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Warehouse management challenges in the pharmaceutical industry banner
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Warehouse Management Challenges in the Pharmaceutical Industry
Warehouse Management Challenges in the Pharmaceutical Industry 700 500 Xcelpros Team

At a Glance

The pharmaceutical industry faces some unique warehouse management challenges. Many of these issues can dramatically impact medications, even though they may not exist in industries such as general retail.

Key issues facing warehouse managers include:

  • Keeping portions of their facilities at the correct temperatures to prevent medications from spoiling.
  • Following federally-mandating good manufacturing process rules.
  • Security issues for products and intellectual property.
  • Inventory controls.

Warehouse issues specific to the pharmaceutical industry include:

  • Temperature control: Active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), precursor chemicals, and manufactured drugs frequently require controlled temperatures. A general temperature range for a cool, dry place is between 59-77° F (15-25° C). Some products, such as vaccines, may require freezing. Exposing drugs to the temperature outside their effective ranges can cause chemical changes and reduce a drug’s effectiveness. For example, Baystate Health states that medications containing hormones do not work as well when exposed to colder or hotter temperatures.
  • Humidity control: Moisture condensing inside packages can impact a medication’s effectiveness. Baystate Health states that blood glucose strips exposed to humidity will give inaccurate readings.
  • Light exposure: Exposure to ultraviolet light from the sun and other sources can change the chemical structure of some medications. The light exposure causes photodecomposition, reducing the medication’s potency. Light exposure can also cause side effects after administration, such as phototoxicity and photoallergy, a 1997 post in PubMed states.
  • Adhering to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Current Good Manufacturing Process (CGMP) standards for warehouses, processes, and drugs: Includes keeping careful track of item locations within the warehouse.

According to Kanban, the FDA’s CGMP warehouse standards include the following:

  • Contamination prevention: Storage must allow inspection and cleaning.
  • Identification: Each drug must have a unique, traceable code that identifies the lot’s status, such as approved, quarantined or rejected.
  • Distribution Procedures: Written procedures describing the distribution process for each drug including recalls.
  • Storage Procedures: Written procedures describing the storage conditions for each drug are required.

Some pharmaceuticals require only temperature controls for specific ranges. Other medications require climate-controlled environments affecting temperature and humidity.

Figure: 1Pharmaceutical Warehouse Management Challenges

Pharmaceutical Warehouse Management Challenges

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Following GMP Rules

GMP SOP states that following the Good Manufacturing Process (GMP) rules enables manufacturers to:

  • Protect medicines and raw materials for medicines during storage
  • Prevent finished product degradation
  • Avoid contamination from other materials
  • Prevent damaged or expired products from being shipped

Warehouse managers also face the challenge of keeping track of three types of items appearing on the packaging bill of materials governed by GMP procedures. Each of these item types requires unique lot numbers:

  • APIs, precursor chemicals and other starting materials
  • Packaging materials
  • Printed materials

All warehouse managers face inventory control requirements. Those in the pharmaceutical sector also deal with intense government scrutiny.

Receiving Shipments

Other GMPs in the pharmaceutical industry require materials arriving from suppliers to be reviewed based on their use. For example, it’s important to check starting chemicals to confirm they are:

  • From a source approved by the company
  • Free of damage and defects
  • Labeled with all required information
  • Have a unique identifier
  • Registered in the company’s inventory database
  • Quarantined until quality control tests are performed
  • Stored appropriately and safely, such as in a temperature-controlled section or “Dangerous Goods” area for flammable and toxic materials

Unlike retail goods warehouses, pharmaceutical warehouse managers should also set aside an area for raw materials to be tested and confirmed to meet all required standards. A similar section should exist for any materials that fail these tests, GMPSOP states.

Sampling and Testing

Sampling and testing should be done in a room having sections with positive air pressure (i.e., the air pressure is higher than that outside, preventing contaminants such as dust, microbes, pollen, cleaning agents and lubricants from entering) and negative air pressure (i.e., the pressure is lower than that outside to prevent materials from inside the room going outside). An airlock with positive pressure keeps out external contaminants. With the airlock sealed, the inner testing can have negative air pressure to keep chemicals from contaminating the larger warehouse.

Other sampling room requirements include clean instruments and appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) as required by the federal Occupational Health and Safety Act (OSHA) and the FDA. OSHA has a downloadable brochure on warehouse safety.

Storage and Tracking Inside the Warehouse

“Lack of control over material movement in the warehouse can, and has, led to defective products,” GMPSOP states.

General warehouse practices (GWP) require that:

  • Received unused goods and finished products are quarantined until approved for release.
  • Items have correct status labels (e.g., current, expired, etc.)
  • Unique identifiers are visible.
  • Products are stored by type when appropriate.
  • Access to toxins and addictive drugs or chemicals is stored separately. Access is limited only to approved personnel.
  • Materials are tracked as they move through the production facility from the Receiving area to Production and then to the Shipping.

When possible, warehouse managers should have separate sections to store damaged or returned goods, recalled items, “not for sale” samples and when identified, counterfeit materials.

Labeling

Another challenge for pharmaceutical warehouse managers is accurate labeling. GMP rules require labels to include a familiar name and Unique Identification Number that must be different from the supplier’s lot number. The UIN must be recorded in the lab, on the facility’s computer system, and in production. GMP SOP suggests not referring to the IUN as a batch number.

Other requirements unique to pharmaceutical labeling include:

  • Expiration dates
  • Barcodes for additional tracking options
  • Status indications, typically in the form of a color code
  • Quarantined products
  • Items being held for investigation
  • Rejection labels when an item fails to meet required standards
  • Approval and/or release labels indicating the item can proceed to the next step in the supply chain

Security Challenges

Medicines and other pharmaceutical products are in high demand, making them tempting targets.

Warehouses should have secure physical storage areas for raw materials and finished products.

In addition, Avcostar states that the formulary, drugs, and drug components are expensive and prone to theft. It suggests performing a risk analysis audit that includes where known security breaches occurred. “The company can then focus on identifying and eliminating the most vulnerable posts and systems against malicious access, modification or deletion of data, enhance access control to systems and data and implement new cybersecurity best practices,” Arecont Vision Costar VP of Marketing Jeff Whitney states.

The code of federal regulars 21 CFR Chapter 1 requires control of all production stages, including system validation and audit trails. Refer to this article from Cornell Law School for detailed information.

Solving Challenges

Effective use of warehouse management computer systems, such as the warehouse management module in Microsoft Dynamics 365’s Supply Chain Management, can help track inventory management in pharmaceuticals accurately and manage these challenges.

The module “has a wide range of features to support the warehouse facility at an optimal level at any time,” according to Microsoft. Among the warehouse module’s functions are:

  • Workflow support
  • Using mobile devices
  • Full batch and serial item support
  • Label printing and routing
Effectively-Tracking-and-Controlling-Inventory
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Effectively Tracking and Controlling Inventory
Effectively Tracking and Controlling Inventory 700 500 Xcelpros Team

Introduction to effective inventory management

Especially today, manufacturers, wholesalers and retail businesses from several different industries share several standard business practices, with inventory management at the top of the list.

An efficient, capable inventory management system can distinguish between struggle and success. Any boost to the efficiency of managing your inventory can result in a significant return on investment. To drive the effectiveness of your inventory management, especially when if you’re just getting started, it helps to pay attention to 10 popular techniques:

1.Fine-tune your forecasting Accurate forecasting is a must unless you want to either tie up precious capital in product stuck on warehouse shelves or be unable to meet your customers’ orders.

