o9 Solutions, Inc. Case Studies Revolutionizing Steel Production with IoT: A Case Study on Improving OTIF and Reducing Inventory

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	Revolutionizing Steel Production with IoT: A Case Study on Improving OTIF and Reducing Inventory o9 Solutions, Inc.

Revolutionizing Steel Production with IoT: A Case Study on Improving OTIF and Reducing Inventory

o9 Solutions, Inc.

Technology Category	Functional Applications - Inventory Management Systems Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Application Development Platforms
Applicable Industries	Life Sciences Metals
Applicable Functions	Procurement Sales & Marketing
Use Cases	Demand Planning & Forecasting Inventory Management
Challenge	The company, one of the world's largest steel wire manufacturers with operations in over 20 countries, was facing significant challenges in customer service, capacity and material planning. Their On Time In Full (OTIF) performance was considerably low compared to their competitors, indicating a lack of efficiency in their operations. The company's capacity and material planning processes were entirely manual and lacked accuracy, leading to an excess of inventory, shortages, and plant underutilization. Furthermore, their Raw Material Planning was inaccurate as detailed BOM compositions, lead times, and alternative sources were not considered in the supply model and were done in Excel. The company also lacked effective capacity planning, leading to inaccurate sales allocations. Lastly, their order promising was inaccurate due to a lack of tools for detailed order planning. Read More
About Customer	The customer is one of the world's largest steel wire manufacturers, with a geographically diversified presence in over 20 countries. As a major player in the steel industry, the company is committed to delivering high-quality products to its customers. However, they were facing challenges in terms of customer service, measured by On Time In Full (OTIF), and had issues with their capacity and material planning processes. These processes were manual and lacked accuracy, leading to excess inventory, shortages, and plant underutilization. The company was in need of a solution that could improve their planning accuracy, reduce inventory, and enhance their overall operational efficiency. Read More
Solution	The company partnered with o9 to address these challenges. o9's platform enabled the company to perform master planning with detailed BOM, material and capacity constraints, and lead times, significantly increasing the accuracy of their Raw Material planning. The platform also provided scenario-based capacity planning integrated with demand planning, enabling accurate decisions on quotas for sales personnel. Additionally, the company was able to leverage the tools available on o9’s platform to perform master planning and order promising, which increased planning accuracy. The o9 Enterprise Knowledge Graph was used for true End-to-End planning, including demand, capacity, master planning, and order promising. The ability to run scenarios and have real-time demand-supply synchronization proved to be a game-changer for the organization. The company replaced their homegrown solutions and Excel with o9's platform. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Functional Applications - Inventory Management Systems

Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Application Development Platforms

Applicable Industries

Life Sciences

Metals

Applicable Functions

Procurement

Sales & Marketing

Use Cases

Demand Planning & Forecasting

Inventory Management

Challenge

The company, one of the world's largest steel wire manufacturers with operations in over 20 countries, was facing significant challenges in customer service, capacity and material planning. Their On Time In Full (OTIF) performance was considerably low compared to their competitors, indicating a lack of efficiency in their operations. The company's capacity and material planning processes were entirely manual and lacked accuracy, leading to an excess of inventory, shortages, and plant underutilization. Furthermore, their Raw Material Planning was inaccurate as detailed BOM compositions, lead times, and alternative sources were not considered in the supply model and were done in Excel. The company also lacked effective capacity planning, leading to inaccurate sales allocations. Lastly, their order promising was inaccurate due to a lack of tools for detailed order planning.

About Customer

The customer is one of the world's largest steel wire manufacturers, with a geographically diversified presence in over 20 countries. As a major player in the steel industry, the company is committed to delivering high-quality products to its customers. However, they were facing challenges in terms of customer service, measured by On Time In Full (OTIF), and had issues with their capacity and material planning processes. These processes were manual and lacked accuracy, leading to excess inventory, shortages, and plant underutilization. The company was in need of a solution that could improve their planning accuracy, reduce inventory, and enhance their overall operational efficiency.

Solution

The company partnered with o9 to address these challenges. o9's platform enabled the company to perform master planning with detailed BOM, material and capacity constraints, and lead times, significantly increasing the accuracy of their Raw Material planning. The platform also provided scenario-based capacity planning integrated with demand planning, enabling accurate decisions on quotas for sales personnel. Additionally, the company was able to leverage the tools available on o9’s platform to perform master planning and order promising, which increased planning accuracy. The o9 Enterprise Knowledge Graph was used for true End-to-End planning, including demand, capacity, master planning, and order promising. The ability to run scenarios and have real-time demand-supply synchronization proved to be a game-changer for the organization. The company replaced their homegrown solutions and Excel with o9's platform.

Impact #1	The implementation of o9's platform brought about significant operational improvements for the company. The platform's ability to perform master planning with detailed BOM, material and capacity constraints, and lead times led to a significant increase in the accuracy of their Raw Material planning. This helped the company avoid excess inventory and expedite orders, thereby improving their OTIF performance. The scenario-based capacity planning integrated with demand planning enabled accurate decisions on quotas for sales personnel, addressing the issue of inaccurate sales allocations. Furthermore, the company was able to make accurate order promises due to the detailed order planning tools available on o9’s platform. The flexibility of the platform also allowed the addition of execution layers such as order entry and custom workflows for sales teams, further enhancing operational efficiency.

Impact #1

The implementation of o9's platform brought about significant operational improvements for the company. The platform's ability to perform master planning with detailed BOM, material and capacity constraints, and lead times led to a significant increase in the accuracy of their Raw Material planning. This helped the company avoid excess inventory and expedite orders, thereby improving their OTIF performance. The scenario-based capacity planning integrated with demand planning enabled accurate decisions on quotas for sales personnel, addressing the issue of inaccurate sales allocations. Furthermore, the company was able to make accurate order promises due to the detailed order planning tools available on o9’s platform. The flexibility of the platform also allowed the addition of execution layers such as order entry and custom workflows for sales teams, further enhancing operational efficiency.

Benefit #1	A significant improvement in On Time In Full (OTIF) performance
Benefit #2	Substantial reduction in inventory
Benefit #3	Increase in Risk Management planning accuracy

Benefit #1

A significant improvement in On Time In Full (OTIF) performance

Benefit #2

Substantial reduction in inventory

Benefit #3

Increase in Risk Management planning accuracy

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Overview

Revolutionizing Steel Production with IoT: A Case Study on Improving OTIF and Reducing Inventory

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit