The Secret to Success is Synchronization
Your supply chain is a robust operation with numerous moving parts. The data within your ERP speaks to the data in your WMS, TMS, and LMS. Synchronization occurs when all your processes and systems are in agreement.
When the warehouse floor employee reports a shortage of inventory and everyone understands the situation – you’re in sync. Remedial action kicks in and fast, backup inventory is sourced from another distribution center and no one on the receiving end knows a shortage occurred.
The trouble is not all supply chains agree on data. Clients, when not connected with the right implementation partner, get onboarded with incorrect rates because the information in one system didn’t translate to another. Suddenly, value-added services are being performed but not billed; inevitably, reconciliations can take hours with relationships suffering.
Likewise, carriers update appointments in one system but, the updates may not appear in another system. Now, the phone lines light up and everyone is scrambling to correct the situation. Or, data regarding a new batch of inventory is input on a WMS but can’t be read by RF scanners in the warehouse. The resulting errors ripple across the network – tangling operations until proper corrections can be made.
When all your systems are drawing the same information from the same sources in near real-time, your operations are synchronized around a single source of data truth.
Synching Up May Be Easier Than You Think
Since 2006, Open Sky Group has empowered supply chain companies to apply cutting-edge technologies to improve operating performance. We have seen what makes supply chain operations click and have honed our industry knowledge and resources through the successful completion of more than 1,000 supply chain products to date.
Most recently, our centralized, cloud-based Kaleidoscope (KDS), supply chain execution platform has emerged as a secure, scalable data repository designed to synchronize operations across supply chain networks. This software-as-a-service (SaaS) features a variety of purpose-built modules, or lenses, created to elevate outcomes. These lenses are:
- Enhanced Client Billing – Enables direct data extraction from integrated systems on KDS for accurate, automated, up-to-date bill processing
- Supply Chain Insights – Delivers capabilities and workflows around data that help you predict, anticipate, and adjust plans according to evolving needs
- Supply Chain Portal – Allows supply chain operators to provide timely information to clients through a secure online self-service portal based on client ID and client grouping
- Supply Chain Chat – Provides an enhanced natural language chat “prompt experience” to efficiently assist enterprise users and customers
A modularly built platform that enables you to fill the gaps within your operation or take the entire solution, KDS serves as an agnostic “information central” for all the systems in your network. The platform integrates data sharing and communications for improved collaboration with all stakeholders throughout your supply chain.
Customizable dashboards allow permissible users to peer into the system for near real-time updates on work in progress. This visibility allows unfolding disruptions and bottlenecks to be spotted before throughput is impacted; thus, decision-makers can keep a pulse on the flow of goods across your ever-expanding network.
Planners benefit by making informed data-driven decisions based on accurate forecasts and fully vetted “what if” scenarios. The back-office operations are synchronized to guarantee precise billing, thereby minimizing collection efforts for only exceptional cases. Concurrently, customers and partners retrieve updates and share data through the self-service portal and intuitive chat capabilities within KDS.
Make It Happen With Open Sky Group
KDS epitomizes the “OSG advantage” by providing your operations with an on-demand computing power within an open integration environment, all while synchronizing throughout your supply chain systems. With KDS, your operations can anticipate boosted throughput, higher order quality, reduced overtime, better customer satisfaction, and increased revenue coupled with decreased costs.
Synchronization doesn’t happen naturally. But, with the right tools in place, and the data you need to make better decisions readily at hand, you can transform your supply chain for greater productivity and performance.
Sync up with Open Sky Group to learn more about Kaleidoscope today.