2.Identify low-turn stock Have a flexible ordering approach that, combined with accurate forecasting, lets to adjust inventory based on customer priorities.

3.Regularly audit your inventory Knowing—not guessing—what you have at any given moment lets you adjust ordering to ensure a balanced inventory.

4.Track stock levels You want to track all inventory from the moment you purchase raw materials or components to when you deliver finished goods to your customer’s door.

5.Keep track of your equipment Especially in a production plant – Knowing what you have, how quickly it wears and when to schedule repairs for optimal life ensures uninterrupted production runs.

6.Verify Quality Ensure all items in your inventory meet your quality control standards, ideally from the moment they arrive.

7.Categorize inventory based on customers needs Ensure you have the most sought-after products in stock at all times, working your way down the line to the least popular products.

8.Consider drop shipping This is much quicker especially for any items you don’t make yourself, especially when it becomes part of your product. An example is a Siemens ® controller for industrial machinery.

9.Rotate your stockTurn your stock so the oldest items are sold first This is especially true for pharmaceutical products with comparatively short shelf lives.

10. Use good inventory management software A viable program that meshes with your financial and sales software helps keep everyone informed, making for happier customers.

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Figure 1:Common inventory management challenges

Common inventory management challenges

Common Inventory Management Challenges

Among the most common inventory management challenges that can affect a number of different businesses are the following:

  • Inconsistent tracking Working with older software that relies on manual data entry opens a company to data entry errors. Mistakes are bound to happen when different departments use different spreadsheets to input the same information.
  • Inaccurate data Companies need to know how much of everything they have on hand and in the pipeline. Without accurate information, you won’t be able to track your production. This can be a massive problem if you’re still manually entering data.
  • Order management Manufacturers often live on the edge of logistics, struggling to make sure deliveries are going out just in time – right before their customers need them.
  • Juggling a complex supply chain Manufacturers need alternate ways of obtaining raw materials and shipping finished products. For example, your primary port is running behind because dock workers are sick. How do you get what you need when you need it?
  • Communications and planning Intercompany communication is critical, especially in a world where companies often have business units in different countries, keeping everyone focused on the same task can be difficult.
  • Robust competition In every industry, competition is ready and willing to grab your customers when you make a mistake or find yourself unable to deliver on time and within budget.

These are a few examples of the challenges faced by modern manufacturers. Thankfully, the good news is that modern ERP solutions can be a huge help when it comes to addressing these issues.

Inventory Management Software As a Solution

Several inventory managements programs available on the market today that focus not only on addressing these challenges, but also by identifying potential issues before they can impact your operations. Some of the best solutions available, like Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management, can seamlessly integrate with your existing software, reducing data silos, allowing different departments to share more information. Instead of requiring three departments to input the same information into a database, each group is able to provide material unique to their specialty.

Effective inventory management programs like Microsoft can print barcodes and QR labels. When these codes are scanned with a hand-held reader or cellphone, users can be rewarded with a wealth of information. The most critical data to track are precisely how much of any product you have, where it’s being stored, and what it will be used for.

For example, you need to produce 20,000 doses of a Covid-19 treatment. Your customer needs them yesterday but will settle for next week. Do you have enough raw materials on hand to meet your customer’s deadline? If not, what can you do to obtain what you need?

Using this information wisely lets management develop complex plans, like the ability to track everything from small lots to pallet loads. A company can learn by checking an item’s progress at different points—its arrival at the warehouse, use in production, loading onto a truck or ship, and delivery to the customer. By examining reports, you can identify potential delays or roadblocks and find ways to speed up delivery.

Supply chain management software on a secure cloud computing platform like Microsoft’s Azure let’s you communicate securely and safely with other researchers, salespeople and vendors. With Azure, you’ll know that your intellectual property and contracts are safe from competitors.

Boost Decision Accuracy with Power BI

With today’s supply chains – seemingly constantly in a state of upheaval – effective inventory management that goes beyond tracking stock on hand is critical to operations. Effectively managing your inventory and raw materials ensures you’ll have the materials you need when you need them. It means having more than one source of supplies and materials. It also means constantly checking with vendors to ensure you have the goods to meet your own delivery deadlines. This is where an integrated business intelligence solution comes into play.

Microsoft Power BI let’s you connect to hundreds of data sources, preparing reports you can easily share. You can confidently deliver interactive messages to customers using information from inside and outside your company. Inventory planners can be warned of potential shortages in time to find alternate supplies. Salespeople can be told of possible delivery delays caused by outside forces, giving them time to ask the customer if they want to use a different shipping method.

Accurate business intelligence at your fingertips puts you ahead of competitors stuck using their “tried and true” methods that are becoming increasingly worthless every day.

Final Thoughts

Effective inventory management comes down to data: knowing what you have and where it is.

A modern inventory control system that supports labels and barcodes lets you track raw materials, work-in-progress and finished goods simultaneously, with high accuracy.

An inventory system with business intelligence helps you find faster and alternate ways of obtaining raw materials and pre-made products, mainly when shipping delays occur. That information can help you get your products to your customers when needed, balancing everyone’s inventory.

Overview of Chemical Distribution in Microsoft Dynamics 365
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An Overview of Chemical Distribution in Microsoft Dynamics 365
An Overview of Chemical Distribution in Microsoft Dynamics 365 700 500 Xcelpros Team

At a Glance

Chemical distribution companies have several requirements when facing challenges in today’s business world. They include:

  • Needing an overview of end-to-end supply chain processes including solutions to increase operational efficiencies
  • Getting an overview of planning and inventory management for bulk chemicals and packaged chemicals
  • Understanding best practice depictions of typical chemical distribution processes

By the Numbers

Chemical distribution companies today are focusing their efforts on optimizing supply chains, warehouse and floor operations. They function as a supply chain partner, anticipating customer needs and helping them stay ahead of their competition.

  • The chemical distribution industry is on a massive growth curve. Grand View Research states the industry’s value was $247.1 billion in 2020.
  • The expected compound annual growth rate from 2020 -2028 is 4.0 percent.
  • There’s a growing need to set your processes straight and streamline your supply chain with sufficient controls in place to keep up with the pace of the market.

4 Key Processes

There are 4 key processes that matter to a chemical distribution company:

  1. 1.Order-to-Cash: The ability to take a customer order efficiently and deliver it by the customer’s deadline.
  2. 2.Procure-to-Pay: The ability to manage purchase orders and receiving departments efficiently, optimizing spending on procurement to avoid high capital inventory spending.
  3. 3.Inventory Management: Inventory Management: Maintaining optimal inventory levels without excessive capital spending.
  4. 4.Break Bulk Operations: Break Bulk Operations: Breaking down bulk shipments such as tankers and large shipments of individual products into smaller pack sizes.

User Story: Warehouse Chaos

Survival in a highly competitive world requires chemical distribution companies to efficiently organize and design their warehouses. Internal routes must be optimized to let manned and robotic pickers grab inventory for break bulking, repacking or outbound shipments. Inventory storage needs to be precisely planned, especially while handling hazardous chemicals.

Too familiar is the chemical customer with multiple warehouses. They store bulk and packaged chemicals stocked in rows, racks and bins spread across multiple aisles. Some of these chemicals require temperature controls. Many have hazardous condition restrictions.

It’s common for companies to focus on meeting the basics and storing things wherever they fit. No warehouses are organized, making it difficult to track where incoming product was stored and gathering items to fill customer orders.

