____________________________________________________________________________________ Inventory Management
We find that most companies remain unaware that enterprise scale , SKU / order / shipment level of detail simulation is already available and ready to go . Don ’ t guess at service rates . Simulate and just read them off of an Excel sheet . You don ’ t need a PhD or specialized hardware anymore .
Fix the plane while you ’ re flying it
AI and improved inventory visibility have combined to give you a powerful autopilot capability . If you have good technology and processes , you can hand over more and more of the driving to your system . However , autopilot doesn ’ t tell you where you ’ re going . If you let the robots fly the plane or drive the car , you can check the map , change your direction , course correct - or even think about getting a faster plane . Car . Whatever metaphor connects . Anyways , operating the supply chain requires operational discipline . Redesigning and improving the supply chain requires deliberate thought and powerful modeling / what-if capabilities . The best supply chain organizations are good at doing both . Looking ahead at 2025 , is your organization ready for that challenge ? ■
Constrain the number of SKUs at each node and re-optimize . Unconstrain the number of delivery locations and re-optimize . You can get answers to many different configurations . But you ’ re not ready to change the network just yet until …
Test inventory optimization recommendations with simulation It looks good in theory . How does it work in practice ? You don ’ t have to hold your breath and see what happens . Optimization approaches simplify the problem to get answers . Simulation lets you test the answers in a digital model to atone for the various sins of simplification . When you ’ ve got a safe test environment , you ’ re free to innovate . It ’ s that simple .
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Don Hicks www . Optilogic . com
Don Hicks is CEO at Optilogic . Optilogic offers cloudnative supply chain design solutions that enable businesses to evaluate trade-offs across financial performance , service levels , and systemic risk to design resilient supply chains even in the most dynamic , challenging environments . Its Cosmic Frog supply chain design solution tackles enterprise data at scale , runs models faster than ever , automatically converts legacy models , and requires no IT footprint . Cosmic Frog is the only supply chain design platform to combine optimization , simulation , and risk engines , and includes a risk score on every scenario . manufacturing-today . com 21