Kinaxis Revolutionizes How Manufacturers Satisfy Customers and Drive Revenue Growth with Launch of On-Demand RapidResponse for Demand Management
Ottawa, Canada (PRWEB) February 19, 2008 -- Kinaxis? Inc., the leading provider of an on-demand Response Management (http://www.kinaxis.com/solutions/index.cfm) service to drive rapid and more profitable response to daily changes in demand, supply and product inside the Sales and Operations Planning (http://www.kinaxis.com/solutions/sales-operations-planning.cfm)(S&OP) horizon, today announced the availability of its new RapidResponse? for Demand Management service.
RapidResponse for Demand Management (http://www.kinaxis.com/products/rapidresponse-demand-management.cfm)is purpose-built for the unique challenges faced by sales, customer service and demand management organizations as they respond to daily, unexpected change while balancing customer satisfaction and operations performance (http://www.kinaxis.com/solutions/operations-performance.cfm)objectives. When combined with the existing RapidResponse? for Manufacturing (http://www.kinaxis.com/products/rapidresponse-manufacturing.cfm) solution, the integrated end-to-end RapidResponse service provides supply chain (http://www.kinaxis.com/products/supply-chain.cfm) teams the tools for risk tradeoff from the individual order or forecast change down to the component supply level.
Despite large investments in Demand Planning, Supply Chain Planning and traditional Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) tools, decision-makers are forced to rely on manual efforts, complicated spreadsheets and other makeshift measures. The S&OP process produces a plan that organizations have difficulty with given the number of daily changes that occur inside the planning horizon. Customer-focused companies have quickly realized they can't "plan" their customers.
As noted by AMR Research, "Traditional closed-loop planning and execution may well be yesterday's news. Thanks to globalization, product proliferation and channel consolidation, discrete manufacturers find themselves in a new era of surprise and compromise." AMR Research continues to say, "In environments where decisions are high in risk and complexity, many find they need systems for collective risk tradeoff and response." - Response Management: Next Wave of Supply Chain Innovation? AMR Research, May 2007.
Kinaxis is addressing this Response Management challenge by empowering front-line decision makers to quickly sense demand and supply misalignments and drive more profitable responses by shaping demand and rapidly allocating finished goods supply accordingly. With RapidResponse for Demand Management, action teams utilize personal alerting, multi-enterprise visibility, collaborative "what-if" analysis and rapid decision support to achieve superior customer service and revenue attainment.
"Most companies are managing demand response across their fulfillment networks by brute force with poor results," says Douglas Colbeth (http://www.kinaxis.com/company/team/president-douglas-colbeth.cfm), Chairman and CEO of Kinaxis. "Achieving excellence in responding to changing customer demands has become the number one challenge facing enterprises today. Solving the Response Management need in demand management and fulfillment operations represents the largest opportunity for companies to increase customer satisfaction, enhance margins and attain more predictable revenue across the entire value chain. Traditional Planning tools are all about what you hope for - RapidResponse enables companies to deal with reality."
Extending the Kinaxis Response Management solution to focus on demand management business challenges has been highly customer-driven. Kinaxis customers have provided strong validation of the distinct needs of the demand management user community and the urgent requirement for a strategic solution to address them.
Qualcomm
"At Qualcomm, our management and sales operations use RapidResponse to dynamically align supply and demand in the face of continually changing circumstances and growing demand," says Lisa Henderson, Senior Director of Information Technology for Qualcomm. "RapidResponse provides us tools to manage these changes as they occur and offers a solution path for future initiatives to provide advanced supply and demand balancing capabilities."
Toshiba Europe GmbH
"Toshiba Europe has used RapidResponse to improve its purchasing, sales and inventory (PSI) process," says Thomas Kossmehl, Senior Expert, IS Division, Toshiba Europe GmbH. "Using RapidResponse, we now have a consistent, succinct PSI process that dramatically enhances our ability to achieve our desired results. With reliable demand and supply data consolidated in one place, we spend significantly less time on data gathering and more time on analysis and decision-making - which is where the business value lies. RapidResponse has enabled Toshiba to be a more responsive organization, providing a level of flexibility never achieved before."
RapidResponse for Demand Management drives many compelling capabilities and benefits:
? Compress the Time to Action Through Proactive, Exception-based Alerts
Exception-based alerts to projected misalignments in demand and supply (e.g., forecast change beyond tolerance, late demand impacting quarter-end, supply disruptions, late customer orders, etc.) enable demand managers and order fulfillment staff to quickly re-align supply and/or engage manufacturing operations to best satisfy customers and meet revenue/margin goals.
? Ensure All Stakeholders Have a Shared View of Business Realities
Fully automated integration of demand and supply data from multiple sources including CRM, ERP, demand planning tools, supply chain management tools, spreadsheets and point-of-sale data, provides a single integrated view of forecast, sales orders, inventory and supply. Information can be organized in role-based views to ensure each stakeholder sees the information pertinent to their specific function.
? Streamline Forecast Collaboration and Consensus
Automated capture, consolidation and roll-up of customer sales forecasts from disparate systems and sources across multiple distribution channels enables quick consensus for forecast development through internal and customer collaboration to speed demand sensing and more profitable demand responses.
? Proactively Resolve Demand and Finished Goods Supply Misalignments
Demand management, sales and customer service staff can proactively resolve demand and supply misalignments and ensure that the right products are in the right place at the right time. Accurate order promise dates are quickly determined and constrained finished goods supply is allocated across multiple distribution channels to best meet customer commitments and revenue/margin objectives. New product introductions can be managed using "what-if" analysis of projected demand/supply changes to ensure a more profitable demand response and to exploit demand-shaping opportunities.
