Are You Ready to Scrutinize Supply Chain Orders and Verify Inventory Quantity on Hand
Last week, in the first blog in our series about your readiness to return to manufacturing we covered how to Utilize AIM Vision EDI and Order and Inventory Management to determine your inventory coverage based on demand.
This week we are going to cover how to use AIM Vision Purchasing to scrutinize supply chain orders and AIM Vision Inventory to verify your quantity on hand.
How Is Your Supply Chain Meeting Your Procurement Needs?
We anticipate many have likely experienced disruptions in your procurement process due to the constraints and lockdowns because of Covid-19. It is imperative that you evaluate and manage your supply chain risk. Supply chain visibility is critical to understanding the impact of disruption. You can begin by evaluating what orders are past due.
Printing the Purchasing Past Due Report through today as the Due Date, will assist you in examining where the supply chain has deviated from the scheduled requirements. This report can be printed by Buyer Code and grouped by Vendor Code, which allows each buyer to focus on their purchase orders. The report identifies the due date, quantity ordered, quantity received and quantity due. The report can help identify critical parts to minimize risk in procuring adequate material for the manufacture of Tier 1 parts.
This information can assist you in planning for adequate material when you begin production again. Invest time now to answer some of these other questions:
- Have your suppliers temporarily ceased production and what impact will this have on lead times?
- How have the logistics providers been affected and are they able to transport goods based on locations of sourced materials?
- Do you need to activate alternate sources of supply?
Perfect Time for a Physical Inventory Count
Are you operating on limited production schedules? Perhaps now is the perfect time to gather your best inventory control personnel and perform a physical inventory count. Accurate inventory will provide the ability to better assess and plan for material and production needs.
Utilizing the AIM Mobility Physical Inventory App can really assist with saving time and help you gain insights into current inventory counts and identify variances from what is on your plant floor and what the system thinks is in inventory.
But fear not, if you do not have this mobile app, you can still perform the physical count. Be sure to utilize the Physical Inventory Procedures Guide, or reach out to your AIM Vision consultant to schedule some assistance.
Next week we will blog about using AIM Vision MRP to determine what you need and when you need it, and having an authenticated, up-to-date inventory will prove to be very beneficial in knowing what you have.
Health and Safety Guides
As a reminder, there are a number of resources out there to help guide you through the health and safety aspects, and we encourage you to visit the sites like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for their Guidance for Businesses and Employers to Plan and Respond to Coronavirus Disease 2019, and the Original Equipment Suppliers Association for the Health and Safety Resources for Suppliers in a Coronavirus Environment.
We hope this helps gets you ready to re-open your plant. Reach out to the AIM Consultancy Group or your project manager if you are seeking any assistance evaluating your supply chain or performing a physical inventory count.
Check back next week for our next blog in the series.