Making matters worse are poor operational practices. For example a high volume order involved taking some contents from a 55 gallon bulk chemical drum. Operators move the drum to Staging, remove what order the order required and then leave the drum at staging. No effort is made to record the location or remaining quantity. At best, inventory numbers are manually written on a tag attached to the drum, not entered into the computer system.

This method creates many inefficiencies later in the production process. They include:

  1. 1. Inefficient use of space. The Staging area was already small. It was made worse by leaving drums and totes for break-bulk orders, causing Staging to grow continually.
  2. 2. Inefficient use of time. The system showed the drums were at their primary inventory location. Operators unable to find items there had to manually check each tag. Some operators eventually knew to look for inventory in the primary or staging locations. Other workers wasted time looking for the items.
  3. 3. No inventory tracking method.
  4. 4. Inaccurate inventory counts. Inventories were constantly adjusted for missing or untraceable inventory. Lack of accurate counts meant ordering more supplies to fulfill customer demands.
  5. 5. Over ordering meant not having enough space to store the extra bulk material.

The chaos caused by not returning bulk items to their designated location can make conducting a physical count a Herculean task. With missing inventory placed at unplanned staging locations, it added to the warehouse imbalances.

An Ideal Journey

Organizing any operation-chemical manufacturing or distribution—starts with analyzing its operations, growth initiatives and business goals for the next five years.

Ways to make warehouses more efficient include:

  • Review existing warehouse storage and design in terms of locations and inventory groupings.
  • Using federal, state and local safety guidelines based on chemical properties, create procedures stating where chemicals must be stored.
  • Number locations by aisle, row, rack and bins.
  • Place the fasting moving items close to the shipping area.
  • When receiving bulk containers, label them with a scannable barcode.
  • Label the put away locations and staging locations so checkers can quickly and easily count quantities in a specific location.
  • Provide workers with mobile devices that let them scan barcodes providing real time work details and order status updates.

Processes and Procedures in the Chemical Industry

Chemical manufacturing and distribution companies have many similarities in terms of receiving, inventory, planning, shipping and warehouse management.

The basic processes within the chemical distribution industry are centered more around warehouse management, inventory, planning, repacking, light manufacturing, shipping and receiving. Chemical manufacturing adds route operations, resources and work in progress (WIP) testing.

Inventory management processes in a chemical distribution company start with Purchasing and Receiving.

Purchased products are bulk or packaged chemicals, packaging items, labels and other supplies. These products normally come from an approved primary vendor or supplier.

Reporting and analytics shows two statistics that determine the effectiveness of the primary supplier:

  1. 1. The buyer’s decision to switch to an alternate vendor for a specific purchase.
  2. 2. The number of times this change occurs.

Vendor ratings showing the percentage of purchases delivered on time and in full is also important to buyers.

Figure: 1High-level Flow of Purchase Order-to-receive Process

High level flow of purchase to receive process

The next major process is inventory and warehouse management.

The most efficient warehouses are organized by aisle, row, rack, bin, lot or batch. They have pallet ID tags and box IDs. Materials managers seeking better organization find that using a license plate number for rows, racks, bins and pallets works best. Using scannable barcodes lets users with mobile devices easily retrieve inventory.

Using this method reduces lost inventory, incorrect counts and locations. It also makes tracking individual products faster and easier such as when repacking items.

Labeling all warehouse locations is also critical when streamlining operations. Two common methods are Serpentine and Standard. Most companies follow a four location naming standard with aisle, rack, row and bin.

Figure: 2Layout of a Typical Warehouse in a Chemical Distribution Company

Layout of a typical warehouse in a chemical distribution company

The third main process used by chemical distribution companies is capacity planning or master planning.

These companies should plan to break bulk and repack, changing labels at each stage. Master plans help track human resources, label printers, packaging machines and other devices.

Typical operations such as repackaging or breaking bulk require those stations and their operators. These functions cannot occur when either is unavailable.

Distribution companies seeing fast moving or express items require planning that is more agile. Agility requires operating on a net change mode instead of completely recreating set-ups every hour. Having that flexibility helps planners make key decisions and set priorities that optimize the work effort.

Figure: 3High-level view of Master Plan in Microsoft Dynamics 365

High level view of master plan in Microsoft dynamics 365

The fourth major process is production and packaging.

Production in chemical distribution companies uses light manufacturing operations such as repacking. A bulk container is opened and quantities required to fill an order are removed.

Typical work orders include operations such as filling, packing, labor, quality and Labeling. The yield provides the quantities and costs to produce each container.

Labeling is the fifth major process.

Labeling is an additional operation on the shop-floor. Including an integrated label management solution included in normal workflows ensures merchandise is properly tracked.

Figure: 4High-level Repack Process in Chemical Distribution

High-level Repack Process in Chemical Distribution

The last two steps are order management followed by billing.

Once inventory is available, warehouse pickers should select the fastest route that lets them gather all items to fill that order. Items are then packaged, labeled and wrapped. Typically, they include certificates of analysis, safety data sheets, a packing slip and a bill of lading. Smaller orders often include a commercial shipping service tracking number.

As soon as everything is packed and shipped, the final step is sending the customer an accurate bill.

Figure: 5High-level Customer Sales Order to Shipment in Chemical Distribution

High level customer sales order to shipment in chemical distribution

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What a Distribution Company Looks Like in Microsoft Dynamics 365

Below is a quick view of what a chemical distribution company would look like in Microsoft Dynamics 365 assuming all required raw materials are available.

01.Products

This information is maintained within the Product Information Management (PIM) module. For a chemical distribution company, it is the heart of supply chain and manufacturing.

At a high level, Product falls into these categories:

Item Group Type Defination
Item – RM Raw Material Ingredient Purchased
Item – INT Intermediate Produced as Part of the Formulation
SKU Finished Product Containerized Finished Product through a Formula
Label Package – Raw Material Labelled Raw Material
KIT Finished Product Packaged into 1 case with same SKUS
BOX Package – Raw Material Package Purchased
Container (Tote, Drum, Etc.) Package – Raw Material Package Purchased
Package (Cases, Kits, Etc.) Package – Raw Material Package Purchased
Services Services  
Supplies Expensed Packaging Material, Lab Supplies, Office Supplies, Etc.  

In addition, companies should define products requiring tracking by batch, location and license plate. These items may also require coverage settings, lead times and other attributes such as chemical properties and label elements such as hazard statements, pictograms and hazard symbols.

02.On-Hand Inventory

Having a detailed view of inventory by batch, serial number, site, warehouse, location and license plate number for each product provides an inventory snapshot. The data applies to multiple roles such as planners, buyers, customer service representatives and materials managers.

D365 can also produce an inventory value report. It shows inventory quantity and total value plus the physical and financial cost by unit. Having a view into on-hand inventory value for both inventory and WIP can then be reconciled back to General Ledger.

In Dynamics 365, there are many different ways of slicing and dicing inventory. One screen is an on-hand list view displaying all available inventory based on dimensions. Selecting the dimension displays the site, warehouse, location, batch and serial number.

On-Hand Inventory step 1

On-Hand Inventory step 2

03.Sales Orders

D365 is versatile in terms of orders for chemical products, kits or cases. In Microsoft D365, customers can have products shipped to them or directly to their customer.

This process starts when customer service creates a sales order with the customer’s PO number. They add the products being shipped to the customer. The order can include specific customer instructions and notes. Notes and attachments can be set for printing on specific documents such as the packing slip or bill of lading.

For distribution, Microsoft Dynamics provides a Distributed Order Management (DOM) indicator. It provides a complete picture of inventory across the warehouse and ensures the order processes correctly.

