4-min read

Whether it is a knee-jerk reaction to the pandemic or just the result of reaching the tipping point of next-generation thinking, professionals are now asking deeper questions about the added-value of their jobs and contributions. How they spend their working hours is a big portion of that reflection. It has become increasingly important to find purpose in our work.

This is particularly true for the younger generation of employees who now make up 13% of the workforce. Colloquially known as Gen Z, Generation Z is defined as the demographic group born in the late 1990s to early 2010s. They are expected to make up one-third of the workforce by the end of this decade. They are ambitious, brimming with opinions and ideas, and care about different things than those who have come before them.

You may argue that our own forefathers said the same thing; however the accelerated pace of technological change has made the generational divide more marked. This group are entering the workforce with a natural appreciation of rapidly advancing technologies and an innate expectation to be able to put them to good use. In an overheated supply chain recruitment market, with high costs of onboarding and knowledge drain, managing the needs of these supply chain professionals is key to business success.

Closing the gap of supply chain professionals

A key characteristic of Gen Z is that they are noticeably more insistent on protecting their own boundaries and achieving alignment between their work life and their own value system. This can feel alien to previous generations. Like any good S&OP/IBP cycle, achieving success starts with figuring out how to close the gap.

Left unaddressed, Gen Z’s protection of their boundaries and defense of their moral code can quickly descend into a frustrated work environment and a speedier tendency to seek alternative employment. Showing your willingness to invest in upskilling and to adopt innovative practices to close the gap, is essential to keep young talent on board and engaged.

Define excellent performance

To manage Gen Z supply chain professionals, we must recognize their individual talents and respond to their needs. They are even more concerned with academic performance and job prospects than previous generations. They seek clarity on what to prioritize to deliver excellent performance.

To achieve maximum results, we need to acknowledge that their life programming has resulted in the expectation of a high degree of personal choice. To respect this, but still achieve the desired progress, we must offer:

• A clearly articulated end goal
• A list of any hard constraints to be observed en route, and
• A high level of freedom in how to get there

In granting this freedom, we must also realize that the responsibility to deliver on those expectations can feel like a heavy weight to a less experienced employee. Dashboarding to facilitate prioritization setting and to act as a safety net, for both parties, can help.

Clarify where to focus

As the only generation in our workforce to grow up in a social-media-fed world, where new stimulus comes every 10 seconds, you could be forgiven for thinking that Gen Z would be adept at handling a higher-paced environment.

However, the sheer volume of data available with limited time to process it, exacerbates pressure during a demand planning cycle. The responsibility to make intelligent decisions, against the backdrop of limited capability building and an abundance of data to wade through, introduces a high risk of data paralysis or burnout.

Executing non-core processes such as slogging through masses of data to support decision-making is unattractive work for a typical Gen Zer. They are digital natives, so they know that functionality such as cognitive planning and planning parameter automation exist, which could be doing a lot of this work, and so feel denigrated to have to manually do such work, time and time again. They would much prefer to focus on the value-added activities that rely on the human brain, such as critical decision-making or driving new product adoption.

Removing the grunt work, and supporting Gen Z with understanding your business priorities and providing clarity on where to focus is the number one gift you can give them in this volatile world. At EyeOn Planning Services we offer just that.

Accessible data science and capability building

At EyeOn we have developed our own Honeycomb platform, harnessing the power of cutting-edge data science techniques and putting them to work for our customers modelling industry best practices gathered from years of experience in multiple domains.

Within EyeOn Planning Services, our experts leverage this platform to execute advanced analytics for your critical planning processes, while supporting capability building and continuous improvement efforts. We highlight top priorities for attention in the subsequent planning cycle and offer reliable, secure, affordable services to do the data crunching for your team. Years of happy customers have reported higher forecast accuracy, an unbiased forecast, optimized inventory levels and higher customer service.

Win-Win

Our team of talented Planning Service Experts finds their purpose in delivering time-sensitive value adding insights and in driving years ahead innovation in our field.

By outsourcing to the experts, you are future-proofing your processes and relieving your own team of duties that cost them energy. That time and energy can be put to much better use, focusing on more purposeful work and boosting key value drivers for your business, such as new product introductions or promotions.

Now doesn’t that sound like a win-win gap-closing initiative? Reach out to our expert Sinead Counet to learn more or meet us at one of our upcoming events!

Remember to keep an eye on this page where we will address further supply chain challenges you will be facing this year.

