Monthly Archives: February 2014

How Will You Tame the Tolls in 2014?

Costs are still rising in the average supply chain, and this situation is not likely to change during this decade. There are still many reasons for this, some obvious, some less so. Regardless of the reasons, these tolls are taxing on every industry and it’s still critical that an organization take action as soon as possible, as the chances of hyper-inflation, which has already occurred in categories such as palladium, cattle, and cocoa, are still high.

However, hyper-inflation is not the only risk facing your supply chain in 2014. It’s not even one risk in ten. It’s one risk amongst a plethora of risk. But it is one of the biggest risks. SI’s new white-paper on the Top Ten Transitions To Tackle in 2014 to Tame the Tolls, discusses this risk in detail, as well as 13 more risks that could result in substantially increased costs to any organization’s supply chain. Risks that need to be addressed to keep organizational costs in line.

Fortunately, there are ways to address these risks. After identifying ten weaknesses in an average organization that are allowing these risks to take root and grow, the white paper identifies ten actions that every organization can take to strengthen its weaknesses and reduce the possibility of the identified risks wreaking havoc with its Supply Management operations. Risks that could increase organizational costs significantly if left unchecked.

The sequel to SI’s white paper on The Top Ten Things to Do in 2013 to Control Costs, this white paper looks at the state of the market one year later and provides you the foundations you need to attack the forthcoming challenges of 2014 head-on. So download the Top Ten Transitions To Tackle in 2014 to Tame the Tolls today (registration required), sponsored by BravoSolution, and get ahead of the game.

B2BConnex – Connecting Companies the World Over Part II

In our last post, which re-introduced you to B2BConnex, a solution for e-Document Management that was designed to automate the end-to-end purchasing process and targeted at small and mid-sized manufacturing organizations still mired in the world of ERP.

We noted that, since our first posts on e-Document Management and automating the end-to-end purchasing process back in the 2010 time-frame, they have been hard at work and have increased the number of supported document types, added scorecard corrective action reporting (SCAR), the ability to have multiple configurations of the software for different geographies/countries/divisions/departments/plants, an improved shopping cart solution, more integration options out of the box, more usability features, and considerably more customization capability. We then dived into some of the new usability features, UI streamlining, reporting capability and some of the new configuration capabilities.

Today we are going to discuss the improved shopping cart, integration options, configuration options, and a few of the workflows more in depth.

Their catalog-based shopping cart works like you would expect, with the ability to search an individual catalog or all catalogs and be presented with a list of matching products complete with images, (partial) descriptions, price (with volume break) fields, default order quantity and add-to-cart button(s). One unique feature is that the application not only supports multiple languages, but allows each product to be associated with custom descriptions in any language the buyer or supplier chooses. This allows a buying organization to present the same catalog and interface to its users around the world, who can then select the language they want to see results in if the default language isn’t their native language. In addition, currency is also configurable and can be changed by the user as well. When the user goes to check out, the system automatically generates a purchase order template where the user can override the default billing, billing contact, shipping, shipping contact, and (requested) shipping method. Once the user confirms the order, the order, broken down by supplier, will be sent back to the client’s sales order system to generate an order there. Then, through the ERP’s fulfilment functions, the order can be used to generate one or more Purchase Orders which can be sent to the supplier through the B2BConnex Direct platform or Supplier Portal.

Once the supplier receives the PO, they can immediately accept it as is and return a Sales Order Acknowledgement, or, if they can’t deliver (all) of the requested items (at once), they can request modifications to delivery dates and order quantities and even request substitutions. In addition, if the supplier can deliver some products now and some products later, the supplier can split the line items and define the quantity that can be delivered now and the quantity that can be delivered later, each with associated delivery dates, and send the PO back with a modification request.

