Blog – Page 2

Amine Lazrak

Business analyst

In a constantly evolving work environment, businesses face complex challenges that require a deep understanding of data, market trends, and customer needs. It is in this context that business analysts come into play, bringing the expertise and essential skills to navigate this dynamic environment.

In this article, we will take a closer look at why business analysts are so important for today’s businesses and how they can have a long-term impact on their success.

The business analyst plays a central role in understanding and optimizing operations. By working closely with internal and external stakeholders, they identify the organization’s needs, identify trends and opportunities, and propose solutions to improve processes and achieve business objectives.

Using their expertise in data analysis, they evaluate the company’s existing processes, identify weaknesses and inefficiencies, both in terms of data and processes, and propose improvements and solutions to optimize operations and increase efficiency.

A crucial aspect of their work is to document and prioritize stakeholder needs, ensuring that they are clear, achievable, and aligned with organizational goals, while considering project-specific requirements.

Communication is a key tool for the business analyst, enabling them to facilitate collaboration among different project stakeholders, including technical teams, managers, and decision-makers. They are capable of translating technical requirements into understandable terms for both non-technical and technical professionals, thereby fostering mutual understanding and informed decision-making.

Through their skills and techniques, business analysts have the power to drive transformation and influence decision-making. By leveraging the results of their analyses, they provide an overview of risks and consequences, thereby enlightening decision-makers and guiding them in implementing relevant actions.

In summary, the business analyst holds a key position within an organization, contributing not only to the success of initiatives but also to operational efficiency and the organization’s future. With their expertise and ability to understand the organization’s needs, business analysts play an essential role in optimizing operations and achieving strategic objectives.

If you would like to learn more about the subject, we invite you to contact our team of business analysts at [email protected]. We look forward to hearing from you!

The pressure on supply chains has greatly increased in recent years. The global COVID-19 pandemic and labor shortages have revealed the weaknesses of the system. Among these are outdated computer systems that have reached their capacity limits and management models that lack flexibility. The crisis has also highlighted the strategic role of procurement within business ecosystems, demonstrating that it is much more than just a transactional function.

Moreover, the organizations that have been most successful are those that had already initiated a digital transformation prior to the upheavals of recent years and adopted a more strategic approach to procurement. Access to real-time data, combined with a deep understanding of their sector and a network of key partners, has allowed them to respond to unforeseen events with resilience and agility.

To navigate the coming years, when economic instability and labor shortages will be major challenges, organizations will need to more than ever turn to strategic procurement.

Download our white book on strategic procurement !

It is designed to help you optimize your work organization, reduce costs and risks, and enhance your organization’s competitiveness in the market.

Every year, many companies are created around the world with the aim of solving the problems and challenges that the society is facing. Let’s just think of Elon Musk’s company, Tesla. Its mission to “accelerate the advent of sustainable transport” takes aim at a great challenge faced by countries all around the world consisting in transitioning to a carbon-free society.

Ironically, these companies themselves are subject to many challenges and problems such as poor communication, incorrect billing, unfilled shifts, etc.

Fortunately, thanks to the technology, there are many software able to help businesses in their day-to-day operations. As an example, communication wise, video conferencing software like Teams or Zoom have paved the way for remote work, allowing employees to continue working from home. A relatively recent phenomenon that was not very common just a few years ago.

Have you ever tlost a contract due to an oversight? Have you ever missed an important appointment with a client?

If so, you will surely want to keep reading. Through this blog, we will be exploring in more detail Customer Relationship Management software (CRM). Specifically, what it is, what are the benefits for your business and how Conseil 2.0 can help!

Concretely, what is a CRM?

According to Salesforce, a customer relationship management is a “technology for managing all your company’s relationships and interactions with customers and potential customers.” A CRM is interesting from a marketing point of view, by being a great asset during a targeted advertising campaign, as well as from a sales perspective, by making it easy to follow prospects to convert potential customers into actual clients.

There is a wide range of functionality offered by CRM software, including the tracking of new leads, the source of these leads, the number of contracts won and lost, revenue growth, etc. To better understand, below is an example of a CRM dashboard:

We can rapidly see that the dashboard presents all the necessary information that the sales’ team is looking for. It can be the name of the salesman responsible for a new lead, the number of contracts closed, or even, the projected revenues for the next quarter and those to come.

There are many CRM systems. According to Zoho, we can subdivide CRMs into 4 categories.

The first category is on-premises CRM. This type of customer relationship management software implies that the architecture is done in-house in an internal server. Being more secure and safe, let’s keep in mind that we need to take in charge all expenses and workload related to maintenance and updates.

The second category is cloud-based CRM. This type of CRM allows you to access your data from any browser, as well as supporting system maintenance and updates. However, a company choosing a cloud-based CRM is linked in a business relationship with the solution provider, losing some flexibility and control along the way. Moreover, we need to keep in mind the cost related to access management and software licenses.

The third category is industry-specific CRM. This type of CRM is specialized in a certain industry. For example, some customer relationship management software is more focused on the hospitality industry, like Revinate, which integrates with online reputation applications such as TripAdvisor, while other CRMs are more focused on e-commerce, like Pipedrive, which allows the creation of advertising campaigns via emails.

