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5 Important Inventory Analytics Tactics for Retailers

January 3rd, 2012 by Devender Aerrabolu

The retail industry has always been competitive with very slim profit margins. Retailers can increase their sales, their profits, their relationships with their customers, and their competitiveness by effectively and efficiently managing their inventory. Historical sales data is just as important as accurate sales forecasts in spotting trends and making critical business decisions. Balancing inventory to optimize and maximize ROI entails understanding the marketplace, effectively reducing warehouse costs and customer returns, and improving sales.

Existing applications for reporting and analyzing data are inflexible and inefficient. Many retailers are moving to cloud-based SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) applications for business intelligence analysis and evaluation of business metrics. SaaS and cloud-based solutions can be implemented across all departments, including purchasing, distribution, and point-of-sale, and can be accessed from any location, computer, or mobile device. Cloud-based business intelligence technology has the capability to assist in the management of inventory more rapidly, more efficiently, and more effectively; thereby boosting profits, enhancing the competitive position, and improving customer relationships.

Inventory management is a key component to the success of retailers and several capabilities need to be available to understand the natural fluctuations of inventory and customer buying patterns.

1)Cross-functional data visibility for orders, shipping, receiving, distribution, customer returns, and marketing and advertising promotions.
2)Clear and real-time views of sales trends to maximize and optimize the product mix, including SKUs, categories, and store-by-store or region-by-region sales data.
3)A combination of metrics reports including forecasts sales, invoice aging, point-of-sale data for each reporting period—weekly, monthly, or quarterly.
4)Management capability of warehouse storage needs and inventory supply needs based on past and future sales data.
5)Strategic just-in-time inventory management that also does not negatively impact the supply chain or revenues.

SaaS-based inventory management systems does not require in-house IT resources for installation or maintenance of the applications, and allow for rapid deployment of applications. Many retailers are moving to on-demand business intelligence for their inventory management needs in order to realize cost savings, increase the speed and flexibility of data retrieval and analysis, and reduce dependent on location-based IT departments.

Posted in Applications, Business Processes, Ecommerce, Engineering Change Management, Hosting, Internet Retail, Physical Inventory, SaaS, Smart Warehouse, SMB, Systems Integration | No Comments »

Innovate Your DFR and DPT Practices

December 20th, 2011 by Devender Aerrabolu

Storage I/O solutions, in considering cost-effectiveness and best practices, address primary storage data footprint reduction (DFR) as well as support for data protection and recovery (DPR). DFR implementation allows more data to be stored in a smaller footprint and includes archiving email, databases, and file systems, real-time data compression, storage tiering, and thin provisioning. The tools and best practices policies of DPR include daily backup and restore, business continuity, disaster recovery, and meeting Service Level Objectives (SLOs) archiving requirements, recovery time objectives (RTOs), and recovery point objectives (RPOs).

The IT departments of MBEs are faced with supporting enterprise growth while simultaneously maintaining Quality of Service (QoS) and managing budgetary constraints. Data must be protected from various internal and external threats and disaster recovery and restoration capabilities must be effectively enhanced. Additionally, reliability and accessibility of data must constantly be improved.

Innovation and optimization, focusing on the source of DPR challenges and the performance of DPR and DFR technologies will help enterprise and MBE IT departments meet the challenges and demands of data storage, data protection and recovery, and RTOs and RPOs in a cost-effective and timely manner.

•Real-time compression leverages performance rates and response times and enables more data to be stored in a more dense data footprint.
•DFR techniques can be re-focused from downstream storage to complementary active and online reference data primary storage optimization, while maintaining and improving performance.
•More effectively utilizing primary storage resources such as cache and premium tier 0 storage—another use of real-time compression, can accomplish expansion of the current data footprint.

Any innovative changes must be seamless and transparent while providing interoperability with the various IVS storage products while co-existing with current DR techniques.

The IT professional can produce real ROI results for the company through innovation and optimization initiatives that maximize and enhance DFR and DPR practices while reducing the costs to manage the resources necessary.

Posted in Applications, Business Processes, Engineering Change Management, Systems Integration | No Comments »

ERP System Solutions

November 16th, 2011 by Devender Aerrabolu

When you successfully implement a flexible ERP system, you equip your manufacturing operations team with the best solutions that provide relevant real-time data and improve rapid responses to any business changes—whether your critical data resides on one or multiple systems. ERP allows you to execution processes and streamline your operations for the most efficient change management.

Refining your business processes to be more “disciplined” actually allows them to be more “flexible” as opposed to “rigid”. This flexibility makes your data more visible to relevant decision-makers, speeds up just-in-time ordering, and improves the use of critical business resources. Your enterprise can respond to trends, minimize costs, increase profit margins, and reduce delivery times.