While the catalog-based shopping cart looks plain and simple with its “old-school” PO style, it’s actually quite sophisticated as it plugs into the B2BConnex Direct platform, which can deliver the purchase orders using a variety of methods, including, but not limited to, delivery through the B2B Supplier Portal, EDI to the supplier’s ERP, and XML or EDI (X12) to the supplier’s order management software. And all of this is configurable by the client in the sophisticated administration panel that allows the customer to define the document types supported, the delivery methods required (down to the plant level if need be), and any required mappings to translate from one format to another (which is important if the customer uses their own units of measure, abbreviations, or terminology and not what is expected in the EDI standard, for example).

In addition, there is a lot of security built in. Not only is there no capability by the supplier or buyer to change fields they have not been given access to (unlike there was in a big system that shall not be named that, for years, didn’t pull in the contract price data from the database but just assumed whatever was in the XML was correct), but there is a lot of security to prevent cross-site scripting, SQL injection, and other common and uncommon hack attacks.

Another neat feature is credit limits, which can be configured for each supplier per order and on aggregate and allow the buyer to be alerted when an order will surpass a credit limit and possibly be rejected by the supplier until Accounts Payable brings the buyer’s account up to date.

Their B2BConnex Direct platform, which functions as their native data mapping middleware, allows them to not only translate document types from one format and standard to another very easily, but also provides an API that they can use to integrate into just about any ERP, finance, procurement, or back-office system of relevance with respect to one of the many e-Document types that are natively supported which include, but are not limited to, RFQs, purchase orders, sales order acknowledgements, ship notices, delivery schedules, goods receipts, invoices, payment reports, payment receipts, RMAs (return merchandise authorizations), and inventory forecasts.

The B2BConnex platform, like the B2BConnex Customer (Buyer) and Supplier Portals, are very configurable — each document type that is sent from and/or delivered to each location can have its own delivery format. For example, if you have one plant offshore that still isn’t on the enterprise ERP, and can’t accept EDI, you can have EDI documents delivered to all plants except that one, which can be required to use the portal.

In addition, customers can manage their own profiles and user base, deciding who has access to what parts of the system and add and remove accounts as necessary. The last thing you want is to have to wait for a vendor to add or remove an account every time someone joins or leaves your organization. While a number of modern systems have this feature, there are still systems out there that work on named-user licenses (and as a solution buyer, you have to watch out for that).

In a nutshell, even though the B2BConnex solution employs an old-school look, it is actually a very modern SaaS application under the covers and definitely worth looking into if you are a small-or-mid-sized organization that is still in the ERP world and need a better solution.

B2BConnex – Connecting Companies the World Over Part I

Since we first introduced you to B2BConnex, a solution for e-Document Management that was designed to automate the end-to-end purchasing process, they’ve been working hard to extend their platform and serve the global operations of their customer base. Even though, as we noted in our first post, their solution was targeted at small and mid-size manufacturing organizations that are still mired in the ERP and need better solutions for their purchasing function, B2BConnex has recently acquired some larger mid-sized companies with global operations and a global supply base. As a result, B2BConnex has been steadily expanding their solution capability and footprint to meet the needs of these larger clients.

As per our post on e-Document Management for Small & Mid-Size Manufacturers, they started out as an e-Document Management solution, implemented as a simple web-based portal solution that integrated with the back-end ERP and/or MRP system, that allowed purchasing and logistics personnel to efficiently manage RFQs, Purchase Orders, Kanban Orders, Shipment Notices, Payment Inquiries, and Invoices and sales to efficiently handle inbound RFQs, sales orders, and inbound shipment inquiries. On top of this, as per our post on automate the end-to-end purchasing process, they built m-way matching and reporting capabilities (and can tell you whether or not the invoice matches the purchase order and / or the goods receipt), scorecard capability, and customer branding capability as well as streamlined Excel integration and a shopping cart that runs on a customer catalog.

Since then they have been hard at work adding more and/or improved document types (including requisitions, specifications, surveys, etc.), scorecard corrective action reporting (SCAR), the ability to have multiple configurations of the software for different geographies/countries/divisions/departments/plants, an improved shopping cart solution, more integration options out-of-the-box, more usability features (such as the ability for a supplier to flip a PO, or line items, into an invoice or ASN and a buyer to flip an invoice, or line items, into a goods receipt), and more customization capability (which allows the entire look-and-feel to be custom skinned, including layout options, by the customer). In today’s post we will talk about the streamlining that B2BConnex has implemented since we last covered their application, the enhanced reporting, and the configuration capability. In tomorrow’s post, we will discuss their improved catalog and shopping cart capability, their B2B Direct solution, and the associated services that B2BConnex offers.