The fourth category is all-in-one CRM. This type of CRM has the particularity to be highly personalized, to have lots of functionality and to integrate easily with other business software.

Also, let’s add that an important aspect to keep in mind when selecting a CRM is the ability of the software to be easily integrated with other ERP systems or modules. This will allow for an integrated flow of information from start to finish – from a potential customer’s led to the billing by accounting.

What is the utility of a customer relationship management software?

A CRM provides many advantages to its users. According to a survey conducted by Salesforce based on 3,384 clients selected randomly, benefits have been detected in 5 major categories: sales, marketing, customer service, digital commerce, and information technology. In particular, the customers surveyed saw the conversion of leads into contracts increase by 30%, customer satisfaction increase by 30%, online revenues increase by 15%, all that while costs related to information technology decrease by 26%.

To continue, Zoho also lists some benefits of using its CRM. One of them is a better data organization, given the fact that all the data is centralized in one database accessible to all. That way, we avoid working in silos, and communication between the different departments is improved. Also, having at your disposal a CRM allows you to better manage your communication flows with your customers. For example, it is possible to schedule reminders to ensure that the follow-up is carried out, or to create email templates.

Let’s use a fictitious example to better understand the function of a CRM. Victoria, a salesperson, works for an appliances company. She was in contact with potential clients. However, she had to leave the office for a few months, recently giving birth to a young boy. When transferring its customers to other sales representatives, some of them were lost or forgotten, due to flaws in the process. On the other hand, if the company had a CRM in its possession, all of Victoria’s clients could have been easily transferred to other sales representatives without any hassle, due to the centralized database. Moreover, her colleagues could have been notified and reminded, using an automated message, to execute the follow-up.

Conseil 2.0 is there to answer all your CRM needs

Several companies offer their own customer relationship management software, such as Salesforce, Zoho, HubSpot, etc. According to Gartner, there is more than 1,000 CRM software available on the market today. It quickly becomes extremely difficult to navigate throughout all these options. Therefore, implementing a CRM in your company is not an easy task. That is why you should surround yourself with experts. Indeed, they will allow you, among other things, to avoid costly errors.

At Conseil 2.0, the methodology of implementing a new IT system is usually done in 3 phases. The first one consists of defining the specific needs of each client. To do so, a diagnosis of the client’s current processes is carried out as well as an assessment of its needs. The second phase is the software’s evaluation. In this phase Conseil 2.0 takes in charge the selection process of the suppliers, each one offering different solutions at different prices. The third phase consists of identifying the best solution from the selected provider’s list, considering the specific needs of each client, as well as implementing the winning solution.

In short, this article was about customer relationship management software (CRM). Concretely, what is a CRM and what is it the purpose? Also, we have explained how Conseil 2.0 can help you throughout the entire process of implementing a CRM. For any questions related to your CRM needs, do not hesitate to contact the Conseil 2.0 teams who will be more than happy to answer them!

Dashboards

Dashboards are crucial tools for companies who are willing to efficiently keep track of their performance and to ensure that they are taking informed decisions. In fact, they allow organizations to follow their key performance indicators and to identify problems as soon as they appear in order to apply the necessary corrective measures. This enables companies to be proactive and to mitigate the negative effects of the problems that arise. For example, because of data visualization, a company could observe a decrease in the sales of a specific product. They could then enable the thinking process aimed at understanding the causes of this phenomenon and at brainstorming what actions could be put in place to resolve the problem and increase the sales again.

Dashboards can be used to illustrate very specific data in certain departments of a company, but they also allow a global insight of an organization’s performance. Company leaders can consult these dashboards when making their executive decisions that will affect the current or future state of the company. After all, it is not certain that a decision made without consulting the organizational data will be beneficial. It could be positive, but it is like taking a blind decision.

Benefits of dashboards

There are numerous benefits to using dashboards since they enable companies to perform well in all their fields of activity. The major advantages of the tool are presented below.

Customizable

Dashboards are customizable and adaptable to each organization and their departments’ specific needs, which can differ greatly from one to another. The key data to display and the visualization mode can be very different depending on what is most adapted to the specific needs. It is perfectly normal for all dashboards to be completely different, even within the same company. For example, the dashboard used by the production team will certainly differ from the demand planning team’s dashboard since their key performance indicators vary. The production department would want to visualize data such as production rate, quality standards, production volume, etc. whereas the demand planning department would see value in displaying the sales trends, the historical data, the inventory levels, etc.

Minimize data manipulation

Most companies require a frequent creation of different reports in the majority of their departments. This often requires manual data manipulation to adapt the appropriate layout needed to present the data visually, which requires a lot of precious time. Dashboard creation tools such as “PowerBI” enable reports to be generated automatically, thus meaning that recurrent data manipulation is not necessary. Employees can therefore spend more time on activities that bring added value to the organization.

