings of logistics costs according to the scale effect, and establish a unified assessment standard to monitor the service level of the third party suppliers.
What are the main tasks of the logistics control tower?
1. Planning logistics storage network
By collecting information about existing transportation routes and warehouse locations, the status of "AS-IS" is summarized. With the help of professional software, we optimize the logistics transportation and storage distribution network according to the volume of existing lines.
Two. Tracking order performance status
Start with order //confirm/i/iation, follow up the order fulfillment (Order Fulfillment) status. Review the undelivered orders (Back order) regularly to ensure that the goods are delivered to the customers during the delivery period. If there is a fluctuation in customer demand, it is necessary to determine whether air freight is needed to satisfy customers.
If the customer has the Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) mode or the co replenishment plan, the replenishment should be arranged in time according to the customer's forecast and inventory.
Three. Logistics and transportation management system
The Transportation Management System (TMS) manages the activities of logistics transportation, ensures the visualization of the supply chain, monitors the location of the goods in real time and the exact time to reach the various transport nodes.
TMS can automatically match the most competitive logistics service providers to achieve transportation cost savings.
Four, management of third party suppliers
By setting the standard KPI assessment index, the third party suppliers of freight, trucks, warehouses, customs declarations and other logistics providers will regularly assess the survival of the fittest.
programme
There are three plans for a company to establish a logistics control tower. According to the size of its business and the strategy of supply chain, the company chooses the right plan.
一、100% in house 内部管理
The advantage of this model is that 100% directly control the logistics activities of the company, manage the logistics providers (LSP), and prevent the leakage of core business information.
The disadvantage is the high cost. When the economy falls, it may be the burden of the company. It is suitable for businesses with smaller scale of logistics business, which do not rely on professional software for line optimization or management.
Two. Co management with the fourth party logistics supplier
In this mode, customers can not only retain control over logistics activities, but also get professional support from the fourth party logistics providers (4PL). With the help of transportation network optimization software or transportation management software, the transportation cost is saved.
Three. The management of the fourth party logistics supplier
Customers give LSP's choice and management authority to 4PL, and all the planning and operation are also handed over to 4PL. This model has been recognized in large multinational groups in Europe and America.
Implementation
How does the logistics control tower be implemented? Taking the last model as an example, the process of establishing 4PL control tower is a process of project management.
The implementation of the logistics control tower and the ERP project are similar, all are through the early research, the middle of the project implementation, the last line, and continuous optimization of some details.
The whole project implementation process takes 6-12 months. According to the actual situation of different industries and companies, the implementation time of the project will be different.
The concept of the logistics control tower is in the promotion stage in China, and the successful implementation of the project has begun to appear. These successful cases will be able to play a very active role in the wider application of the logistics control tower.
Original: Zhuo Hongyi
Source: Hirotake supply chain