All of the relevant fields of the documents can be edited in-line in the application. For example, once a purchase order has been created, the supplier can request changes online to pricing, quantities, delivery date or other data which are updated in your ERP system once approved . All changes are tracked and a full audit trail is maintained, as well as any or all comments attached to the purchase order. The same holds for the shipment notice, which can be created by a supplier with access to the supplier portal. The shipment notice can be created from a single purchase order or from open line items from multiple orders. Similarly, Corrective Action Requests can be created manually and can reference invoices, shipment notices, or goods receipts and be associated with the requisite line items.

The UI has been streamlined so that when a user logs in, they can quickly view a list of all documents that have been assigned to them and how many of those documents require (immediate) attention. This allows the user — be it a buyer, logistics manager, or supplier — to focus their attention on those items that require immediate attention and prioritize their workday.

In addition, document creation has been streamlined so that a user only has to enter minimal meta-data information, as each document can have as many attachments as is required to create the specification, RFQ, or scorecard. In addition, all documents can be created from Excel sheets, and templates can be exported from the application.

Custom reports can be built on any data in the system, and the reporting capability allows the user to quickly retrieve only those documents that have been recently reviewed, changed, accepted, negotiated, approved, satisfied, etc. and restricted to a supplier, buyer, etc. based on the audit-trails and meta-data maintained by the system. Built-in reports, all of which are configurable, include performance summary, response time, negation detail, time to approval, received unapproved, delivery, price data, first pass yield, open document line, and transit days report — all designed to measure the performance of purchasing.

The configuration capability is quite extensive. The administrator can configure look and feel, fields displayed for view or update, status codes, currencies, languages, scheduling, expediting, user accounts, account policies, logging, file I/O, EDI, portal options, individual geography/department configurations, ERP integration (including users, data field mappings, etc.), partners, partner profiles, items, and catalogues, and other data items of relevance. The solution can be customized to fit the process of the buying organization and the workflow of the applications the personnel are used to.

Come back tomorrow for a review of additional capabilities added by B2BConnex since our last posts as well as a discussion of the services they offer.

Top 12 Challenges Facing India in the Decades Ahead – 08 – Poverty

As per our last post, India is poor. Really poor. By far the poorest of the BRICs with 2/3rds of the population poor by any reasonable definition of poverty. Just how poor is India? In just about any ranking that matters, it’s not well off. When it is compared to the 16 countries outside of sub-saharan Africa that are poorer than it, India is in the lower half of the rankings at best, and near, or at, the bottom in a few cases.

For example, let’s start with some of the leading social indicators (Source: An Uncertain Glory, p 49):

  • Life Expectancy at Birth: 9th
  • Infant and Under-5 Mortality Rates: 10th
  • Access to Improved Sanitation: 13th
  • Mean Years of Schooling: 11th
  • Literacy Rate: 9th for Males, 11th for Females
  • Proportion of Children Under 5 Undernourished: 15th

And this list includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Cambodia, Haiti, Krygyzstan, Laos, Moldova, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua, New Guinea, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and Yemen!

Consider the sanitation metric in particular. In Bangladesh, which is considerably poorer than India, only 8.4% of the households practice open defecation. However, in India, 55% of households practice open defecation. How can you become a first world country if you can’t even provide your citizens with toilets? (Or even outhouses?)

The metrics are even worse when you compare it to the BRICs. Worst life expectancy. Worst mortality rates. Least access to sanitation. Worst literacy rates. Most undernourishment. In addition, it has the lowest immunization rates and the lowest health care expenditures as a percentage of GDP.