Easy to use and to understand

The variety and the volume of data present in a company can be overwhelming. A dashboard therefore allows data to be well organized to represent the data in the best way possible. The goal is to identify the information that must be displayed in the dashboard and to illustrate it in a concise manner. It is also very easy to use the tool and to draw relevant conclusions when they are well constructed. Different users can also apply different filters to visualize only the data that is pertinent to them.

Allow the follow-up of key performance indicators

Dashboards greatly increase the visibility of a company on its performance in all of its fields of activity and ease decision-making. In fact, in absence of a dashboard, some important measures could be left out of an analysis and therefore not considered. This could result in the wrong decisions being made by employees or business leaders who could have long-term consequences on the organizations. When dashboards are created, they are thought through by experts who identify the key performance indicators that should be followed to ensure the success of the company. In addition, experts also determine the best way to illustrate the data so that it is representative of the reality and so that it provides insight.

Key performance indicators that are followed on a regular basis enable companies to adapt to their current situations and to be more agile. Each department should have their own measures that support them in decision-making and in the identification of problems. Appropriate actions can therefore be made quickly in order to increase the success of the key performance indicators, thus increasing the success of the company or the department.

For example, the procurement team could use a dashboard to flag when certain orders must be placed for certain parts and in what quantity. Their dashboard should contain different aspects such as the current inventory level, the production forecast, the delivery delays, the delivery costs according to volume and much more. The data presented in the tool thus allow employees to make informed decisions that minimize storage and transport costs and that avoid back orders.

On another note, business leaders can use dashboards to target problems and opportunities easily. For example, they can identify what products are most popular and can use some of their characteristics to design new products that will also be appreciated by customers. This is done in the goal of increasing sales and profits. On the contrary, they can also target what products are performing poorly and decide to modify or to discontinue them. These are only two of the numerous examples of how dashboards can be used in a company.

Shareable

Data sharing and communication is crucial for the success of a business. It is therefore important that all the people involved have access to the dashboards in “real-time”. This is in fact one of the major advantages of the tool: they can be consulted by many different people simultaneously and they greatly ease data sharing. Dashboards can also be visited from web services, from a cellphone, a tablet, a computer, etc. This therefore minimizes excessive communications between people on other platforms such as e-mail.

Conseil 2.0’s Expertise

The consultants working at Conseil 2.0 have a lot of experience with dashboard creation and will certainly be qualified to help you elaborate a solution that best suits your needs. Power BI is one of the most popular tools used to create dashboards on the market, but many other options such as Domo, Dundas BI, Toucan etc. also exist. No matter what tool you wish to use, Conseil 2.0 can certainly help you. Choosing them as a partner will enable you to :

Target your needs

The first step in all projects with a business is to understand its needs in order to create a final solution that will meet those specific needs. Conseil 2.0 listens to their clients attentively in order to understand their reality, which varies greatly from one organization to another. Having worked with many clients in the past, the business has a good knowledge of the best practices to apply in a company to optimize results.

Target key performance indicators

The specific needs of each organization determine what key performance indicators should be used in dashboards. Conseil 2.0 will be able to accompany you well by analyzing your processes and by making recommendations regarding what data should be illustrated in your reports, as well as how to illustrate them. The relationship between Conseil 2.0 and its clients is based on collaboration, allowing them to maximize the performance and the relevancy of dashboards created.

Construct the dashboards

Conseil 2.0’s consultants will be able to help you construct dashboards that are adapted to your needs based on the analyses and recommendations made prior. The dashboards will allow you to quickly visualize the data that is most important to the success of your business.

Update existing dashboards

Some organizations already have dashboards, but they are not always up to date or maintained for different reasons. For example, the employee that created the dashboard could have left the company, the dashboards could have been created externally, the company could lack the resources needed to keep them updated, etc. Conseil 2.0 can therefore take these existing dashboards, update them, and adapt them to your current needs.

Finally, data visualization has numerous benefits for a company since it allows it to follow their key performance indicators quickly and easily. Business leaders can therefore have insight on the health of their organization in only a couple “clicks”. Do not hesitate to contact us if data visualization and dashboard creation interests you.

Due to the quantity of back orders in many sectors, consumer habits have significatively changed. Unavailability of certain products pushed consumers to buy alternative products and brands, which enabled them to discover other available options. The question is will they continue to buy these products and brands in the future, or will they go back to their old habits?

Consumer behavior will certainly be very different according to the sales sector, especially when considering the important price increases that affect buying trends. For example, for the food and beverages industry, buying habits might remain mainly unchanged, whereas the purchase of clothing, and sporting goods, etc. might evolve very quickly according to the needs and financial situation of each family. It is therefore extremely important for retail companies to monitor any changes in their clients’ purchasing habits, in order to react very quickly, in a way that will be beneficial to companies.

Digitalizing Purchasing Processes

These past years have propelled us towards a fast acceleration in online sales, thus adding an important challenge to companies that were not prepared for this phenomenon. Digitalizing purchasing processes represents an advantage for all companies, it simplifies tracking of their clients’ purchases. Diligent monitoring of their website activity can help them understand the evolution of the demand, thus enabling them to place the necessary orders with their suppliers in order to meet their demand.