Sales Orders Step 1

Sales Orders Step 2

Sales Orders Step 3

04.Master Planning

Depending on how the packaged items are set up for planning (e.g., min/max, requirement or period) with lead times and calendar setup, companies can run a master plan in a regeneration mode. This mode displays all supply, demand, planned supply and forecasted demand or net changes since the last full master resource planning run.

Typically, companies run master planning for all items or items under a certain coverage group such as fast moving items.

Master Planning

05.Production of Kits and Cases

Microsoft Dynamics 365 has extensive functionality supporting all chemical distribution company production operations. The operations can be streamlined for simplicity or conform to current methods.

For example, setting a production order in D365 can include finished goods produced, work planned, tracking operations, routes, resource cost and job scheduling.

Different views are set based on security roles and privileges. These allow different sets of users to view the production order, picklists, route cards or job cards.

Production of Kits and Cases step 1

Production of Kits and Cases step 2

Production of Kits and Cases step 3

Companies can also use Gantt charts to visually see planning and job scheduling. D365 has a powerful visual planning and scheduling tool that comes handy when scheduling tasks for all sales orders planned during a day, week or a month.

Production of Kits and Cases step 4

Bill Of Materials(BOM) journals are used in the production process to add finished goods into inventory and to reduce the inventory components within the formula or BOM.

These journals help reduce the process time instead of using a full production order.

A BOM journal cannot perform functions like tracking jobs and operations. It also is not part of visual planning.

Production of Kits and Cases step 5

Note: Xcelpros earlier blog post on “Operational Challenges in a Chemical Company: Key Solutions” explains production and operations in more detail.

06.Shipments

International shipments add export documentation not required for domestic deliveries. Both shipment types use a common document set generated by D365.

Using D365’s advanced warehouse management functions, outbound work and a shipment wave is created to pick products and put-aways for packaging.

D365 enhanced with the power of Integrated Chemical Management (iCM) prints a documentation package including:

  • Warehouse Work: Displays sales order number, work number, product batch or lot number, license plate information and put-away location in barcode formats. Work is processed using a barcode device.
  • Packing Slip: Displays the sales order number, customer PO number, delivery method, ship date, product to be delivered, quantity delivered, unit of measure, batch number or lot number delivered, ship to address, ship from address, back-order quantity and other related information.
  • Bill of Lading: Displays ship to address, sales order number, hazard information, pallet information, number of boxes, master bill of lading number and related materials.
  • Certificate of Analysis (C of A): Displays product, company logos for private label customers; test specifications; test results including visual, fraction, integer tests; approver information; expiration dates or best before dates; and test dates.
  • Safety Data Sheets (SDS): Displays product label information, pictograms, hazard statements, warning statements, transportation and U.S. Department of Transportation required information by country and language, CAS number information, etc.
  • Shipping Labels: Displays company logo, ship to address and product information.

Shipments step 1

Shipments step 2

07.Invoicing

After shipments are done, Microsoft Dynamics 365 gives companies the ability to create invoices in a batch mode or mass select shipments for invoicing. The system also lets them print or email a specific customer email address.

Invoicing step 1

Invoicing step 2

Invoicing step 3

Key Takeaways

Chemical distribution company executives should compare what their firm looks like now and how it might look after migrating to Dynamics 365.

D365 allows companies to streamline processes with a robust, simple, easy to understand and powerful system. Its ability to integrate with other Microsoft applications allows your company to fully integrate and enhance efficiencies.

Power tools such as master planning and production Gantt charts provide the ability to plan and schedule your production operations.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 helps boost your business efficiencies through the “one Microsoft ecosystem” by working seamlessly with products such as Office 365.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 can address most chemical distribution company requirements without modification.

The Differentiator - one Microsoft ecosystem

What does your company look like in Microsoft Dynamics 365? Talk to us to take a test drive.

References: Why Specialty Chemical Distributors Need to Raise Their Game

The Road to Success Implementing Microsoft Dynamics 365
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Jump-starting resilient and reimagined operations
Jump-starting resilient and reimagined operations 700 500 Xcelpros Team

Jump-starting resilient and reimagined operations

Based on a wonderful piece from our friends at McKinsey, describing the effort needed by businesses moving forward after COVID disruptions. A reminder that businesses able to maintain a certain level of speed during the transition can create a significant long-term advantage.

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How an ERP system can help improve Manufacturing performance
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How an ERP system can help improve Manufacturing performance?
How an ERP system can help improve Manufacturing performance? 700 500 Xcelpros Team

At a Glance

  • Installing modern enterprise resource planning (ERP) software comes at a high cost for manufacturing companies. They want to use their software investments to maximize manufacturing performance.
  • Manufacturers can best use their ERP model by letting their production line and vendors work in tandem with the software to streamline processes.
  • ERP systems are no longer a part of the business backend. Newer tools and applications like cloud computing, Internet of Things (IoT) and Machine Learning are changing ERP systems. All of these technologies affect overall return on investment (ROI).

Introduction

The general benefits of using a comprehensive tool like ERP are well known by most manufacturing organizations regardless of size. However, there are still ways with which ERP systems can be used to better overall operational efficiency in manufacturing, streamline existing processes and improve the production line. How solutions like ERP become the catalyst in generating ROI are usually the difference-makers for the manufacturing sector.

Mid-size businesses’ adoption of ERP software will grow at a CAGR of 7.9% from 2014 to 2020.– alliedmarketresearch.com

As more companies modernize their ERP, they want to understand how they can adapt and manipulate their current practices to maximize their technology investments. First, understand how ROI is calculated in terms of ERP in the manufacturing industry.

Figure 1:Determining the ROI of Manufacturing ERP

Determining the ROI of Manufacturing ERP

Calculating the ROI for ERP Manufacturing: A Comprehensive Look at the Benefits of Installing an ERP System

Every organization has specific short and long term goals in mind when installing an ERP system. While the ROI might be a relative concept for every manufacturer, certain common areas can help decide the benefits an ERP system brings to your company:

  • Does the ERP system help streamline production processes and improve overall production line efficiency?
  • Does it reduce human intervention, lowering the cost of labor for data management and analytics?
  • Does it help better manage purchases, procurements and inventory?
  • Does it provide real-time visibility across the production line for improved communications and faster response times?
  • What other tangible benefits in terms of cost savings and profit gains can you see after installing the ERP system?

Answering these questions lets you calculate the ROI for your ERP.

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The Road to Better Manufacturing ROI: Improving Manufacturing Performance with ERP

01.Efficient Machine-to-Machine and Machine-to-Human Interaction

In today’s cloud-dominated software world, everything is connected through the Internet. Manufacturers can enhance their ecosystems by making real-time connections between the workforce and machines. When everyone from the top floor to the shop floor can view the entire production line, it lets skilled workers use smart manufacturing techniques to save time and effort.

Using ERP software to adopt smart manufacturing techniques helps manufacturers avoid production delays while efficiently tracking material and equipment. Using these methods will generate significantly more revenue.

Figure 2:ERP in the Manufacturing Industry

ERP in the Manufacturing Industry

02.Better Inventory Management

Large-scale manufacturers can afford to hire a larger workforce to manage their inventories. Small and mid-scale businesses lack that luxury so inventory problems can cause financial losses. Efficient larger companies are looking for a centralized network that can keep track of raw materials, incoming and outgoing shipments plus maintenance schedules.

A sturdy, modernized ERP system is designed to handle these tasks where older legacy platforms fail.

