The implementation of event management and activity monitoring within the supply chain is
actually quite straight forward. Although the Categoric solution can be
used in literally thousands of instances within an organization, the
initial scope is usually very specific and initiated to address a
particular issue.
Rather than adopting a "big bang" approach,
typically organizations identify key “events” that it wishes to
manage more closely.
These might be planned – e.g. tell me when my stock level reaches x%
or unplanned – e.g. Control failures, delays in shipments etc.
Selecting the initial events
The rationale behind selecting the initial events are usually either:
- Risk based - perhaps the top ten risks to the business are selected or those where insufficient control has been identified
- ROI driven - a fast payback is required to prove a specific business case
- Glaringly
obvious - manual activities are taking place that clearly would be
better carried out in an automated way either because they are tedious
and repetitive or because the resources can be better utilized undertaking more valuable work
Regardless
of the rationale, in both planned and unplanned scenarios events
trigger an action that feeds back into the supply chain management.
Automatic event logic may be used to resolve some of the
anticipated events – e.g. re-order X amount from Y supplier, or it may
flag up the need for manual attention and intervention. The number and sophistication of these events can be almost limitless…
Typical implementations
Two typical areas of implementation are for:
- Immediate detection and response
Detect exceptions and events both planned and unplanned. This allows delivery of the information to the key personnel or partner (or application) that can deal with the situation as required. Rules can automatically deal with the exception without requiring human intervention. Additionally activities such as notifications, corrective actions and audit entries can be initiated if desired.
- Cumulative management
Key metrics, KPIs etc can be monitored in successive periods and this facilitates the harmonization of elements within the supply chain. It will identify issues requiring correction like badly performing suppliers or highlight breaks in the identified processes.
Why is using Categoric to enable SCEM so useful?
Dealing with a situation as it is unfolding is a lot more efficient than trying to find out after the event what happened and then to decide what needs to happen next to fix the immediate problem and ensure it doesn't keep happening…
The fact that these specified events are now “visible” and able to be managed is a key benefit.
The specific methodology of how the Categoric solution does this is explored in much greater detail in the "Xalerts" section above (Xalerts is the Categoric brand name for the generic enterprise solution).
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