Global supply chain disruption is often a catalyst for companies to examine their supply chains. When one of our automotive manufacturing clients came to us with upstream import supply chain problems, we did a deep dive to understand the issues and provide solutions. We found that most issues revolved around a lack of visibility at the order and item level, controls around the purchase order process, and vendor management.
We proposed Crane's PinPoint solution to help the client gain control over their purchase order process and vendor management. This led to measurable savings, newfound efficiency, and higher levels of customer satisfaction.
The challenge was bringing together the different functional groups, including Purchasing, Transportation, Distribution, Compliance, and Finance, to find a viable solution. The test was to facilitate and support a solution by using Crane's order management technology, PinPoint, Crane's account management team, and global network. Our client indicated problems occurring in their supply chain, specifically relating to vendors and visibility. For example, vendors were not shipping timely against the ex-factory/In-DC dates; vendors were shipping incorrect POs and items. Visibility was a key problem area as there was a lack of information relating to the cargo until it was confirmed on board.
By receiving a copy of all the client's purchase orders, enabling our global network, and using Pinpoint's technology, we facilitated a new level of upstream management and visibility not possible prior. Improvements included vendor management: rules-based booking automation, ex-factory & ship window compliance, order, and Items shipped to match the PO quantities. Visibility improvements included: dashboard view, views of order and item details from PO inception, automated rules-based booking and exception management, milestone exception management, EDI ASN to the client, order, and item arrival dashboard for DCs to manage the inbound flow.
“Crane Worldwide was able to facilitate and support a solution through PinPoint, our account management and global network.”
Our client was able to see quantifiable evidence in savings in reduced inventory spend of 10%, reduced inbound receiving labor of 5%, and reduced transportation of 5% through optimization of container utilization and mode control. Ultimately this led to high levels of customer satisfaction, which was the ultimate objective.
At Crane Worldwide, we believe in trust, collaboration, and teamwork.
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