ERPs allow companies to get real-time data on their inventory, allowing them to better predict and manage inventory. Every manufacturing company—large or small—understands that accurately managing inventory is a must if it wants to avoid stock-outs and related production delays. A robust ERP system improves ROI by helping manufacturers more accurately manage inventories.

03.Forming a Competent Skill Base

Advanced software and or mechanical tools can only help boost ROI when the workforce is trained in how to use them. An ERP system is no exception. When an ERP is integrated with cutting-edge applications like IoT, machine learning, advanced analytics, and artificial intelligence, training becomes critical. Having a well-trained, expert workforce lets companies take full advantage of their ERP. Taking the time and spending the money to train staff reduces problems and provides long-term profit gains.

Key Takeaways

Making these changes in your manufacturing ecosystem will help you maximize the benefits of your ERP system. They will also solidify your work standards and technical competencies.

  • The cost of installing a modern ERP system for manufacturers is countered by improving the return on investment.
  • Regardless of size, manufacturers should look at ERP software as an integral part of their production line. Training their workforce in how to use its many features will boost overall profits.

How choosing the right ERP system can boost your company's growth
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How choosing the right ERP system can boost your company’s growth
How choosing the right ERP system can boost your company’s growth 700 500 Xcelpros Team

Introduction

According to the latest Mckinsey research, agile organizations are healthier and more likely to meet long-term performance KPIs than their counterparts. Moreover, such organizations are more likely to achieve:

  • greater customer centricity,
  • faster time to market,
  • higher revenue growth,
  • lower costs, and
  • a more engaged workforce.

One way to improve the agility of your organization is to employ an ERP solution. Here we explore the advantages of utilizing an ERP system and outline five ways the right ERP system can improve agility and help you grow your business.

40%

of all companies won’t survive in the next ten years if they fail to figure out how to change and transform their business to accommodate the latest technologies.

Source: East Innovations

Benefits of Implementing an ERP Software Solution: Key Areas

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) as a business process management tool can enable organizations to manage day-to-day business activities like:

  • accounting,
  • procurement,
  • marketing,
  • human resources,
  • project management,
  • risk management,
  • compliance, and
  • supply chain operations.

The right Enterprise resource planning software application allows these different departments to communicate and share information with the rest of the company.

Figure: 1Different departments integrating through an ERP

Different departments integrating through an ERP

In other words, ERP software helps your business by making it easier for different departments to cooperate with just one interface.

Book a assessment to learn about the right ERP system for your company.

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5 Ways a Modern ERP Can Help You Grow Your Business

Large ERP solutions often slip to the bottom of IT management’s agenda, but the growth benefits of ERP solutions—seamless, end-to-end integration across functions and business units—make them a fundamental asset for most large companies.

Moreover, the next generation of modern ERP solutions offers even more promising capabilities, both functionally and technologically. Below we explore just a few of the ways a modern ERP can help you grow your business.

Enhanced Insight and Visibility

ERP software provides complete access to important business processes by making data from different departments easily accessible to senior management. It provides a birds-eye-view of daily business operations like:

  • Financial Accounting
  • Management Accounting
  • Human Resources
  • Manufacturing
  • Order Processing
  • Supply Chain Management
  • Project Management
  • Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and
  • Data Services.

The boost in visibility enables decision-makers with the information they need to not only control daily operations but also improve inefficient processes and reveal opportunities for growth.

Better Reporting and Analytics

Accurate and complete reporting helps businesses plan, budget, forecast, and communicate the state of operations to the organization and other interested parties, such as investors and shareholders.

ERPs make big data and big business a good match because they enable your team with a single, unified reporting and analytics system for every process. You also enable your team to analyze and compare functions across departments, without the hassle of multiple spreadsheets and emails.

Greater Efficiency and Performance

By linking far-flung departments, ERP systems make it easier for your team to interoperate. The easier it is for your team to interoperate, the easier it will be for them to produce high quality work, and perform at their best.

“Higher the efficiency, the higher the profitability!”

Properly implemented, an ERP software suite can greatly reduce or eliminate repetitive manual processes, which frees up your team to focus on revenue-generating tasks. ERP systems can also aid in the adoption of industry best-practice, and alignment across the organization.

Stronger Data Security

ERP software improves data security by limiting input to a single system, thus eliminating the avenues by which a hacker could infiltrate the system and/or steal information. Both on-premise and cloud-based ERP systems provide a higher degree of security than the alternative, i.e., merging information from multiple systems.

Additionally, most ERP software runs on a single database system, which enables centralized backups of your critical and sensitive data.

Improved Supply Chain Management

The feature-rich working environment of an ERP suite provides a range of important supply chain advantages and play a key role in several aspects of the creation and maintenance of a superior supply chain management process, including:

  • Supply Chain Planning – ERP systems offer an easier and more flexible way to establish and alter the supply chain parameters.
  • Purchasing, Procurement and Execution – ERP software applications provide a more effective way to manage the procurement and supply of goods, services and other resources that are needed to operate a successful supply chain.
  • Monitoring and Maintenance – The ability to monitor, review and alter supply chain efforts and activities in real-time is essential for ensuring your business can maintain the flexibility needed to stay competitive and ensure cost-effective operations.
  • Measurement and Assessment – ERP systems offer superior information aggregation and organization, which makes it easier to identify and address undesirable variances throughout the supply chain.

How to Choose the Right ERP System

There is no one-size-fits-all ERP system for every business, but there are features that distinguish it from other types of business software, including:

  • Common database – Most ERP advantages stem from a common database that enables organizations to centralize information from numerous departments, and eliminate the need to manually merge separate databases.
  • Single user interface – ERP systems provide the same user interface (UI) and have a similar user experience (UX) across all departments and roles. In other words, everyone uses the same interface and sees the same thing when they interact with the software.
  • Process Integration – The right ERP system will enable your team to unify a diverse set of processes, and connect workflows that play crucial roles in the company’s success.
  • Automation – A basic feature of most ERP systems is the ability to automate repetitive tasks like manual data entry, which saves time, improves efficacy and minimizes human error.
  • Data Analytics – the most valuable aspect of an ERP is how it breaks down information silos, enabling your team to mix and match data from any part of your business into insightful reports.

Conclusion

The prospect of streamlined business functions and major boosts to productivity make ERP systems a good investment for any business owner. But which ERP system is right for your business? The answer to that question depends on your business.

Ultimately, the ERP system you choose for your business should not only make work easier, but also enable your team with the tools, time and information they need to improve business processes and set your company on a trajectory for growth.

Key Solutions to Chemical Company Operational Challenges
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Operational Challenges in a Chemical Company: Key Solutions
Operational Challenges in a Chemical Company: Key Solutions 700 500 Xcelpros Team

At a Glance

Recovery by end-use markets and export consumers are expected to boost the U.S. Chemical industry in 2021 and 2022. The American Chemistry Council (ACC) predictions include:

  • A global gross domestic product (GDP) increase of 6.1% in 2021 and 4.4% in 2022
  • A rise in the U.S. GDP of 6.4% in 2021 and 4.3% in 2022 after a 3.5% fall in 2020
  • U.S chemical volumes will increase by 1.4% in 2021 and 3.2% in 2022
  • Chemical shipments will increase 8.1% in 2021 and 8.2% in 2022 after a 13.5% decrease in 2020
  • Capital spending will increase 11.9% to $30.6 billion in 2021 and 3.1% in 2022 after falling 17.6% in 2020
  • Basic chemical production will rise 0.5% in 2021 and 3.4% in 2022
  • Specialty chemicals will expand by 3.8% in 2021 and 4.1% in 2022 after falling 10.8% in 2020
  • Chemical exports will rise 5.8% in 2021 and 13.2% in 2022 after falling 7.6% in 2020
  • U.S. Chemical imports will rise 1.7% in 2021 and 13.7% in 2022 after falling 5.1% in 2020

Also affecting U.S. chemical companies are tariffs and regulations.