? Power Next Generation Sales and Operations Planning
Quickly analyze the impact of daily demand and supply changes using "what-if" analysis to identify the best operational actions to drive effective response, ensuring S&OP business objectives are achieved. Integrated performance management capabilities proactively evaluate the impact of all decisions against the achievement of defined performance targets.
RapidResponse for Demand Management and the fully integrated and latest version of RapidResponse for Manufacturing are both immediately available.
About Kinaxis
Kinaxis delivers an on-demand Response Management service that enables customer-focused companies to achieve breakthroughs in operations performance and customer satisfaction by rapidly and more profitably responding to constant changes in demand, supply and product. Kinaxis RapidResponse combines personal alerting, multi-enterprise visibility, collaborative "what-if" analysis and rapid decision support to empower front-line supply chain staff with tools for risk tradeoff and response to daily changes inside the Sales and Operations Planning horizon. Global leaders such as Casio, Honeywell, Qualcomm, Raytheon and Toshiba use Kinaxis RapidResponse to establish superior responsiveness within their fulfillment networks and supply chains and gain competitive advantage. For more information, visit the Kinaxis web site at www.kinaxis.com or the company's blog at blog.kinaxis.com (http://blog.kinaxis.com).
# # #
Related Articles:
JellyBasket - order PALMALITO GUAVA JELLY by the CASE or GIFT BASKET!
Palmetto Canning Co., Inc. - Contract Packaging in glass or plastic for sauces, marinades, and other food products
CareMetix, Inc. - Contract Packaging for tube filling, form fill and seal, wet or dry chemical products including polyvinyl packaging.
Relationship: Filler Talk
Bring meaning and care to your life with filler talk. When all of you, your partner and children are together at the dinning table or just sitting together try to talk about subjects of daily life. Ask question such as what you did today in office or what you learnt in school rather than irrelevant question such as what movie is tonight or do you like the dish? Instead, converse on subject that involves them. It only makes them feel that you care for them. Even if you don?t understand, your simply asking the question makes them feel wanted and cared for. Ask real questions showing real interest rather than monotonous questions that have no relation with them.
Rock Climbing Walls Manufacturer Announces Environmentally Friendly Product Line
Rock Climbing Wall manufacturer, Extreme Engineering, announces their line of environmentally friendly, extreme adventure products. Earth-conscious innovations by their team of expert engineers put this company ahead of the competition for manufacturing environmentally friendly, safe, and durable products. The industry leader in Rock Climbing Walls, Mobile Rock Climbing Walls, and adventure products, Extreme Engineering, assures other manufacturing companies that going green is immeasurably profitable.
Technology 'Transports' Dell, NFIB Small Business Award Winner to International Growth : Custom Trailer and Motor Home Manufacturer Transport Desi
Steve Mattie, founder and president of Transport Designs, Inc., a manufacturer of highly customized enclosed trailers and truck conversion motor homes in Montoursville, Pa., remembers when he and his colleagues saw little use for a computer, as the trailer and motor home industry was decidedly low-tech.
Red Exhibits Enters Display Market; Exhibit Displays Manufacturer and Supplier Extends Service and Quality
Red Exhibits Inc., developer and distributor of portable display products, has announced the launch of its operations at its Ontario, Calif. headquarters. Partnering with several leading worldwide manufacturers and distributors of products in the exhibition, display, media, and advertising industries, Red Exhibits is committed to providing reliable products at a low price.
New Jersey Power Supply Manufacturer Seeks Qualified Staff for Monmouth County, NJ-Based Manufacturing and Office Positions
East Coast Power Systems, a Keyport, NJ-based manufacturer of electrical components such as panelboards, utility cabinets, switchboards, cam locks and industrial control panels, has a variety of positions available to help sustain its double-digit growth.
Global Manufacturer Uses CareerTV Recruitment Videos To Give An Edge To Their Hiring Process
"It is a perfect way for us to push out our message in an appealing way to the millennium generation," says Maureen Crawford, Manager of Talent Acquisition at OSRAM SYLVANIA. As the recruitment market becomes more competitive, increasing numbers of employers are starting to brand themselves using video.
Mike Dudek - Zygoquest Group Advised Bill Witt on Acquisition of Manufacturer's Branches - Zygoquest Specializes in Mergers & Acquisitions
Mike Dudek, Rich Wisniewski and Zygoquest Group "seeking to unite" announced they served as advisor to Bill Witt and Witt Company on the acquisition of a Manufacturer's Direct Branches in San Diego and Orange County, CA. Terms of the transactions and the name of the Manufacturer are confidential.
Platinum Funding Group Provides $6 Million in Five Days to Texas Apparel Manufacturer
The importer of women's clothing was in need of rapid cash flow acceleration to support future growth.
Finding The Right Replacement Windows Manufacturer
Anyone that owns a home knows that there are some key ways to save on energy and update the look of a home. If you get in touch with a replacement windows manufacturer you may be stunned to hear the statistics on how much energy you may be wasting with your current set up. You can save money on energy bills not only in the winter but in the summer because both the air and the heat will be kept in the home instead of seeping outside of the home.
Wait loss: Expanding Shaft Manufacturer Dramatically Reduces Converter Downtime with Fast Delivery
With rising production costs, converters are looking to expanding shaft manufacturers who can deliver replacement shafts faster to avoid costly downtime. Convertech, Inc. provides what all other expanding shaft manufacturers cannot; shaft delivery in just a few weeks.