Broad Set of Capabilities Was Determining Factor For Selecting RapidResponse
Kinaxis® (TSX:KXS), provider of RapidResponse®, delivering cloud-based SCM and S&OP applications, is proud to announce that Konica Minolta, a leading technology company, has deployed Kinaxis RapidResponse as its global sales and operations planning solution.
At Konica Minolta, the IT Business Technologies team was struggling to get a quick and comprehensive view of the global supply chain network, as well as visibility into the impact of supply and demand changes on the business. As a result, attaining agility and alignment across the supply chain was difficult.
To improve the SCM process, the supply chain group decided to adopt new technology that could be leveraged for S&OP and increase the depth of their supply chain analytics.
"We turned to RapidResponse because it had so many capabilities within the single system. Moreover, we liked that by leveraging the solution's in-memory engine and embedded supply chain analytics we could do deep, but quick planning calculations on a daily basis and calculate things like total cost, not just total inventory," said Noboru Ota, Manager of SCM Planning Department, Global SCM Center of Konica Minolta.
Noboru Ota went on to say, "By integrating five systems into one, we gained distinct advantages in streamlining operations and addressing multiple functions with a single product. PSI (Production, Supply, Inventory) planning calculations have successfully changed from being done on a weekly basis, to now on a daily basis and is founded on actual business results, so the data is dramatically more accurate. Additionally, we were able to obtain a foundation for managing S&OP based on financial measures; making calculations in the context of dollar amounts as opposed to the traditional unit based management."
The company has seen Production, Supply, Inventory (PSI) planning calculation times go from several hours to tens of minutes, all while being able to support seamless transitions between volume and mix planning.
"We are proud that RapidResponse is the chosen S&OP and supply chain planning system for Konica Minolta," said John Sicard, Chief Products Officer for Kinaxis. "As Konica Minolta continues to expand their implementation of RapidResponse across the organization, we are excited to help them to achieve further benefits and increased value."