Network Optimization Software for Successful Service Supply Chain
Best-in-class service organizations offer same day service level agreements (SLA’s) to meet expectations of customers using their products in mission critical environments. Often overlooked is the need to optimize the logistics network used to place service inventory within eight, four or even less delivery hours from the customer. While this seems simple on the surface, the complexity of analyzing drive times between a constantly changing list of customer service contracts and hundreds of stocking locations, often within a third party logistics provider (3PL) network, can leave basic questions unanswered.
- What percentage of your 4-hour SLA customers can have inventory delivered within four hours from a stocking node in your current network?
- Who are the customers that cannot be covered?
- Which locations are no longer required due to changes in your installed base?
- Where are new locations required to support changes in your installed base?
A successful service supply chain is built on an optimized network of sites capable of efficiently fulfilling customer demand. Baxter Planning offers logistics network optimization software engagement to help Prophet customers validate their current network and recommend changes by modeling the impact on customer coverage.
Find out for yourself how Baxter can optimize your service supply chain inventory.
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The Framework for Supply Chain Network Optimization with Prophet Software
Baxter’s Network Optimization consulting engagement is performed in 3 stages:
- Discovery: All supply chain network optimization projects begin with an in-depth review of the customer’s current network. Our Network Optimization Questionnaire helps Baxter experts understand your unique network, coverage agreements, current logistics costs, and specific network optimization goals.
- Modeling: The Baxter Consulting team takes findings from the discovery phase and utilizes Prophet’s powerful Network Modeling module to generate scenarios that explore the viability of different network structures. This often includes coordinating with your service part logistics provider to model available field stocking locations within the third party logistics (3PL) network. These network scenarios are customized depending on your organization’s goals, whether it is to evaluate potential locations to add, identify under-utilized locations to remove, or perform a regular validation of current network capabilities. These scenarios can be reviewed individually or Prophet’s Networking Modeling tool also includes functionality for comparison of multiple network configurations.
- Analysis: Baxter consultants facilitate the analysis of the modeled network scenarios by providing data supporting any recommended network changes as well as analytics detailing the impact on key operational metrics. This includes a map visual depicting stocking locations alongside customer install base both before and after modeling, a comprehensive list of any sites added or removed, and any change in customer coverage. The Baxter team will also provide analytics that enable the customer to understand the impact on key metrics such as change in inventory investment, improvement in projected service level, any impact to transportation costs, and savings in warehousing inventory costs.
Service Lifecycle Management with Proven Results
An optimized logistics network is the foundation on which a successful service supply chain is built. Baxter supply chain network optimization projects deliver visibility to network modifications before the changes are implemented which eliminates uncertainty on how changes to stocking locations will impact your organization’s ability to meet contract SLAs. Whether your goal is to scale your network or validate your current configuration, contact Baxter to learn how you can benefit from Network Optimization consulting to achieve supply chain excellence.
