Analysis

         Within a successful company there are always tedious processes involved that require a tremendous amount of focus and attendance to ensure it is correct. Focusing specifically on inventory, scheduling, and planning for deliveries on a day-to-day basis. Inventory is one of the most important processes of a company, it’s the organization of how much product the company is currently holding and having in excess. The way Sysco handles their inventory planning is through Manhattans inventory optimization and replenishment systems which helps manage the inventory for over 74 locations of Sysco. Sysco’s customers range from restaurants, travel services, schools, big retailers and more.

         If a mistake is made in inventory where the company assumes they have more of a product than what’s actually on hands, then there could be a ripple effect of issues. Examples of some of these issues could be the company doesn’t have enough product for a specific order, the company has too much of a specific product and just got delivered more. Also, the company could think a reported x amount of inventory is needing extra workforce for this day but there was a mistake in the inventory recording and now we have excess employees scheduled on a specific day.  Specifically, Sysco states that products ordered from thousands of different suppliers will have their goods flowed from vendors to customers in one of three ways; “Vendor orders may ship to one of two RDCs. The RDCs, in Florida and Virginia, store inventory and serve as break-bulk facilities.

         They ship multi-vendor, palletized loads to the company’s operating companies in nearby states. Vendor orders may ship directly to operating companies. This is the common path for locally produced items, for fresh foods and for operating companies far from the RDCs. Some operating companies may order from others. This path makes sense when large operating companies buy enough volume to achieve economies of scale for smaller ones nearby.

          (Manhattan Systems, 2022) This gives a vivid idea of just how the goods get transported from warehouses to destinations. Furthermore, Sysco thrives on finding new innovative ways to generate more accurate demand forecasts. One specific method is called the sku level forecast which entails a team of planners located in Houston HQ to scan six to fifteen thousand items and over four hundred thousand sku’s to generate a sku demand forecast based on what’s been selling or what’s out of stock. The latest innovation to the inventory process is something called “hub and spoke”. It’s a method that requires warehouses to manage both a mix of dependent and independent demand orders, this generates the demand forecasts for shipments to customers and orders from the operating companies which they ship too. This will allow within the Manhattan solution to combine both capabilities to create more efficiency. 

Inventory planning - Inventory is one of the most important processes of a company, it’s the organization of how much product the company is currently holding and having in excess. If a mistake is made in inventory where the company assumes they have more of a product than what’s actually on hands, then there could be a ripple effect of issues.

 

Software - SAP - As the market leader in enterprise application software, they are helping companies of all sizes and in all industries run better by redefining ERP and creating networks of intelligent enterprises that provide transparency, resiliency, and sustainability across supply chains. Their end-to-end suite of applications and services enables our customers to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and make a difference worldwide.

Data - SAP - SAP has its own in-memory computing engine to handle large amount of data in real time with high performance. 

Customers - Using SAP BusinessObjects BI solutions, Sysco associates will be able to more easily access important customer information from sales transactions, such as preferences and order history. Sysco will have the ability to more easily collect and analyze critical customer data, which will help reduce costs and provide greater customer service. Reporting will also be standardized across the company so that Sysco associates will see the same information, enabling everyone to work toward common goals.