Essay About Improved Supply Chain Information And Companys Dates

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The improved supply chain information from RapidResponse enables
Cannondale to respond to customer orders much more rapidly with lower
levels of inventory and safety stock. Cycle times and lead times for producing
products have also been reduced. The companys dates for promising deliveries
are more reliable and accurate.
Sources: Kinaxis Corp., “Cannondale Improves Customer Response Times While Reducing
Inventory Using RapidResponse,” 2010; www.kinaxis.com, accessed June 21, 2010; and
www.cannondale.com, accessed June 21, 2010.
Cannondales problems with its supply chain illustrate the critical role of
supply chain management (SCM) systems in business. Cannondales
business performance was impeded because it could not coordinate its sourcing,
manufacturing, and distribution processes. Costs were unnecessarily high
because the company was unable to accurately determine the exact amount of
each product it needed to fulfill orders and hold just that amount in inventory.
Instead, the company resorted to keeping extra “safety stock” on hand “just in
case.” When products were not available when the customer wanted them,
Cannondale lost sales.
The chapter-opening diagram calls attention to important points raised by
this case and this chapter. Like many other firms, Cannondale had a complex
supply chain and manufacturing processes to coordinate in many different
locations. The company had to deal with hundreds and perhaps thousands of
suppliers of parts and raw materials. It was not always possible to have just the
right amount of each part or component available when it was needed because
the company lacked accurate, up-to-date information about parts in inventory
and what manufacturing processes needed those parts.
An on-demand supply chain management software service from Kinaxis
helped solve this problem. The Kinaxis RapidResponse software takes in data
from Cannondales existing manufacturing systems and assembles