The post Closing the gap: Retaining Gen Z professionals while meeting your supply chain objectives appeared first on EyeOn.

By visualizing different parts of your planning process within an interactive PowerBI dashboard, you can easily track the development and, when necessary, steer it into the right direction.

During our webinar on July 7, 2022 we presented a planning framework with accompanying project reporting and capacity planning dashboards that provide an overview and interactive visualization of the different levels of planning and the planning processes:

Explore our dashboards:

• Project planning dashboard
• Capacity planning dashboard

The post Set up and track an effective project planning and control process appeared first on EyeOn.

The post Webinar ‘Preventing excess stock and obsolescence’ appeared first on EyeOn.

A backorder is an order for a good or service that cannot be filled at the current time due to a lack of available supply. The item may not be held in the company’s available inventory but could still be in production, or the company may need to manufacture more of that product.

Advantages of having backorders

• It reduces costs: As a beginner retailer, you should avoid overstocking products as they are not direct cash. For instance, by setting a target service level of 80% it is clear that 20% of demand will be intentionally back-ordered in order to save on inventory expenses. When focusing on back-ordering there is no need to pay for any extra storage space, because whatever is getting in, consumers have already bought it and this directly cuts costs.

• It shows the customer pattern: Back-ordering tells us a lot about consumer behavior and how they perceive the product. When customers continue to submit orders even though products are out-of-stock, you can look into the statistics and analyze how much stock you need in the future.

Disadvantages of having backorders

However, back-ordering can bring some disadvantages with it. In the picture below it is shown that customers have two options when their order cannot be immediately satisfied:

Not having enough products in stock can cause:

• Loss of competitive edge: Your loyal customers can decide to buy from your competitors because they have the product in inventory, while you are out of stock.
• Customer frustration: Customers may decide to wait until you deliver them the right product or they might get a similar product that you have in stock. But, they will leave with disappointment and frustration.

Here are a few steps to follow to reduce your backorders and prevent losing customer loyalty and revenue:

1. Get real-time data on your inventory levels: The first step to avoid backorders is to have a system that accurately tracks warehouse inventory levels and generates real-time alerts. You should discover the inventory run-out with no delay.
2. Forecast your demand: Collecting data on your historical sales and forecasting future demand helps to keep the right amount of products in your inventory.
3. Create a list of potential reasons for backorders: Investigate “why” there could be a backorder in your system. The reasons could be for example:
   a. Supply capacity: The company does not have enough capacity to internally/externally supply that product.
   b. Quality issue: There’s a product or raw material issue that prevents the order from being satisfied.
   c. Logistics: The demand is unsatisfied due to transportation issues.
   d. Obsolete product: The customer ordered a product that is not being produced anymore.
   The list of what elements can create backorders might differ according to the type of business.
4. Create insights: Once you have accurate data and each backorder is assigned to a reason code it’s time to create insights and break down the problem. Creating visuals is a guide to finding and solving the weaknesses that are causing backorders. Additionally, it is a way to monitor how the backorder trend is progressing in time.

In supply chain management it is hard to imagine how you can be effective at inventory management and customer satisfaction without a strong grasp of your underlying backorder KPIs. A dashboard provides an at-a-glance window into your business performance and enables you to manage all those orders of out-of-stock products. Learn more about dashboarding!

Curious how we turn your data into actionable insights? Our powerful visualizations will turn your data into actionable insights that facilitate both planners and managers to focus and make high-quality decisions, faster. Do you make data-driven decisions with confidence? If not (yet), please get in touch with our specialists to see how we can support you.

The post What is a backorder and how can it be reduced? appeared first on EyeOn.

Click on the different graphs below to see the Covid-19 developments per month.  

Not able to see the dashboard? Try using a different browser (Chrome is the preferred browser) or download a PDF of the dashboard.  

The post Visual insights in times of Covid-19 appeared first on EyeOn.

When driving a car, we all know immediately when something is wrong: an urgent red blinking light appears on in the dashboard. Do you have the same kind of insight and indicators when it comes to your inventory situation, especially in these uncertain times due to Covid-19?

April 28th Willem Gerbecks hosted a webinar where he showed how inventory insights dashboards can help manage and prevent out-of-stock situations and obsoletes. Based on the four different levels of complexity, he explained how very basic insights can already help you improve your inventory management, but that advanced insights can bring even more benefits.

Interested to know more? Please contact Willem Gerbecks.

The post Online dashboards to manage obsoletes or out-of-stocks appeared first on EyeOn.