One thing is for certain, it is never too late to review tools and processes. Companies need to have the right tools and efficient processes in place to meet their specific needs. This is important in order to manage and plan demand accordingly and place orders months in advance, as requested by many suppliers. Several tools using artificial intelligence and machine learning are available on the market and are gaining in performance and popularity. Companies that are willing to improve their demand planning and maximize their profitability might have an interest in them. In addition, a study conducted by Gartner demonstrated that machine learning is most used for demand planning, in the whole supply chain.

Reviewing Processes for Better Agility

Changes, disruptions, challenges, and unexpected events have occurred in all organizations since 2020, increasing the need to perform complete efficiency audits of all processes. In fact, what we are realizing is that many companies are not ready to adapt to the new reality they are facing. Process improvements can allow companies to target the best tools suited for them, in order to be as efficient as possible. The goal is to increase the organizations’ agility and proactivity to exceed their clients’ needs, a target that all retail companies should thrive to achieve in 2022. In fact, according to Gartner, 96% of retail companies plan to invest to make their supply chain more agile in 2022, while 90% want them to become more resilient. Counter to what many organizations might imagine, a return to your old « pre-pandemic » habits is neither realistic, nor desirable. What better time to bring your company back on the right track?

C2.0 analyzes and implements tangible solutions that have an impact on the entire supply chain. We support you in sourcing, organizing public and private tenders, selecting and managing suppliers, improving your Procure to Pay (P2P) process, optimizing your strategic purchasing, inventory, and implementing purchasing policies and procedures.

The business world is always evolving. For instance, we can think about e-mails taking over the fax machine, or about online shopping (e-commerce) taking away sales from brick-and-mortar businesses. All these changes in the business environment affect companies in various ways. In this article, we will dive deeper into business processes. What exactly is it? Why is it important to understand them and review them from time to time?

A simple definition

In its 2015 update of the ISO 9000 norm, the international organization defines a process as a set of activities correlated, or interacting with each other, using inputs to produce a desire result. In other words, a business performs a set of activities, using various inputs (resources, data, etc.) to create an output. One can understand that for an activity to be considered efficient, said activity needs to be reaching the final desired output while requiring the least number of manual interactions to do so. Basically, do more with less. Otherwise, it is nothing less than a waste of resources, money and time.

“Basically, do more with less”

What brings companies to review their processes

There are several reasons why companies review their processes. The first type of reasons is from an internal perspective. On one hand, it can be due to the rapid growth of the company. Indeed, growing rapidly can force businesses to review their processes in order to standardize their working method, for numerous factors. For example, it is common for a company to face some challenges following a certain point in their growth. Due to his success, the company simply does not have the capacity necessary to fulfill the demand level. In this case, automating some processes may prove to be a must, if not essential. Some examples of processes include ordering, accounting, billing, etc. On the other hand, reviewing processes can be an exercise performed on a periodic basis by a business to identify and take care of less efficient processes. That way, we aim to increase the competitiveness of the company compared to the competition.

Also, there are other reasons, this time from an external perspective, that force businesses to review their processes. It can come from various sources. In the current situation, we can easily think about the Covid-19. Indeed, the pandemic forced many restaurants to review their operations. For example, online orders replaced the dining experience. Moreover, recently, the talent shortage is giving a hard time to companies. Again, to address this shortage of workers, some industries have had to revise and automate their processes in order to be able to meet demand, simply not having the required capacity in terms of staff to cope with this level of demand.

A simplified example to better understand the scope of review processing

To better understand the issue, let’s take the fictional case of Andrew, CEO of an outdoor store chain counting a dozen stores in the province of Quebec. Before the pandemic, in 2019, Andrew operated as follow to ensure that articles were available in its stores:

However, due to the lockdowns and the reluctance of his customers more at risk of catching the virus to set foot in his stores, André had to adapt and start selling his products online. Thus, since then, its process flow of goods in inventory is as follows:

Looking at the inventory management process, we can see that it changes completely. Indeed, before, the operational activities were focused on a centralized warehouse shipping products to stores based on their inventory level and needs. When an item was going to be out of stock, a request was sent to the centralized warehouse and a truck was responsible to deliver those items at the store needing them to replenish the shelves.

In the case of the e-commerce, there is only a distribution center responsible to keep the products in inventory as well as fulfill the client’s orders. Thus, the products are not delivered to the different stores, but directly at the client’s desired address. Observation: the last-mile delivery is completely changed. Instead of delivering at the different stores, we need to be able to provide a delivery service to all the area we are deserving. And we have not mentioned a word about reverse logistics…

Therefore, after review of the inventory and logistic processes, where a diagnosis of the current situation was done prior, we can offer some solutions. In this case, the implementation of a warehouse management system (WMS) and/or a transportation management system (TMS) could prove to be a good initiative, cost reduction wise. Indeed, these systems would reduce inventory losses and provide the best routes for last-mile delivery.

”These systems would reduce inventory losses and provide the best routes for last-mile delivery.”

Conseil 2.0, a great ally!