Each member of your management team benefits from an integrated ERP system, improving the day-to-day productivity and overall effectiveness of the entire management staff.

The Sales Manager: An effective ERP allows the sales manager to focus on delivering orders, generating reliable sales forecasts, improving the sales performance of the field sales team, and providing excellent customer service.

The Supply Chain Executive: A flexible ERP systems frees the supply chain executive to focus on the core responsibilities of supporting operations, reducing material costs, and servicing the needs of customers.

The Plant Manager: Plant managers can utilize an effective ERP system to focus on plant operations, improve the productivity of the labor forces, improve quality, and meet the required customer service levels.

The VP of Operations: A flexible ERP system helps the VP of Operations to access the real-time data needed to make the most effective decisions, balance the allocation of resources, provide consistent customer service, and manage costs.

The Finance Executive: A successful ERP implementation provides the Finance Executive with the tools necessary to automate the data collection process, focus on initiatives that improve the financial health of the enterprise, and enhance cash management and regulatory reporting.

Changing your company from manual processes to a flexible ERP allows you and your management staff to rely on your business processes to manage your operations.

Posted in Applications, Business Processes, Change Log Management, Compliance Regulations, Engineering Change Management, Physical Inventory, Quality Assurance, Shop Floor Control, Smart Warehouse, Systems Integration | No Comments »

The Case for an Effective ERP System

November 2nd, 2011 by Devender Aerrabolu

Your critical business data is one of the keys to your business growth. The ability to quickly respond to business changes depends on your business processes. A variety of changes could be affected by the capability of your enterprise to be proactive, including customer delivery schedules, new product introductions, global business trends, or supply chain expansion.

A complete reconstruction of your business processes begins with a successful implementation of an effective ERP system. There are two major categories of changes realized with a flexible ERP system:

1)The current divergent systems can be automated and linked to enhance the movement of your critical business data and to provide your executive management with real-time reports for the highest level of decision-making.
2)Highly disciplined workflows can be created that will implement the consistent processes required for the most reliable outcomes irrespective of any business changes.

An integrated ERP system will have a positive impact on your manufacturing operations. Each of the core business units needs its own documentation that points out any inefficiencies associated with your present change management procedures and can yield cost-effectiveness. The management team associated with those core business groups: the sales executive, the finance manager, the plant manager, the operations manager, and the supply chain executive will have access to the necessary insight for the most advantageous synchronization of all systems.

Many small- to mid-sized enterprises still rely on manual creation of business data integration. There are a variety of issues that impact your continuous business development, including managing your profit margins and increasing your ability to handle any changes to your enterprise and your effective response to competitive pressures.

Posted in Applications, Business Processes, Change Log Management, Physical Inventory, Shop Floor Control | No Comments »

Data Center Power Systems Best Practices (2)

September 20th, 2011 by Devender Aerrabolu

Power system failures can severely hamper data center operations; extreme weather poses significant risk to a continuous power source. There are several best practices that can be utilized by IT departments to ensue maximum uptime for the data centers for their organizations. The first five were detailed earlier; the remainder will be discussed here.

1)IT departments and facilities managers can benefit by having on going monitoring and diagnostics that are enterprise-wide and proactive. Disciplined work practices and processes for software consultations and swift response actions will allow for the effective use of software for mission-critical equipment including power systems, environmental, and life and safety systems.
2)Establish and maintain contingency plans to deal with the loss of water and power. Extensive research, planning, and cost-benefit analyses should be executed to prepare for situations beyond the control of the enterprise, such as natural or man-made disasters.
3)Build redundancy into the power system topology. Although more expensive to purchase and install, data center redundancy will allow for much faster recovery after a power outage.
4)It may seem obvious, but replacing outdated equipment and UPS systems increases overall data center availability while also reducing cost of ownership to the enterprise.
5)Regular auditing of power systems by the data center managers will yield up-to-date information on the total infrastructure of mission-critical equipment capacity.

IT departments and facilities management engineers, working together, can help to mitigate power system downtimes by cooperatively establishing best practices for modern data center infrastructures.

Posted in Business Processes, Change Log Management, Engineering Change Management, Inspection Management | No Comments »

Data Center Power Systems: Best Practices (1)

September 6th, 2011 by Devender Aerrabolu

The recent extreme weather in many parts of the United States in the spring and summer of 2011 resulted in many IT department re-evaluating the power systems of their critical data centers.

There are several best practices that can be utilized by IT departments to ensue maximum uptime for the data centers for their organizations. The first five will be outlined here; the remainder will be discussed in a later post.