  • U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods were averaging 19.3% on a trade-weighted basis in early 2021, up dramatically from the 3.8% rate before the U.S. China trade war, CNBC states
  • China currently has a 20.7% tariff on U.S. goods
  • Failure to meet global harmonized system (GHS) labelling requirements can generate fines of $12,600 per violation and up to $127,000 per violation for the most serious issues

Making Sense of the Numbers

Higher production translates to higher capacity requiring production managers to equip themselves with the technology needed to adapt to the changing market.

A sophisticated enterprise resource planning (ERP) business application helps plant production managers keep up with rapidly changing challenges. ERP software also lets them track key metrics such as inventory turnover and manufacturing throughput to optimize cost of production.

Production in modern-day chemical companies involves unforeseen challenges. These range from obtaining raw materials to ensuring proper quality, fluctuating demand, tariffs, dwindling margins, capacity and resource planning. It also requires keeping formulas secure from data thieves.

Regulatory compliance plus international tariffs add additional stress to profit margins and the supply chain.

Tariffs require leveraging resources more efficiently to achieve better margins while promoting trade. One effect is forcing companies to explore near-shore vendors that can supply essential materials at a reasonable price.

One way to become more efficient is by using modern technology. ERP solutions such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 (D365) Business Central have tools that let production managers take more control of their production floor.

For example, production scheduling is complex, requiring an understanding and balancing of specific elements such as:

  • Resources Planning
  • Continuous production
  • Optimal asset planning
  • Fluctuating demand
  • Tighter lead time
  • Procurement delays
  • Outages
  • Quality check
  • Recalls and regulation requirement

Five Key Concerns

Five key concerns for chemical production plant managers are:

  1. 1.Fluctuating product demands
  2. 2.Volatility in raw materials supplies
  3. 3.Complying with government regulations
  4. 4.Ensuring consistent quality
  5. 5.Resource and production throughput

Fluctuating Customer Demands

Capital spending will increase 11.9% to $30.6 billion in 2021 and rise another 3.1% in 2022 after falling 17.6% in 2020, American Chemistry Council states.

Basic chemical production will rise 0.5% in 2021 and 3.4% in 2022. Specialty chemicals will expand by 3.8% in 2021 and 4.1% in 2022 after falling 10.8% in 2020.

“Following the worst downturn since the 1930s, the world economy is on the rebound,” Kevin Swift, chief economist at ACC is quoted as saying. “We expect recovery to proceed apace despite multiple risks and uncertainties. These include supply chain constraints and increased demand as economies reopen; trade tensions; weather events, cybersecurity and similar shocks; inflation; financial volatility and public and private sector debt.”

While these developments position chemical companies in a bright spot compared to 2020, not all is bullish. As demand for chemical products increases, so does competition and the demand for innovative products. Production Managers now handle unprecedented customer demands causing tight deadlines and highly-stressed resources.

Production Managers need an air-tight strategy to meet sporadic demands and ensure business continuity. Products such as D365 Business Central are equipped to handle such strategies, ensure complete visibility, provide control over the entire supply chain and support informed decision-making.

Some of the critical elements in production planning and control include Master Planning, Production Scheduling and Production Control as shown below.

Production management

Today we live in an on-demand economy. Production managers face rapid changes and increased sales order quantities from customers, adding pressure on Production.

Example #1: A Chemical Plant

Using a chemical plant as an example, say Customer A doubles their order quantity from 5,000 to 10,000 pounds.

To meet this demand, the production manager must respond quickly by evaluating available resources and scale batch sizes in the reactor.

Companies using a modern, well-designed order management system can update the sales order quantity and set the order priority to high.

Order priority can be designed to consider critical demand, customer categories and customer relationships. Changing the order priority signals the materials requirement planning (MRP) system. It issues an updated production order to reflect the larger batch size.

After seeing the revised production order, the production supervisor can review the production schedule and adjust resources to meet the customer’s new demand.

Similar situations are common at chemical companies. Plant managers recognize the need for an integrated ERP system that seamlessly manages communication between different business areas.

Using Gantt Charts

The production control module within Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management creates powerful Gantt Charts. These charts visually represent production flows, map resources, check on material availability and inventories plus see which machines are available. This information helps managers control and optimize the production plan and make informed decisions.

Gantt charts within Dynamics 365 Finance provide a uniform view of schedule activities within a defined time interval. Managers can use these charts to:

  1. 1.Schedule jobs from production orders. Managers and schedulers can modify production plans by dragging and dropping or using an online menu.
  2. 2.Schedule jobs from planned production orders. Scheduling starts after the production plan converts to an actual order.
  3. 3.See hourly schedules of all jobs. A calendar that has active working times is a prerequisite for all production activities. Seeing the real-time status of every job lets managers know the status of “jobs that have started” and “jobs that have ended.”
  4. 4.View production orders organized by order and resources. Production managers get a real-time view of a production schedule displaying scheduled production orders, material availability and resource capacity. Managers can change schedules when required.

Order view

View of the resources available or engaged.–

Resource view

Volatility in raw materials supplies

Chemical manufacturers use crude oil and natural gas byproducts as the base for their products, accounting for about 50% of the production cost. Oil and gas are extremely volatile commodities with pricing subject to many macroeconomic factors beyond the chemical companies’ control. Volatility causes include geopolitical unrest, OPEC member nation policies, sanctions, currency fluctuation, etc.

Keeping track of raw material cost and availability—especially with the continuing pandemic—is another important production manager function. In the “old days,” managers used a series of Microsoft Excel spreadsheets to manually keep track of key metrics such as inventory turnover and manufacturing throughput. Modern ERPs track data real-time offering benefits to help minimize the effect of raw material price fluctuations:

  • Transparently tracking actual costs while accounting for cost of goods sold, revenue, margins, cash flow, etc.
  • Adjusting for currency fluctuations when dealing internationally. Managers can obtain materials from the lowest cost supplier.
  • Analyzing order volumes and budgeting for cost. Managers can get better pricing and plan production more efficiently.

Complying with government regulations

Any company working with hazardous chemicals is regulated at the federal and state levels. Many also face scrutiny from local officials.

Common requirements are labels meeting GHS standards. Software able to generate the right labels for each product coupled to label printers on the production floor are essential in meeting regulatory requirements.

In the US, companies dealing with hazardous chemicals including manufacturers, distributors, transporters and end-users must adhere to the Globally Harmonized System (GHS) label compliance requirements. Noncompliance can cost $12,600 per violation, while the more serious ones could range up to $127,000, not counting damage to a company’s reputation.

A labeling solution that includes chemical properties, characteristics, batch and lot number, test specifications and other required information is crucial.

Hazardous chemicals need to be distinctly identified to avoid disasters such as when reactive chemicals come in close contact. Labeling applications, such as Integrated Chemical Management (iCM) in D365, can address these issues in Production and elsewhere.

iCM not only provides labels meeting GHS standards, it also includes Safety Data Sheet authoring and management. It reduces human error when printing labels during a production run by knowing which product labels to print during the process.

