Emerging hurdles in a complex supply chain environment
In recent years, global supply chain disruption has prompted organizations to closely examine their SCM practices. As a major life sciences player – with core competencies in pharmaceuticals, consumer healthcare, agro-chemicals, seeds, and biotechnology products – the company’s supply chains are enmeshed across the globe and require continuous monitoring to ensure that they operate with precision.
Within this complex ecosystem, the company’s radiology department was encountering significant hurdles in its monthly SCM reporting process, which involved:
- Manual extraction of data from SAP into Microsoft Excel
- Collecting information from multiple departments in various formats
- Validation of individual sources in terms of data integrity.
These challenges were resulting in reports that presented the data in an amorphous format with a complex structure. The data from each department was being entered into the master file as it was provided. The significant number of human touchpoints led to reporting challenges, including manual errors and outdated data, which led to reactive actions.
The resulting lack of real-time insights meant that the client could not institute an alert mechanism for potential disruptions – nor instantly identify the root causes of problems. Additionally, the reporting did not provide a means to determine cycle time or monitor the process flow from start to finish. Seeking to remediate these issues and optimize its SCM processes, the company decided to collaborate with Capgemini on a best-in-class reporting solution.
Designing new, healthier ways of reporting with ADMnext solutions
Utilizing ADMnext solutions, the Capgemini team embarked on developing an automated, real-time KPI dashboard designed to streamline the entire reporting process. KPIs were implemented to monitor SCM performance, including metrics such as on-time-shipments (OTS), inventory levels, days of supply, and value-added network (VAN) replenishment.
Furthermore, KPIs were introduced to track and eliminate waste throughout the supply chain, which encompassed blocked stock, write-offs, and more. Additionally, the Business Insightful Services (BIS) team introduced process mining capabilities for enhanced visibility, enabling swift identification of bottlenecks and processing delays.
Moving from a reactive to a proactive model
Built using Power BI and seamlessly linking to SAP, the solution has established a centralized data source and facilitates real-time data display. The implementation of configurable alerts allows for timely notifications to be delivered when specific thresholds are breached – enabling management to proactively address issues.
Filters included in the report empower users to conduct in-depth analysis of KPIs, while auto-generated insights significantly reduce the manual effort required for report generation. Additionally, to facilitate regular use of the data in decision-making, the multi-channel-capable dashboard can be easily accessed through various devices, including phones, tablets, and collaboration platforms such as Microsoft Teams.
“Digitalization is one of the key elements in the future success of our firm. With this new Global Radiology KPI Dashboard, based on the latest Power BI technology, we can slice and dice data directly in a comprehensive dashboard without needing to download the data into Excel and then do our data crunching exercises. The collaboration with Capgemini has been great!”
Client Radiology Department Head
As a result of its partnership with Capgemini, the company’s radiology department has thoroughly transformed its SCM reporting process. The automated dashboard not only provides deep insights and data visualization, but also enables agile decision-making and introduces a set of checks and balances to help reduce waste in the pipeline (blocked stock and write-offs, for example).
With real-time visibility into key metrics and the ability to identify bottlenecks promptly, the department is now empowered to optimize the entire supply chain, reduce waste, and drive operational efficiency.
Bringing healthy results to other business units
Moving forward, the company is looking to expand upon this success with Capgemini. Together with the Capgemini team, the client is analyzing the SCM processes of its other business units to identify additional opportunities for impactful transformation.