1)Because of the increased capacity of most server infrastructures, including the adoption of blade servers and virtualization, power overloads are much more common. Companies should have established written document for practices and procedures to allow IT departments and facilities managers to work together to for data center power systems management and maintenance.
2)Data center new construction or renovation projects should emphasize long-term value over short-term costs; including rewards for construction teams that have long-term views for their procurement procedures.
3)IT departments should, along with the facilities departments, standardize uniform maintenance processes using the definition of frameworks such as the Information Technology Infrastructure Library, or ITIL. Adoption of uniform standards will allow for better control over the assets of the IT departments and proactive maintenance for less downtime.
4)IT departments can also work with the facilities engineers to establish a comprehensive change management database (CMDB) to assist in the rapid resolution of emergency situations and to ensure continuity in processes.
5)Data center availability should be measured in both reliability—the mean time between system failures (MTBF), and the MTTR, or the mean time required to repair the system.

IT departments and facilities management engineers, working together, can help to mitigate power system downtimes by cooperatively establishing best practices.

Posted in Business Processes, Engineering Change Management, Inspection Management | No Comments »

Computerized Maintenance Management Systems

August 16th, 2011 by Devender Aerrabolu

Facilities management includes scheduling regular maintenance and the costs of keeping the production floor running smoothly. Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS) automate all the processes and information required by facilities managers. CMMS is also called Enterprise Asset Management, and is a software solution package that maintains a database of information about all of a company’s maintenance operations for their assets and all associated costs.

A comprehensive CMMS or EAM solution provides:
*        the ability to keep track of each piece of equipment owned or leased by the company.
*        the ability ti track human resources.
*        the ability to enter and track the locations of all equipment.
*        detailed information of safety plans for the production floor.
*        the ability to track inventory.
*        the ability to track and manage all aspects of work orders
*        the ability to quickly and easily run reports.
*        the ability to provide work history for all facilities locations and equipment.
*        the ability to requisition any and all materials for work orders.
*        the ability to keep track of existing maintenance contracts
*        the ability to provide key performance metrics for the maintenance department.

During the evaluation process before investing in a CMMS or EAM solution, the decision makers should consider the Return on Investment (ROI) and run real-world tests specific to the organization; only the modules actually needed should be purchased.

The CMMS or EAM solution should not be developed in-house; many solutions are already available through vendors. The solution purchased should be flexible and easily modified. Ensure that the data on the existing system is easily transferred to the new system. The solution provider should be experienced and have the capability to offer full support, including installation, testing, and staff training.

Another major decision is whether the chosen CMMS solution will be web-based or on-site. Time should be taken to perform a cost-benefit analysis on the pros and cons of selecting a web-based system versus an on-site installation.

Posted in Applications, Business Processes, Hosting, Physical Inventory, Shop Floor Control, Systems Integration | No Comments »

Enterprise Asset Management

August 2nd, 2011 by Devender Aerrabolu

Manufacturing facilities are comprised of very complex and expensive assets. Enterprise Asset Management (EAS) software helps senior management to protect those assets by ensuring that the necessary maintenance schedule is adhered to and that the investment is protected. Best practices of EAM installation and implementation include several ideas that help enterprises to maximize the output of their assets.

IT systems that are used to manage asset data should allow for organization-wide information sharing and knowledge retention. In conjunction, the EAM software must deal with the asset lifecycle phases including planning, engineering, maintenance and operation, and eventually the decommissioning of the assets.

The EAM application should be opened to vendors and suppliers such as engineering firms and maintenance contractors who work with the enterprise. This will allow better and more efficient communication and scheduling. The EAM application will also reduce repeated data entry into enterprise resources planning (ERP) applications and/or computerized maintenance management (CMMS) applications. Real-time data entry, on the other hand, provides better coordination between the contractors and the internal enterprise maintenance personnel and ultimately more efficient use of the assets.

An effective EAM package will support plant design and engineering during the often years-long lifecycle of an asset. The EAM software can assist the maintenance department of the enterprise to manage and record all data from the various projects it is responsible for on a daily basis.

During the evaluation process of a potential EAM solution, it is important to determine if incorporating enterprise 2.0 features that will contribute to an open, communicative environment for the sharing of ideas and expertise. Additionally, decision-makers should evaluate the usability enhancements that provide managerial support for real-time maintenance tasks.

Lastly, EAM solutions should be implemented as a part of a broader set of applications that capture data failures, schedule people, projects, and materials, and outline purchasing requirements–leveraging the functionality of the EFP applications. The selection of a effective EAM software solution to manage assets can enhance and improve the value of the enterprise.

Posted in Applications, Business Processes, Hosting, Physical Inventory, Shop Floor Control, Smart Warehouse, Systems Integration | No Comments »

Improving Dynamics NAV for the Middle Market

June 17th, 2010 by Bharath Lanka

Small- and medium-sized businesses (SMB) have unique requirements for their enterprise resource planning (ERP) needs. The industry-leading companies that most benefit SMBs are those that assist companies in aligning their ERP solution with their strategic goals.