In short, business processes need to be reviewed and updated due to the changing environment of the business world. This can be due to internal or external factors, such as the rapid growth of a company or the labour shortage. Review processes can be complex, and it is better to be well accompanied by a team of expert to carry out a project of this kind. This is where all the know-how of Conseil 2.0 comes in handy. We have completed dozens of process review projects. For any additional information, feel free to get in touch with us!

The on-going disruptions currently being felt throughout the global supply chain are prompting more and more companies to speed up their digital transition. In response, Talsom has decided to strategically invest in a company of supply chain experts called Conseil 2.0, to better assist its clients in their transformation.

In an open letter published on the day of UNGA’s General Debate in New York, IATA, the International Air Transport Association, whose member airlines account for 82% of global air traffic, ICS, the International Chamber of Shipping, whose members account for 80% of the world merchant shipping fleet, IRU, the International Road Transport Union and ITF, the International Transport Workers’ Federation, warned that “supply chains have been severely impacted” as a result of restrictions imposed on global logistics. This concern is shared and noted by a large majority of business leaders, for whom supply chain disruptions are now the third biggest obstacle to business growth.

Corporate profits are coming under pressure, and this is prompting companies to think about downsizing their entire supply chain and focus more on local suppliers, thereby addressing some of the uncertainty caused by trade wars, labour and regulatory issues, transportation costs and infrastructure resilience in remote countries. Companies that want to decentralize and become more agile should be using predictive rather than historical data, and increasingly make use of AI to leverage large data sets.

Furthermore, climate change issues support this need to approach supply chains differently. Indeed, it is important to understand that the eight largest global supply chains – food, construction, fashion, electronics, consumer products, automotive, professional services and freight transportation – account for more than 50% of GHG emissions. Companies must move quickly to make their business models more efficient and sustainable and integrate digital technologies that will enable them to better understand their vulnerability and potential losses if they do nothing. Therefore investing in Conseil 2.0, a company that specializes in optimizing supply chains, is a strategic move for Talsom as it enables us to offer our clients increasingly relevant support.

Another advantage of this partnership between Conseil 2.0 and Talsom is that it represents a natural outcome of two firms that have already been working together for some time on several common clients. A synergy that values the expertise around the supply chain, including the positioning of inventories in a network, distribution networks and transportation, all within a more global approach of digital transformation. According to a Leger survey commissioned by Talsom, there is still room for companies to further leverage digital technology, as 40% of them feel they are not making optimal use of technology in their operations, with that percentage climbing to 44% in terms of production. Aligning technology with their strategy or business model is a barrier for 53% of businesses, and even the main barrier for 24% of them. And yet, being able to simulate supply chain performance, to identify those customers and consumers likely to be affected by disruptions, would enable them to align their order fulfillment strategies with their customers’ actual needs, while significantly reduce GHG emissions.

If you are interested in learning more about this service, contact us.

In the article about Logistics Network Modelling, we went through why and how to create a baseline. One of the most important points was to reflect as much as possible the current state of the network in order to improve it.

But first of all, what are you trying to optimize? The goal is usually to reduce the costs and/or improve the service level, but what levers can you activate? Do you want to modify your current footprint? Upgrade your fleet? Evaluate different transport modes? Review your inventory policies? All of the above?

Network optimization can happen at various levels. The Supply Chain Guru software (presented in the previous article on network modelling) is a powerful tool to do so. It allows the user to work on 3 topics, simultaneously or separately: Network, Production, and Inventory.

Network Optimization

By network optimization, we understand the optimization of nodes and flows. This means we will be able to modify:

The size and location of warehouses or production facilities
Fleet capacity, transport modes and flow consolidation

At C2.0, optimal location of warehouses is usually the first step for every network optimization project. This step is known as “Greenfield” analysis.

Greenfield Analysis

A Greenfield analysis aims at defining the ideal location for your distribution centres, by identifying the centres of gravity of your network.

We start from scratch, excluding the current nodes. By keeping other parameters such as customer orders and transport modes, Supply Chain Guru computes the ideal location of your warehouses. We can therefore overlay the result of the Greenfield analysis with your current network and validate if the warehouses are located at the same places or not.

In other words, the Greenfield analysis allows us to compare your current network versus an ideal situation. To compute centres of gravity, Supply Chain Guru minimizes the weighted average distance to customers (i.e., minimizes transportation costs).

We can take it even further. It is possible to keep the actual number of warehouses and see what the ideal locations would be for new warehouses. Let’s take the following example :

Company XYZ has clients all across Canada (in blue), a manufacturing centre (in red) and three warehouses (in green). The manufacturing centre does not act as a distribution centre in this model.

Let’s now assume that you decide to add two new distribution centres… You just need to specify that to Supply Chain Guru and run the Greenfield analysis. Supply Chain Guru will find the two ideal locations for your next warehouses, based on customer orders and existing locations (distances are calculated using the longitude and latitude).

Now that we have two new locations, what do we do with this information?

First of all, check that these two new locations make sense. Are the warehouses in an accessible area? Will there be enough qualified labour in the vicinity?

