About Supply Chain
Probably the most diverse of Communities, covering the widest range of subjects within SAP. Some people are simply interested in a helicopter view of their Supply Chain processes via a dashboard, while others are really interested in the minute detail of say warehouse locations.
Related Focus Groups
Direct Procurement
Discover how other members perceive direct procurement, also referred to as direct spend, which involves the acquisition of goods or materials directly linked to the production of manufactured goods. Topics of interest may include SAP Business Network Supply Chain Collaboration, Global Trade Services, ECC, and S/4MM, among others.
Indirect Procurement
This Focus Group concentrates on topics like Ariba, Fieldglass, Global Trade Services, ECC, S/4MM and Source-to-Pay, aiming to facilitate members in sharing their experiences and strategies regarding indirect procurement.
Inventory Management & Optimisation
Engage with fellow members in this group to explore how they manage inventory optimisation effectively. This involves maintaining an appropriate level of inventory to fulfil demand, minimise logistics expenses and mitigate common inventory challenges like stockouts, overstocking and backorders. Topics of interest may include IBP inventory management and Design-to-Operate methodologies.
Manufacturing
Participate in discussions within the group to review the manufacturing process within the supply chain and exchange insights with other members who are navigating similar journeys. Topics covered may include ECC and S/4 Production Planning and PP/DW, SAP MII, SAP Digital Manufacturing Cloud, Global Trade Services, as well as ECC and S/4 Quality Management and Design-to-Operate methodologies.
Order to Cash Including Distribution
Engage in discussions about the Order to Cash process and strategies to complete it effectively. Explore the steps involved in the process and share best practices for each stage. Additionally, consider additional topics such as ECC and S/4 Sales & Distribution (SD), Source-to-Pay and SAP Transportation Management to gain a comprehensive understanding of how these elements integrate with the Order to Cash process and contribute to its efficiency. By exchanging insights and experiences, members can enhance their knowledge and optimise their Order to Cash operations.
Planning
Learn about how others approach the forward-looking process of coordinating assets to optimise the delivery of goods, services and information from suppliers to customers. This involves balancing supply and demand and encompasses Integrated Business Planning (IBP), Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP), Demand-Driven Material Requirements Planning (DDMRP) and other relevant topics such as Design-to-Operate.
Supply Chain Analytics
Collaborate with fellow members to explore how organisations leverage Supply Chain Analytics and related tools and processes. Discuss how these tools combine and analyse data from various systems to provide insights into procurement, processing and distribution of goods. By sharing experiences and best practices, members can enhance their understanding and utilisation of analytics to optimise their supply chain operations.
Supply Chain Sustainability
Examine the integration of ethical and environmentally responsible practices into a competitive and successful model within your supply chain. Explore solutions like Green Ledger, Plan-to-Fulfil, and Design-to-Operate, among others, to promote sustainability and responsible practices throughout the supply chain lifecycle.
Warehouse Management
Engage in discussions to rationalise and streamline logistics planning, focusing on the role of warehouses in the supply chain. Explore strategies to reduce costs and enhance inventory accuracy. Topics for discussion may include ECC Warehouse Management (WM), S/4 Stockroom Management, Extended Warehouse Management (EWM) and SAP Yard Logistics. By exchanging insights and best practices, members can optimise warehouse operations and improve overall supply chain efficiency.
Community Chairs
Mark Belmore
Over 30 years of experience, within the rail industry with Alstom in a variety of roles across its European Operations from hands-on manufacturing to production control, procurement to customer support, inbound warehousing, product distribution and supply chain improvements. More recently creating a London Materials hub delivering long-term material forecasting and short term material planning solutions within SAP. This has now moved to being a UK-wide role delivering material planning solutions for the legacy Bombardier business within Alstom.
Richard Wilkins
Richard is the Make-to-Deliver Transformation Director at Royal Canin, where he leads a team designing global supply chain solutions for the first S/4HANA implementation at Mars Inc. A Chartered Engineer with an MBA and a background in the consumer products and food industry. Prior to Mars, he worked in manufacturing, maintenance and digital roles at Toshiba, Gillette and P&G. In 2022 he was selected as one of the top 100 changemakers in UK manufacturing by The Manufacturer for his work on digital innovation.
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