Microsoft offers a complete suite of interconnected applications designed with SMBs in mind. While Microsoft Dynamics GP is clearly focused on the smaller enterprises, over the years, our work with Microsoft Dynamics NAV has shown it to be a more robust and cost effective enterprise solution for the middle market. Dynamics NAV is simple to use and very adaptable but it generally requires the assistance of an external service provider to ensure an optimally performing implementation. Maintain a relationship with an external service provider with NAV expertise is particularly important in light of the constant improvements that Microsoft makes to the platform.

Recently, Microsoft unveiled Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009 R2, with significant upgrades in platform architecture, built-in integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM and online Payment Service. The release will be available in the fourth quarter of 2010, a timeframe that introduces the release more quickly than scheduled.

According to Microsoft, Dynamics NAV 2009 R2 will include the following enhancements:

Microsoft Dynamics CRM integration. In its continued effort to ease the sale of CRM to its ERP base, Microsoft is providing built-in integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Benefits of customer relationship management (CRM) integration include eliminating redundant data entries, keeping information up to date in both ERP and CRM solutions, and providing salespeople with the ability to quickly access detailed business information about contracts, pricing and product availability. Customers can choose between integration to on-premises Microsoft Dynamics CRM or Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online with the option to migrate to either option over time.
Online Payment Service for Microsoft Dynamics NAV. This enables customers to process payment transactions from the Microsoft Dynamics NAV interface across multiple channels, including e-commerce, point of sale and call center transactions. The Payment Service works with leading payment processing services and all major credit cards.
Role-Tailored interface access for remote or roaming users. Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009 R2 supports direct access from the Microsoft Dynamics RoleTailored experience over the Internet. This allows for remote or roaming users to take advantage of the richness and Microsoft Office integration of the RoleTailored interface and the many integration features connected to local resources, such as the operating system and Microsoft Office. This reduces the complexity and overhead compared with using other applications such as Citrix Systems and Terminal Services, especially for hosting partners offering cloud-based Microsoft Dynamics NAV deployments.
Microsoft Application Virtualization support. The Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009 R2 Role-Tailored interface can be deployed using Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) technology, which is relevant for both on-premise and hosted solutions. This provides a better experience for the end user as all integration with local applications is done on the desktop. It also cuts IT costs by centrally managing Microsoft Dynamics NAV client installations with automatic deployment to the desktop after an update.
Windows 7 user experience improvements. Through Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009 R2, jumplists can be used to open recently accessed customers and vendors for increased business productivity and efficiency, and the icon overlay functionality provides information on system events and status streamlined with the Windows 7 user experience.

We believe that these important advancements in the NAV solution will broaden the platform’s market presence by making it more attractive to middle market enterprises in vertical industries that might not have considered it before.

Posted in Microsoft Dynamics NAV, SMB | 2 Comments »

Physical Inventory for Microsoft Dynamics NAV

January 19th, 2010 by Bill Martin

There are few things in the world that management and staff of an organization dread more than taking a physical inventory. While it is an expensive and time-consuming process, it remains absolutely necessary to achieve accurate balance sheet information, efficient use of sales resources and effective inventory management. Physical inventory is a particularly important process for most manufacturing and distribution businesses. It provides an opportunity to clean up inventory, identify discrepancies and make any adjustments to align what is on the books with what is in the warehouse.

As we developed our roadmap for creating add-on modules to address functionality gaps in Microsoft Dynamics NAV platform, improving the physical inventory process emerged as a key area for investment. While we can’t remove all the pain associated with the physical inventory process, we have addressed several key areas that allow enterprises using NAV to shorten and simplify the process. American Unit’s Physical Inventory for Microsoft Dynamics NAV assists organizations in increasing the accuracy of their inventory balances, system quantities and purchasing amounts, driving a minimization of inventory holding costs, identification and rectification of possible theft issues and a more accurate reflection of balance sheet asset values.

Having assisted a number of discrete manufacturing companies over the past several years with the Microsoft Dynamics NAV implementation, it became clear that an enhanced physical inventory capability could provide significant value. This led to the investment in developing an add-on module to augment NAV’s existing inventory management functionality. American Unit’s Physical Inventory module eases the creation of physical inventory cards and physical inventory tags for each location, control table and work center. It also makes it easier to assign tags to employees for the physical count of items. The objective in developing the module has been to ease data reconciliation, improve data auditing and simplify the posting of adjustments to physical inventory.

The Physical Inventory module is the fourth release in the American Unit manufacturing suite. More information can be found here.

Posted in Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Physical Inventory | No Comments »