The Client
The client is one of the largest fast-moving consumer goods companies with a heritage of over 80 years. Its product portfolio includes food and beverages, cleaning agents, and beauty & personal care products.
The Challenges
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There are a number of reasons why there may be discrepancies between the stock levels of the warehouse management systems and SAP and these have to be regularly investigated by a team of “stock controllers” within the various markets and third-party logistics providers.
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The current investigation process was complicated and requires the running of multiple reports in the Sirius SAP system and the subsequent investigation of each discrepancy in turn to determine the correct course of action to align the systems.
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This task is generally carried out daily for each interfaced warehouse and weekly for locations that are not connected via an automated interface.
At the operational level, there can be multiple factors that can contribute towards a mismatch of stock levels between 3P WMS and SAP like:
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IDOC failures from WMS to SAP
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Transactions getting initiated from WMS without a preceding SAP document
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Operationally transaction is completed in WMS but not triggered in SAP
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IDOC failures in PI
The Objective
Being an FMCG company with varied product categories, the client required to have a smooth-running process. The client was looking for a trusted technology partner who could ensure that the stock levels between the multiple third-party warehouse management systems and the Sirius SAP system were aligned to ensure that goods are available for shipping and sales when required.
JK Tech’s objective was to simplify and automate as much of this reconciliation process as possible. This would help to reduce the amount of manual effort spent in carrying out this activity and increase stock accuracy and availability.
The Solution
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To overcome the challenges and meet the client’s objective, JK Tech’s experts automated the time-consuming elements of the reconciliation process which was a rule-based analysis of the stock differences, their possible root cause, and a potential path to resolution.
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The report is automatically emailed to the responsible person for stock reconciliation.
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As the reconciliation process is a daily activity it is envisaged that the automation will run once per day.
Stock Mismatch Reconciliation
The Benefits
As part of the program, we are actively looking for opportunities to automate or eliminate time-consuming or complex processes. This eventually leads the client to attain business transformation in critical operational functions including:
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Increased stock availability and ATP accuracy as a result of increased stock accuracy
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Decreased financial risk by using defined rules to automate activities currently carried out on the client’s behalf by 3rd party warehouse providers.
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Solution potentially reusable for other regions.
