PIPO – Product transition management
WHY (Problem)
Even though product transition is an ongoing activity in most of industries we work with, we have observed management of phase in and phase out products is done sub optimally. Why is that? Firstly its a process that is triggered for many reasons: engineering or procurement changes, regulatory changes, commercial NPI and it is hard to centrally manage data and outlook of all the activities. Secondly it's a bi-directional process where simple demand pass to supply yields inefficiencies. What is currently considered “Best in class” processes are very dependent on Demand --> Supply match in one way only. There is no space in the operational process to reconcile demand changes with eg. Projected finished goods or component write off.
WHAT (Value)
Productivity
productivity gain on managing product transition
Time to Value
Complexity:
Decision quality
Reduction of component and finish good write off by 30% in very advanced companies and average maturity 45%
Improved supplier relationships and visibility
HOW (Solution)
Our product transition solution has been named the innovation of the year by one of the software providers. It comprises of proposed e2e work process, workflow elements as well as optimization algorithms. We currently offer it to companies that either have or are planning to implement an e2e advanced planning system (APS). Solution logic links demand decisions to feasible supply plans in a way that it allows to pick the best transition window AND transition quantity. Such approach ensures the flexibility to respond to demand fluctuation without sending supply plans off balance The implementation journey consists of process mapping and alignment, data centralization and cleansing, introduction of dashboards and supply planning solver changes and calibration of results.
