In the current issue of Manufacturing Business Technology, Christian Zweifel, VP of manufacturing technology for Franke Food Service noted, “The Ultriva solution has just two points of integration to Franke’s customized ERP solution, both related to the opening and closing of purchase orders. Product data from the suppliers’ ERP systems is also uploaded into the system. The Ultriva kanban solution is also integrated with some minimal barcode scanning of shipments from supplier sites, and receiving at Franke’s site. SaaS-based electronic kanban solution from Ultriva is integrated with materials data from two key suppliers to manage lean replenishment and will be rolled out to more suppliers in the future.”
Ultriva’s web-based software makes it convenient for suppliers to see what kanban requirements are waiting (email alerts can also be used) and both Franke and its suppliers have web-based access to reports. The insights have helped the partners hit leaner inventory levels, resulting in a 275% improvement in inventory turns for goods sourced via the system, according Zweifel.
“The central hallmark of demand driven supply chain is an electronic kanban system which achieves savings in several key areas,” according to Narayan Laksham, CEO of Ultriva, (www.ultriva.com).
• It reduces the need to build inventory. All production is initiated based on the immediate needs of customers. Inventory turns for kanban parts are optimized (a definition of lean accounting.)
• Time spent by customer service communicating on expedited parts issues is practically been eliminated through a demand driven supply chain. Often customer service staff members spend 40% of their time expediting part orders prior to electronic kanban implementation.
• Sales have increased with the benefit of the e-kanban program because the copper manufacturer no longer uses capacity to build parts without an order to buy NOW. 100% of production capacity is utilized to build parts that are already sold as soon as they hit the shipping dock.
Laksham insists, “Capacity is expensive and a demand driven supply chain via digital kanban provides lean accounting efficiency and elimination of waste.”
Ultriva’s flagship product, Ultriva electronic kanban, eliminates stock-outs while reducing inventory levels up to 75 percent. Ultriva Lean Scheduling complements demand-driven replenishment strategies by optimizing production schedules in real time around the most variable customer demand. Ultriva Supplier Replenishment extends the replenishment capabilities of Kanban to include schedule-based replenishment, discrete POs, min/max, consignment and VMI (vendor-managed inventory) replenishment methods. Ultriva’s products are in use in more than 100 plants worldwide, incorporating more than 4,000 suppliers, transacting over one billion dollars of inventory and reducing manufacturing costs for industry leaders such as AGCO, Emerson, Ingersoll-Rand, McKesson, Rexnord, and Timken.
Ultriva
Cindy McGowan
408.248.9803
Professional Marketing Firm for the Manufacturing Community and Manufacturing Journalist to most manufacturing magazines Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/software-articles/franke-food-service-praises-ultrivas-electronic-kanban-1521914.html