Once validated, you can add these two warehouses to your network, give them an inventory policy, maximum capacity, fixed and variable costs, etc. and run a new scenario to understand the full picture of your new network.

Warehouse location based on service level

We saw that with the Greenfield analysis we can minimize the weighted average distance between warehouses and customers.

Another approach would be to minimize the locations that would ensure a maximum service level within a certain range.

Let’s assume that a truck can go for 700 km in a day. You wish to find the ideal locations for your warehouse that maximizes the number of clients in a day.

This constraint can be modelled in Supply Chain Guru.

In this case, the weighted average distance is not optimized and will be higher than compared to a Greenfield analysis. However, you will ensure that your clients will benefit from a service level in accordance with your company standards.

In the end, it is all about defining your key success factors to come to decide on the best solution. C2.0 is by your side during this step, as we understand it is as important as the modelling stage.

Flow optimization

Flow optimization is the second step when looking at improving your current network.

Here, we will consider that the nodes are defined in advance and cannot be modified. This is usually the case when one uses ports or airport infrastructure on which we usually have very limited control or simply when you cannot or do not to modify the current locations of your warehouses.

Starting from the baseline, we will consider several improvements to bring to the model. It can be done in various ways, including:

Deleting historical constraints
Considering new flows
Adding new transport modes

Deleting historical constraints

Historical constraints are defined in the baseline (see the article how to model your logistics network) to reflect reality.

A common situation is when you delete historical flows from warehouses to customers, either to let the system decide on the best flows to achieve or because a new warehouse, closer to customers, was recently made available.

For example, a distribution centre in Germany ships electronic devices to malls in Portugal. This company has been working like this for years but recently acquired a new facility in Spain.

With the baseline, the model can only use the flow Germany – Portugal. This flow will have to be deleted as you would like to let the model use the Germany – Spain and Spain – Portuguese corridors (using for instance FTL shipments from Germany to Spain and LTL shipments from Spain to Portugal).

Considering New Flows

In the optimization module, you can indicate that you want to create additional flows (which is also what we should do in the previous example). It is not about forcing the software to use a specific lane, but rather let him decide if it is beneficial to use one that was not available before.

If the lanes bring savings and meet the target, then they will be used. If not, then we will see quickly in the outputs that no volume goes through them.

New Flows Example

Let’s take the example of two subsidiaries of a company, one based in England and the other one in France. The two companies export goods to the American market, respectively from the ports of Southampton and Le Havre. We could look at the possibility of consolidating these two flows between the two ports. Are the rates, volumes and destinations different? Based on these elements, the software will propose its optimal solution. It is then up to us to validate if it is worth implementing it or not.

Production Optimization

Although Supply Chian Guru is not software dedicated to production, it can still model some parameters that you would like to consider.

Adding production aspect increases greatly the model complexity. Thus, the first is to determine whether you want to add it to your network model or not.

If your primary objective is the distribution of goods from your warehouses to your clients, then it not necessary to include production.

However, if warehouse selection and outbound flows depend on an optimized production between the different manufacturing centres, then yes, you should consider it.

How to know which manufacturing centre should produce which product based on:

Fixed and variable costs
Warehouse storage capacity
Customer orders

You must gather these data sets to model your production capacities. The level of detail to go into must be defined in advance. C2.0 acts as a partner to support you during this phase. Together, we look at your production and answer various questions such as

How many products should we consider?
At which product level, should we stop?
Which level of the Bill of Material is the correct one to model?
Should we model production work centres?
Which costs are fixed or variable?

The optimization will then depend on various factors on which you can influence. For example, increasing the number of shifts within the factory, work centre automation, etc. These factors are taken into account through various scenarios in Supply Chain Guru. The results of the analysis are expressed in terms of fixed and variable costs as well as capacity. It is up to us to compare these different scenarios and select the most profitable one.

Inventory optimization

Logistics network optimization can be achieved by modifying different parameters. A tool such as Supply Chain Guru allows you to act at various levels of granularity, from adding facilities and flows to truck speed, fuel surcharges, taxes or even greenhouse gas emissions.

In any case, each optimization scenario must be analyzed to understand the impacts in terms of costs for your company. Supply Chian Guru allows you to visualize the results at various levels in accordance with what has been modelled.

Total costs
Expected benefits
Transport, production, and inventory costs

But it is up to us, supply chain professionals, to analyze the results and pick the best scenario for our company.

To accomplish this, C2.0 acts as your partner and together we build the key success factors to define your future network. Discussions between all the stakeholders of the network are paramount for optimization projects, and it is through an efficient teamwork that we will meet your targets.

Conclusion

Total costs
Expected benefits
Transport, production, and inventory costs

But it is up to us, supply chain professionals, to analyze the results and pick the best scenario for our company.

C2.0 is an official partner of Coupa. Do not hesitate to reach out to us if you wish to learn more about Supply Chain Guru or for any project about network optimization, we will gladly accompany you in your upcoming challenges.

Have you ever tried to reduce the costs of your logistics network? Have you ever wondered if it’s optimal? Are the nodes of your network in the right places?

Often not associated with the core business of the company, logistics and distribution aspects are frequently put on the back burner and end up being a significant cost source.