Production order

Ensuring Consistent Quality

The effects of quality checks and recalls can have a long-lasting impact on a company’s reputation. Creating the required documentation for processes such as production, use of raw materials, packaging and others helps track each product from its source to its final destination. Accurate documentation improves visibility in the supply chain and enhances traceability in the event of an inquiry, recall or audit.

Chemicals are used as a base in multiple industries such as automotive, paints, food and beverage, appliance, electronics, packaging, textiles, cosmetics, toys, etc. The graph below shows recalls across major industries in 2016.

Production recall by Number of insurance claims 2016

A closer look reveals the reasons for such recalls. Top reasons for medical device recalls in the U.S. as of the second quarter, 2019 according to Statista were:

  • Software issues (49)
  • Mislabeling (32)
  • Quality Issues (31)
  • Sterility (18)

Common reasons for drug recalls according to WebMD are:

  • Health hazards
  • Mislabeling or poor packaging
  • Poor manufacturing quality
  • Packaging and product misalignment

Microsoft Dynamics 365 has the ability to track and trace products at a batch or lot level from the source to the end user. This function helps:

  • Ensure regulatory compliance
  • Track and trace batches and lots to identify damaged or contaminated products
  • Visualize the journey of the product from the manufacturing site to its end-users
  • Trace the root cause of an issue and treat it accordingly

Resource and Production Throughput

Managing the production shop floor requires diligent planning of human capital and other interdependent machine resources such as blenders, reactors, mixers, hot ovens, separators, packaging, tanks, etc.

Production planning and scheduling can get overwhelming depending on the number of resources and shifts. Production managers are constantly under pressure to increase production volume using less resources. Recurrent variation in batches to meet higher volume demand and continuous production often results in inconsistent batch quality.

Real-time data monitoring using measured and inferred values can increase production by as much as 4%. D365 uses measured and inferred values to track batch completion in real-time, reducing batch cycle time. It also is also used to achieve batch consistency. Using data collected over time to predict events that can disrupt the production cycle, production managers can reduce those delays, decreasing operating costs.

Being able to track and analyze real-time data also improves asset and resource effectiveness by up to 4%. Unscheduled downtime due to maintenance or breakdown isn’t new to manufacturing plants. Using predictive analytics, past asset performance can model scenarios that detect equipment health and prevent failures.

Key Takeaways

The US Chemical industry is still a volatile market, one that seems to be rebounding from the vagaries of Covid-19 one minute and then being hammered by political crises the next. Individual companies face growing competition to produce unique products, increase production, gain customer loyalty and comply with stringent regulations.

The life of a Production Manager in a chemical industry is stressful. Embracing modern technology will help them achieve company goals while also staying compliant with changing regulations.

Microsoft D365 offers easy-to-use visualization of data across all organizational departments including production, sales, compliance, marketing and others. It’s ability to seamlessly share data across multiple sites and locations enhances transparency and improves product and material tracking and tracing. The combined functions of each D365 application boost productivity and increase efficiency.

Avail a Consultation for to learn how to overcome operational challenges in your chemical company

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ERP in Inventory Management
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The role of an ERP system in Inventory Management
The role of an ERP system in Inventory Management 700 500 Xcelpros Team

Introduction

A previous article on enterprise resource planning software (ERP) mentioned the benefits of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in business software. This article covers how Inventory Management functions as part of an ERP.

The common purpose of any ERPs is to integrate, centralize and streamline all business operations. The most common ERP inventory management functions are:

  • Supply Chain Management including tracking and managing raw materials, work-in-progress and finished products
  • Integration with logistics, shipping and B2B ecommerce
  • Managing procurement and sales orders
  • Distributing orders across channels
  • Warehouse management and stock transfers using serialization
  • Integration with Payment gateway
  • Managing accounts
  • Dashboarding and report generation using analytics
  • Quality Management
  • Demand forecasting using AI and ML

Executive Summary

  • ERPs have a broad range of application areas. Inventory management is the most sought out functionality (67%) among users after Accounting (89%).
  • Inventory management helps companies organize and plan their production strategy, along with maintaining ideal stock levels.
  • Effectively managing inventory promotes more efficient use of precious working capital, helping to maintain optimal stock frees working capital and prevents losses due to stock-out.
  • The average manufacturer has 10% – 20% of its revenue committed to inventories. Reducing inventory by 20% – 25% can cut the revenue impact by 2%- 5%. For a $6 billion company, that inventory reduction frees an estimated $200 – 500 million in working capital.

ERPs perform many inventory management functions, supporting the entire supply chain from order and storage of raw materials to final delivery.

Today, the importance of inventory management has continued to evolve. It no longer deals only with keeping track of what’s currently in the supply, production and delivery pipelines. It also has a significant effect on business strategy.

ERPs are now equipped with artificial intelligence and machine learning. These additions transform a tool first appearing in the late 1990’s into an invaluable piece of technology. For example, using historical data, a modern ERP can more accurately predict future demands and current inventory levels.

All businesses are realizing the benefits of going digital. Traditional companies that once shied away from adopting technology are now embracing it.

Connecting businesses, such as a pharmaceutical manufacturer with its internal and external suppliers, generates massive amounts of data. ERPs help chief executive officers and other leaders make sense of the numbers. The software lets leaders compare historical behavior with current trends, making accurate inventory predictions. ERPs can reveal important insights by leveraging data across business functions.

Benefits of ERP In Inventory Management

A SelectHub survey found that Inventory Management (67%) was the most used part of a modular ERP package after accounting (89%).

Figure: 1A 2018 Survey by Select Hub Found That The Most Important Function in an ERP was Inventory Management

Inventory Management functionalities

Functions of ERPs in Inventory Handling

ERPs perform six primary inventory related functions. These include:

  1. 1.Better forecasting accuracy
  2. 2.Segmenting, clustering and classifying materials
  3. 3.Making warehouses more intelligent
  4. 4.Permit accurate, timely inventory planning
  5. 5.Reduce waste
  6. 6.Manage returns and order cancellations

Improving Inventory Accuracy: Some modern ERPs like Microsoft’s Dynamics 365 Finance come with many built-in AI and ML capabilities. This functionality lets executives review sales data, seasonal demand and other information to predict inventory needs. By comparing historical and current data, companies can devise a robust plan to increase or decrease inventory and storage capacity suiting anticipated market conditions. D365 Finance also accepts variables for greater accuracy.

Key benefits include:

  • Artificial intelligence helps predict future demand using historical data
  • Comprehensive inventory planning translates to higher customer serviceability, boosting customer satisfaction

Segmenting, clustering and classifying materials

Isolated data is only valuable to that portion of the business. To help the entire business and provide insights, data must be visible to other departments. Using an ERP’s Inventory Management module lets companies tag, cluster and analyze each item or stock keeping unit (SKU). It produces labels that can be read by mobile phones and other portable devices, providing access to a wealth of information while tracking every item. Classification options include:

  • Units of measurement
  • Product usage
  • Material source
  • Alternatives or substitutes
  • Allocation
  • Cost and price
  • Demand
  • Supplier or vendor

Classifying inventory items lets users analyze each item based on the business needs, and prioritize the ones that are most critical.

Making Warehouses More Intelligent

When products are given machine-readable barcodes or QR code labels, companies can track material movement in real-time.

Modern ERP lets warehouse managers create an operative warehouse plan with access controls at every level. This is particularly crucial for manufacturers with multiple production sites. Setting access controls ensures the right people can move inventory items at the right time.

ERPs allow warehouse managers to efficiently allocate more space to the items that need it and reduce space from those that do not.

