The Exception That Proves the Rule August 24, 2007
Posted by Meg Sewell in Analytics and Business Intelligence, Business Community Management.trackback
What do you get when you cross a company trying to maximize profit and a delayed shipment? BAD NEWS! In the world of B2B exchange, timing is everything. Finding out a supplier didn’t get a purchase order when the truck fails to arrive is the worst possible time to discover that a transaction hasn’t gone through. For many companies, this potential disaster is sometimes an unfortunate reality.
Just-in-Time tactics can be extremely cost effective for certain companies, thanks in part to the reduction of inventory costs. Rather than shipping what is needed plus some, only the necessary amount of raw materials, parts, assemblies and finished goods are transported, reducing both carrying costs and the likelihood of being stuck with obsolete parts and finished goods. While Just-in-Time tactics can be extremely beneficial to a business and its pockets, the absence of Just-in-Case tactics can cause an issue in a supply chain to suddenly go from being a rain drop to a hurricane.
Enter the importance of visibility, and more specifically in this case, exception management. Exception management capabilities quickly locate and list all errors relevant to individual user responsibilities so that the right people are notified of the issue. This, in turn, allows the right people to quickly solve the setback. Business activity monitoring can be your budget’s best friend and allows you to be proactive rather than reactive.
In sum, exception management can take that little issue in a supply chain, shrink it from a hurricane back down to that tiny rain drop—and evaporate it. What do you get when you cross a supply chain with exception management? Vacations for everyone!