Logistics is a substantial lever for improving a company’s competitiveness. Several options are possible, such as inventory management, warehouse automation, and, what interests us in this article, optimizing the logistics network.

Companies sometimes have dozens of warehouses, hundreds of customers, and thousands of products. What’s the best combination? How do you find the optimal network that minimizes logistics network costs? The human brain can’t answer such a complex question, so specific software needs to be employed. In this article, Conseil 2.0 presents its methodology to address these challenges. It is based on both industry expertise and the use of network modeling software, Supply Chain Guru.

Supply Chain Guru (SCG) is a tool that enables the modeling of the logistics network and provides optimizations to find the best model for your business. We will present the main features offered by SCG in two parts:

Modeling the reference network, or baseline
Network optimization

Modeling the baseline: a crucial step for any network optimization project

The more advanced a project is, the more costly modifications become. The same applies in our case. It is essential to model the baseline before proceeding to the next steps. Otherwise, the results of future optimizations will not be usable.

Baseline: Why and When to Build It?

Why

There are three main reasons why it is imperative to build a baseline before any network optimization project. The baseline aims to:

1.Verify that the model is consistent with the company’s data:
– Are the flows correctly represented?
– Are the modeled costs consistent with the financial data?

2. Serve as a starting point for future modeling.

3. Act as a reference point for comparing proposed scenarios:
– How do my transportation costs and warehouse costs evolve?
– How does my service level evolve?

When

A properly defined baseline ensures that we are moving in the right direction. It should be built:

– After the collection and validation of data
– Before constructing future scenarios

The collection and validation of input data is a fundamental step, though often overlooked. There is a common tendency to assume that our data is immediately available and usable. However, as we will see later, it is usually not enough to simply extract data from the ERP, gather a few Excel files, and load them into the software.

Depending on the complexity of the network, it generally takes between 3 to 5 weeks to collect the data, and another 3 to 5 weeks to build the model. Attempting to shorten this time may lead to higher costs during future optimizations.

Dats collection

The data required for building a baseline can be categorized into several groups, depending on the complexity of the optimization project. Generally, the data to be collected includes:

1. Products:
– Typology
– Weight
– Volume
– Price
– Other relevant attributes

2. Sites:
– Locations of customers
– Distribution centers
– Production sites
– Size and capacity of these sites

3. Financial Data:
– Operating costs of distribution centers
– Transportation costs
– Customer orders
– Other financial metrics

4. Inventories:
– ABC classification
– Inventory levels
– Safety stock levels

Depending on the project and the desired complexity, additional data may be collected, such as:

– Type of fleet
– Availability by distribution center
– Other pertinent details

Fundamental Steps in Data Collection

For each project, Conseil 2.0 adheres to four fundamental steps during data collection:

1. Identification:
– Determine what data is necessary for the project.
– Identify sources for each type of data.

2. Extraction:
– Gather data from ERP systems, Excel files, and other sources.
– Ensure data extraction methods are consistent and thorough.

3. Validation:
– Verify the accuracy and completeness of the collected data.
– Cross-reference data with financial reports and operational records.

4. Consolidation:
– Compile and organize data into a coherent structure.
– Ensure data is ready for modeling and analysis.

By following these steps, Conseil 2.0 ensures that the data collection process is robust and reliable, providing a solid foundation for effective network optimization.

1. Verify that all required data has been provided

The amount of data is often substantial, and it’s easy to overlook some. It’s recommended to regularly track the status of data collection.

2. Ensure the integrity of the data

Before modeling the baseline, it’s imperative to analyze the data to assess its usability. Due to various reasons such as different IT systems, specific local requirements, etc., data from different sites may have different nomenclatures and formats, lack coherence, contain erroneous information, and some data may also be missing.

3. Clean the data

Based on the analysis that has been conducted, one can then decide to add data, exclude some (carefully anticipating the impacts), or make assumptions to address shortcomings (which must be documented).

Here are some common issues encountered during data analysis and cleaning:

– Duplicate data
– Inconsistent nomenclature
– Variations in information granularity across different sites
– Multiple and inconsistent sources of information
– Mixing of inter-warehouse transactions and customer orders

4. Validate the data with stakeholders

The stakeholders who will validate the project should be involved from the outset to avoid surprises. Do they recognize their data? Are they in agreement with the assumptions that may have been made?

It can’t be emphasized enough. Data collection is as lengthy as it is crucial for the rest of the project. Neglecting it jeopardizes all future analyses.

Documenting the constraints

SCG operates on the principle of moving towards an optimal model. Constraints are used to reflect reality, such as business decisions, preferences to work with a specific supplier, fleet limitations, driver hours per day, etc. Constraints can, among other things:

– Be based on min/max values
– Involve volume or weight capacities, costs, time periods, or flows

SCG utilizes constraint tables so that the user can input them (flows, inventory, production, sites).