Combining the functionality of an ERP with robots and other forms of automation reduces human efforts. For example, beverage giant Coca-Cola uses AI to count the varieties and volume of bottles stored in cabinets or display units by analyzing a photograph clicked on a mobile device.

Other benefits of an efficient warehousing plan include:

  • Tracking each stage of a product from raw material to work-in-progress and finished goods
  • Preparing accounts for stock transfer
  • Reducing human effort in mundane tasks, such as manually counting inventories, letting workers perform more valuable jobs
  • Maintaining ledgers of opening and closing stock balances
  • Reducing dead stock by efficiently managing expiring inventory

Permit Accurate and Timely Inventory Planning

An ERP system ensures companies maintain ideal stock levels, permitting more efficient use of working capital.

Today’s ERPs come with features that help with material requirements planning (MRP). This includes production scheduling, setting up reorder-levels and establishing inventory minimum and maximum levels. The business application tool records lead times related to purchases of raw materials, manufacturing time, quality checking, packaging, logistics and other functions. All of this data combined helps the planning engine create better forecasts.

Reducing Waste

The combined benefits of classifying items and inventory planning helps reduce waste. The inventory management module of an ERP provides complete visibility of all inventories, including clusters and substitute products. Module users can also sort inventories by batch numbers or serial numbers.

When a particular product has an unanticipated surge in demand, companies can easily identify substitute products in an attempt to reduce lost sales. Aligning substitute and primary products lets customers looking for affordable alternatives or shorter lead times find workable options, further boosting revenue.

Waste reduction benefits of an ERP include:

  • Offering alternative or substitute products when primary product levels are low.
  • Provides options for price sensitive customers, increasing customer loyalty.
  • Uses attributes assigned to each SKU to make it easy to locate substitute products.

Managing returns and order cancelations

ERPs manage returns with greater ease than older methods. ERPs reconcile sales credit memos and accounting letting companies issue refunds or shipping fresh products.

Return benefits include:

  • Easier tracking of refunds and reshipments.
  • Quicker return decisions by providing a complete view of sales, current inventories, cash balances, shipping availability and other issues.
  • Automatically calculates foreign exchange rates.

Conclusion

The primary benefit of an ERP system is the ability to track inventory, reduce stocking costs and maximize working capital accurately and efficiently. This significantly reduces administrative and operational costs without sacrificing functionality.

Organizations looking to optimize inventory planning and become more competitive must implement a modern ERP system. The cost of implementing a modern ERP is easily made back in overall savings with included inventory controls that are more accurate, reduce waste, and produce happier customers with much greater flexibility.

Book a assessment on how to use an ERP in Inventory Management to improve efficiency.

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References: ERP buying trends

D365 supply chain demand forecasting helps Chemical Industry
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How Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Demand Forecasting Helps Chemical Companies Plan for Inventory
How Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Demand Forecasting Helps Chemical Companies Plan for Inventory 700 500 Xcelpros Team

At a Glance

  • Accurately forecasting customer demands allows a company to quickly adapt to changing needs. Leveraging predictive analysis of historical data in demand forecasting models permits better understanding of what customers want.
  • Chemical industry decision-makers and inventory managers are now concentrating on short- and long-range demand fluctuations caused by price volatility and changes in supply chain dynamics.
  • Top executives can make insightful decisions driven by informed analysis of demand patterns using robust Supply Chain Management (SCM) tools.

Understanding Demand Forecasting

Demand forecasting uses predictive analysis to gauge customer demand patterns based on historical data. Historically, chemical companies use demand forecasting to gauge independent and dependent sales orders. Rapidly increasing global markets and integrated business models show a growing need for better responsiveness and flexibility in demand forecasting. Making these changes helps chemical companies:

  • Prepare shipping materials in advance for one-time and complete deliveries.
  • Manage inventory while being flexible to accommodate unforeseen demands.
  • Sense and predict product demand based on market hierarchy, geography, climate, time zones and other reasons.
  • Stand out in the market by consistently delivering at competitive prices.

Understanding historical demand and accurate inventory management plays a key role in forecasting sales. It ensures adequate inventory. Improperly managed inventory impacts everything from shipments to sales. Companies are very reactive about their inventory planning when resources are not allocated properly. Continually reprioritizing orders throws off historical demand tracking. Adding an unexpected order can lead to big problems.

A recent poll by Deloitte with chemical executives indicates that more than 20% of total US chemical sales will be driven by business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce in 2021.

Accurately forecasting inventory helps firms understand what they have. It also helps visualize the sales pipeline. With accurate demand forecasting, a plant can take measured risks and make informed decisions causing higher profits.

Demand Forecasting Challenges

Chemical companies often struggle to leverage huge volumes of data. Not understanding and using the data effectively can cause incomplete interpretations and communication errors.

The supply chain may have multiple stakeholders using different systems for enterprise resource planning (ERP), data management (DM) and supply chain management (SCM). Demand forecasting using these different systems often causes duplicate information and loss of crucial data.

Failing to use an integrated, sophisticated demand forecasting system limits a company’s ease of use and its ability to customize the software for its unique needs.

Figure: 1Demand Forecasting Challenges in Chemical Industry

Demand Forecasting Challenges in Chemical Industry

Demand Forecasting in Microsoft Dynamics 365

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management (SCM) helps businesses adjust forecasts and view key performance indicators (KPI’s) more efficiently. Companies using this product can see demand trends and then adjust forecasts. The new forecasts seamlessly are used in inventory planning. By removing outliers, Dynamics 365 enables accurate measurements.

Dynamics’ Supply Chain Management tool follows a comprehensive flow for demand forecasting:

  1. 1.System gathers historic transactional data.
  2. 2.Machine learning uses the data to generate forecast and insights.
  3. 3.Collected data provides forecast visibility while allowing forecasts adjustments.
  4. 4.Approved forecasts are then authorized.

Figure: 2Demand Forecasting in Microsoft Dynamics: How it Works

Demand Forecasting in Microsoft Dynamics: How it Works

Microsoft Dynamics 365 SCM helps manage these complex demand patterns and improve inventory planning. Its features include:

  • Integrating Planning Optimization using demand forecasts to make informed decisions for master plans.
  • Creating, generating or importing the demand forecast based on operational models and company requirements.
  • Customizing demand forecasts that streamline the process by reducing intercompany orders and considering customer forecasts.
  • Increasing accuracy and margin with lean demand forecasting.
  • Graphing and creating interactive demand forecasts for real-time feedback anywhere on the trend line.
  • Seamlessly applying the demand forecasting tool with existing ERP. This harnesses data and generates accurate forecasts for improved inventory control and bottom lines.

Chemical companies can better predict demand by fortifying their IT infrastructure with the right tools. Using software that’s easier to use, more accessible and has greater accuracy enables them to improve their inventory planning. Integrated solutions like Microsoft Dynamics 365 provide a robust and complete demand forecasting tool, enabling businesses to set up and maintain optimal inventory control.

Key Takeaways

  • Demand forecasting in the chemical industry needs to move forward from conventional, spreadsheet-based models and tools to newer, more agile digital systems.
  • Microsoft Dynamics 365 offers chemical companies the ability to forecast inventory levels more accurately through visual, customizable and interactive features.
  • Increased focus on accurate demand forecasting helps chemical companies avoid stock-outs or over-stocking. It improves profits, strengthens supply chains and elevates overall customer satisfaction.

To learn more about implementation of demand forecasting in your chemical company, book a consultation with Xcelpros.

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