With respect to health care, India did launch the National Rural Health Mission in 2005-2006, but allocated it a measly RS 10,000 crores per year for the fist five years. Given that almost 70% of India’s population is still rural, if two-thirds are poor and likely in need of the program, that’s about 560 Million people who could use help from the program. If you do the math, that’s less than 1 rupee per five people! Plus, it seems to be going down a road of privatization, relying on private institutions and private insurance, with public transfers for the poor who make the BPL (Below Poverty Line) cutoff and qualify, and this is a direction that has yet to work successfully for any major country. In almost every country with good health care, a good public system preceded a good private system.

SI could go on, but you get the point. While India is increasing its GDP at a relatively rapid rate, it is still poor (and the poorest of the BRICs) and the average person is really poor and needs a lot of social assistance to even reach the same standard of life that poor people have in China, Brazil, and Russia. With about 800 Billion people who could use some form of government assistance, this is a huge burden in a country that collects, on average, 1 US dollar for every 3 citizens in tax revenue.

Some Things Should Be Autonomous, But Automobiles?

As per this recent K@W article, automakers are working hard to advance the state of the automobiles, and that’s a good thing, but should the ultimate goal be autonomous, driver-less vehicles?

While park-assist, remote control parking, trailer assist, construction site assistant, blind spot monitor and the pre-crash occupant protection system and other safety systems are a good thing, there’s a difference between adding technology to alert a driver to danger and creating a car that drives itself in an effort to remove the human element. While human error is the leading cause of accidents, it’s not the only cause of accidents. Sometimes an animal, or human, jumps in front of the vehicle or an object falls in front of the vehicle, sometimes something breaks and the vehicle can’t be stopped, and sometimes a natural disaster happens.

If there’s not enough time to stop, a computer is not going to be able to stop the car; if something breaks, a program can’t fix it; and if an unexpected event occurs, will the algorithm know how to deal with it? For example, even if there’s no time to stop, a human might be able to take evasive action and avoid hitting a person who steps in front of the vehicle without warning. But if the only choice is hitting a person or hitting a building, will the algorithm make the right choice? (Cars and buildings can be fixed, dead people can’t). Or will it keep calculating to infinity in hopes of finding a collision-free path of action, and hit the human in the process. What if the failure causes a disconnect between the core processor and the brakes? What if an earthquake happens? Will the algorithm be able to interpret the readings correctly?

But more importantly, what if the system crashes? The average car already has more lines of code in its operating system than in an average computer operating system. As per this article over on the MIT technology review, many cars have a hundred million lines of code in their operating system. For comparative purposes, Windows 7 has about 40 Million lines of code. How many lines of code is it going to take to create an operating system that can drive an autonomous vehicle that performs well enough for a government to consider allowing it on the road? Hundreds of Million, if not a Billion. That’s a lot o code. How do you adequately test that much code? You don’t. You can never guarantee that the code is error free and that system won’t crash. You can only test until the probability is high enough for you to accept as likely to be error free in practice.

And what happens if an unexpected event happens at 70 MPH on the highway and the system crashes? Nothing good.

But the real concern is what happens when the OS is hacked? Your computer gets hacked, you lose your personal and confidential information and the computer becomes inaccessible to you until you unplug (and reboot) it. If your car gets hacked, it becomes inaccessible to you until you cut the power. You can’t do that at 70 MPH, and since all cars are being built with 4G, bluetooth, wifi, etc. — if a hacker gets control of it while you are on the road, he can crash your car into another and there will be nothing you can do.

And if the hack is the result of a bug in the OS that allows for a massive zero-day exploit, a hacker could take control of all cars on the road on the same communication network, and cause them all to accelerate until they hit something. If tens of thousands of vehicles were hacked and subverted all at once in a zero-day exploit, the widespread damage that could be caused would be hundreds or thousands of times worse than most terrorist groups currently achieve when they manage to hijack a plane or blow up a single building.

In other words, removing the human completely from the picture doesn’t increase safety, it decreases it. If we must have autonomous vehicles, then they better all come with an old-school code-free manual override switch that, in an emergency, will let us turn the computer off so we can drive home safely and tell those darn kids to get off our lawns.