Building the baseline

Building the baseline begins by creating a new database where all collected data (from ERP, WMS, reports, etc.) is consolidated. These data, primarily historical orders, transportation, production or procurement records, and product characteristics, enable the filling of the six required elements to model the network:

– Products
– Sites
– Demand
– Policies for:
– Transportation
– Procurement
– Inventory

Note that inventory and procurement rules can be omitted if only modeling distribution center-to-customer transportation, for example. Similarly, if production is a key element of your network, it’s also possible to model production policies.

Model validation

It’s crucial to choose the right performance indicators, which should be done simultaneously with data collection. It’s necessary to verify the results of the baseline to ensure its compliance with reality. For example, if we know that warehouse XYZ delivered 97,000 tons of goods during the fiscal year, but the model indicates 98,000 tons.

Is this discrepancy acceptable?
What is our tolerance threshold?
How does this discrepancy compare to the tonnage of other warehouses, such as ABC and JKL? Is it negligible?
What effort is required to refine the model?

The model will never be 100% accurate. The question to answer is at what point can we consider the model satisfactory? This question depends on each project and must be addressed on a case-by-case basis.

During model validation, Conseil 2.0 collaborates with the client team to ensure satisfaction on both sides and achieve the first major milestone of the project.

The road to optimization and simulation

Now that we have built the baseline and the stakeholders have validated it, we can proceed to optimize the baseline and run scenarios, such as adding or removing warehouses, implementing cross-docking, consolidating flows, etc.

If the baseline is correctly established, these scenarios are relatively simple to model. Teams can then spend more time analyzing the results and thus maximize the time spent on value-added tasks.

Conseil 2.0 is an official partner of Coupa, the publisher of Supply Chain Guru. Feel free to contact us if you would like to learn more about our methodology or for any project related to optimizing your network. We would be delighted to assist you with your challenges.

Have you ever wondered about the relevance of a software such as a TMS (Transport Management System) in your company? Indeed, these various software allow you to optimize your delivery routes and thus minimize driving time or distance traveled while taking into account your physical and time constraints. Here are 6 questions to answer to determine if you need a TMS.

1. Are you currently able to identify the impacts of adding express orders to your daily deliveries?

What may seem like a minor impact may be a “domino effect” on all your remaining deliveries for the day. It is possible to see an overview of these impacts in some TMS solutions and make a more informed decision about adding express orders to daily deliveries. This type of observation is very important to take into consideration when building routes. Indeed, it is sometimes more beneficial for a company to ship the express order the next day, rather than forcing a shipment into one of your ready-to-go trucks.

2. Are you currently able to track your vehicles?

TMS software solution offer the possibility to track the route of vehicles. In case of a problem, this tool allows you to easily detect the location of your truck. Finally, you can even study the routes taken by your drivers to determine if they really took the shortest routes for their travel.

Real Time Dispatch & Tracking

Detailed route progress review

3. Are your trucks currently running at full capacity?

Sending trucks at 75% or even 50% of their capacity is a considerable loss for your company. In fact, it is preferable, as much as possible, to use as few trucks as possible to make your shipments. This allows for a much better return on vehicle costs, as well as indirect gains by reducing the number of employees required for the task. In the case where the volume of demand is lower, we recommend assigning drivers to related tasks and making deliveries only when demand is higher.

C2.0 can do a preliminary study to identify the average capacity of your trucks when they leave for your customers. This allows you to evaluate your efficiency in terms of deliveries and to determine the threshold in order to identify the potential gains in productivity if the ratio is increased.

4. How do you currently build your delivery routes

It is interesting to have a team dedicated to the current road creation process. However, this workload converted into hours can be enormous and is not always the most optimal way to build delivery routes. We recommend that you compare your operating time costs versus the acquisition of a TMS, as you may be surprised at the return on investment of such a purchase. Furthermore, there are accessible solutions on the market that meet the needs of all sizes of businesses.

5. What is the average delivery cost per order?

The average delivery cost per order is an important performance indicator for your distribution department. Indeed, a low average cost means that your trucks and routes are optimized. This allows you to gain a better profit margin on sales and to be more aggressive in the market by offering lower prices.

Thanks to the preliminary study discussed in the previous point, it is also possible to determine your current average delivery cost. This metric is based on your operating costs and the capacity used by your trucks. Once these values are defined, it is easy to estimate the potential gains from an optimization of your trucks.

6. What is the satisfaction rate of your customers (internal and external) with your deliveries

The TMS software solution is not really a tool to manage customer satisfaction, but there are modules, specific to certain solutions, which can considerably improve customer satisfaction. Indeed, this module allows to have an automatic communication to the customers. It is therefore possible for the software to send a text message or an email (based on the GPS information of the truck) announcing the arrival of the goods. In addition, if something unexpected happens on the road and the truck is likely to arrive outside the time slots planned for the customer, it is possible to notify the customer automatically.

Key takeaways

Here are three important things to keep in mind if you are considering implementing a TMS system in your company.

At C2.0, we have helped several companies structure their transportation and distribution operations. We are there to support the client at all levels of the TMS integration process. From the identification of solutions relevant to their needs, to the integration of the system into the company. Our expertise extends to several solutions such as:

Do not hesitate to contact us to discuss your needs!