CASE STUDY
SUPPLIER RELEASE MANAGEMENT
& INTEGRATED LOGISTICS CONSOLIDATION
A tailored solution to seamlessly provide visibility, reduce risk, and improve control
IT'S ALL IN THE DATA. More visibility means more control, more control leads to less risk and cost savings.
We have been partnered with an Italian-based agricultural machinery original equipment manufacturer (OEM) for over a decade, and our partnership is still going strong today. We began our relationship supporting their ocean forwarding and supplier release management in North America, and over time the relationship has developed into a global partnership operating all over the world. We support production and service part operations, including 67 manufacturing plants and 56 parts depots worldwide.
"We support production and service part operations, including 67 manufacturing plants and 56 parts depots worldwide."
Read more in our Automotive Mobility Solutions: Integrated Logistics Consolidation case study
In 2017 we were invited to participate in a request for quotation (RFQ) for ocean forwarding and consolidation services from 32 origins, from 11 countries in their Asia Pacific region. The request was to manage material moving from hundreds of suppliers in this region, which includes India and China, to manufacturing plants and service parts depots worldwide.
A lack of standardization tends to create gaps in visibility throughout supply chains. Each geography has unique operational requirements, and hundreds of suppliers make bookings in a variety of ways, creating a fair amount of variability within the supply chain. The challenge was how to provide each customer (in each geography) with reliable visibility in an environment filled with different inputs from hundreds of diverse suppliers, all while maximizing container utilization and lowering transportation costs.
Visibility to parts, quantities, and milestones are key for the customer to identify risk. Our multiple consolidation centers in Asia receive material from various suppliers into specific containers for delivery to plants at the destination. Expeditors’ Supplier Release Management process was designed to provide integrated control and visibility throughout. Using Order Management technology delivers a single view of their network to meet the required timelines.
"...ocean forwarding and consolidation services from 32 origins, across 11 countries..."
"Expeditors’ Supplier Release Management process was designed to provide the integrated control and visibility throughout."
SYSTEMS INTEGRATION
Data integration is a key part of managing releases, parts, suppliers, and plant demand. As with any communication types, we continue to work together to improve data quality, but the initial integration took close to 300 hours. Dedicated IS resources on both sides allowed the customer to provide us with usable release data and we provided the customer with accurate in-transit data, all while keeping plant needs in mind throughout the process. The electronic data interchange (EDI) data quality scores rose quickly.
EFFICIENT PROCESSES
The process included receiving daily release updates via EDI, giving suppliers several booking options, while providing the customer with consistent visibility to inbound parts across their network. We provide visibility using EDI milestone updates to an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system supplemented with tailor-made delay reports, giving regional and local management upstream visibility to take action and reduce risk. Expeditors provides upstream visibility to parts in transit, giving plants the visibility they need to run their business.
"Expeditors standardizes the management of our part supplier network. Immediate access to part level visibility allows our teams to identify risk and take action in real-time."
SAIKISHORE PULUGURTA
NAFTA Inbound Transportation Manager, CNH Industrial
Seamless part-level visibility allows the customer to identify risk and take action upstream. We successfully delivered a COVID-19 dashboard to give global, regional, and local management consistent visibility to parts at risk. While the pandemic continued to add uncertainty to global supply chains, our program ensures the customer is confident in the visibility we provide.
Our streamlined processes enables plants and parts depots to have reliable data to run their business while consistently receiving +98% EDI data accuracy scores.
Our teams understood that through this successful partnership, the outcome improves visibility, control, and reduces costs for all parties in the supply chain.
"We successfully delivered a COVID-19 dashboard to give global, regional, and local management consistent visibility to parts at risk."
