Better Information Flow for Improved Supply Chain Execution
Friday, June 18, 2010
The Supply Chain Execution Systems & Technologies (SCE) Industry Group of Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA) has released it's Summer 2010 Quarterly Report titled "Better Information Flow for Improved Supply Chain Execution." The report asserts that the importance of information to the success of supply chains is stronger than ever given economic conditions. Information is what links every node and enterprise of a supply chain. And that’s where supply chain execution software and related data capture technologies come into the picture.
Supply chain execution solutions include enterprise resource planning (ERP), warehouse management systems (WMS), transportation management systems (TMS), warehouse control systems (WCS), and data capture systems, to name five. How they are combined depends on the situation. The trick is to match the right combination of how you collect, disseminate and apply information to the systems and operations that move the goods.
“The advantage to using data systems and getting information is it will move to scale,” says KardexRemstar’s Ed Romaine, chair of MHIA’s Supply Chain Execution Industry Group. “When business is slow, you can use these systems to find efficiencies and reduce labor and inventory. When business is gangbusters they help you meet customer demand and expectations. Information flow within the SCE system allows you to work more efficiently, all the way from a work cell to a WMS and ERP system.”
“Even with growth in the economy businesses won’t go back to the way they were,” he says. “It’s time to press the reset button. There won’t be fast growth any more. There will be more uncertainty about the price of fuel, for instance. As the world becomes more global, companies will need to stay on top of how these things affect their supply chain,” adds RedPrairie’s Jim LeTart, an SCE Group member delegate.
View the complete report —Better Information Flow for Improved Supply Chain Execution.
Quarterly Reports are an information source from several Industry Groups of MHIA. Each report will focus on trends in the use of material handling and logistics equipment, such as guided vehicles or automated storage, to solve challenges in the plant and warehouse ranging from ROI to sustainability to productivity in the new economy.
Members of MHIA Industry Groups are suppliers of material handling and logistics equipment and systems. These industry experts make it their business to evaluate operational challenges and solve them efficiently and cost effectively. That makes them authoritative sources for solutions to challenges that end users face on a daily basis.
SCE is an Industry Group of MHIA. SCE members are the Industry’s leading suppliers of supply chain execution software, hardware and services. They supply solutions worldwide and in virtually every major manufacturing and distribution sector.
MHIA is an international trade association that has represented this industry since 1945. MHIA members include material handling equipment and systems manufacturers, integrators, consultants, publishers, and third party logistics providers. Member companies come from all areas of material handling and various parts of the world, making MHIA a strong national and international representative for the material handling industry. Much of the work of the industry is done within its product-specific sections, councils and affiliates. The association also sponsors trade events, such as ProMat 2011 and NA 2010 to showcase the products and services of its member companies and to educate industry professionals on the productivity solutions provided through material handling and logistics.
Contact: For more information on MHIA activities and programming contact Carol Miller at 704-676-1190/800-345-1815.
<< Back to news articles