Computational Applications and System Integration, Inc.

Industries

Excerpts from Driving Business Transformation as they relate to the following industries...

What is common to all these industries?

 

Frito-Lay and Steelcase are similar in that both have complex supply chains, though, while Frito-Lay has to deal with perishable goods, Steelcase does not. At both companies, product variations are virtually endless. Unit margins are higher for Steelcase; unit volumes are higher at Frito-Lay, which is fundamentally a high-speed, high-volume process manufacturer. Demand management issues for Frito-Lay are far more profound than for Steelcase. Higher volume is distributed to innumerable retail outlets, which exponentially increases transportation complexity for the food products company. But design and manufacturing complexity are far more sophisticated at Steelcase, and scheduling and sequencing issues are therefore more complex. For Polo Ralph Lauren, the key question is global scale. For Frito-Lay, it is local presence. Frito-Lay and Polo businesses face challenges with high-volume and high-distribution business models, but have different approaches to demand management. Both companies have complex supply chain issues, and managing those issues is critical. Despite the differences in their respective products and services, Frito-Lay, Polo Ralph Lauren, and Steelcase share key business issues. Whether you make shoes, shoe polish, nail polish, furniture, food and beverages, or chemicals, microprocessors, pharmaceutical products, automobiles, semiconductors, or satellite dishes, senior management at virtually any company must constantly work through a series of similar complex business issues.

What are these issues?

• Revenue, Growth, & Profits
• Create, sustain, and kill products
• Determine which markets to enter and exit
• Holistically manage growth, sales, and costs
• Identify, execute, and integrate acquisitions
• Compress cash-to-cash and order-to-cash cycles
• Create and manage demand

Product Mix

• What kinds of variations of the product are needed for increasing the current customer base?
• What makes the product susceptible to liabilities?
• Where can the kinks occur from design of the product to the ultimate delivery to the customer?

Customers

• What kind of post-sales services can we provide, and to whom?
• How do we create secondary markets?
• What kind of promotions should we offer—where and when?
• Should we enter into co-branded and joint marketing initiatives?
• How do we acquire new customers and retain existing ones?

Suppliers

• What are their strengths and weaknesses, and whom should we cultivate?
• How can we leverage mutual competencies and build the right supplier base?

Supply Chains

• Are we assessing and forecasting demand—and properly matching fulfillment?
• Are we maximizing customer response at the least cost?
• Are we optimally organizing channels and distribution locations?
• Are we minimizing total supply chain costs?

The above issues affect all of the organizational structures of a business, requiring precise alignment and information management across core business cycles and processes. From the design of a product to its ultimate sale to a customer, several organizational units are involved. These include marketing, sales, finance, field operations, planning, purchasing, manufacturing, distribution, human resources, facilities, and all alliance partners.