consumer electronics and home appliance firm implements a "sharp" planning process! - home appliances manufacturers in china

The core process of supply chain management is comprehensive business planning (IBP).
The process balances supply and demand.
To be effective, even if companies have never heard of the term integrated business planning, they need to be involved in the process.
It is difficult to make comprehensive business planning.
Many companies get consulting help, start maturing their processes, and then find themselves sliding backwards when key executives leave and are replaced.
What I do not want to find is a company that does not officially use the word "integrated business planning", which runs the process in highly mature situations.
But that's exactly what I heard when I recently spoke to Jim Sanduski, the department president who recently developed at sharp Inc. (sharp home electronics. SHCA).
In addition, Peter Weedfald, senior vice president of home appliance sales and marketing, also attended the conference call.
Sharp household appliances manufactures, sells and serves household appliances that include microwave ovens, air purifiers, and other products.
Low-margin products are manufactured and imported in Asia.
But one of their most important product lines-microwave drawers-was invented by the sharp team in the US. S.
, Assembled at a factory in Memphis and sold only in the United StatesS. and Canada.
The microwave oven drawer is not placed on the top of the counter;
To save space and improve the look of the room, it is built directly into the cabinets and kitchen islands.
This is the configuration of the ordering supply chain.
Sharp brought 5 microwave drawer kits from their factory in Thailand, as well as 12 other microwave, convection MWO and super steam oven kits in a variety of styles.
They're from one and a half
Using locally sourced parts and components purchased from overseas, finished products go to 61 finished products of different styles.
Labor contribution in the United States accounted for 11-
14% at the final meeting of the Memphis facility
The availability of the product is the key to the timing and coordination of any kitchen renovation.
This convenience is necessary for all customers, as well as the order flexibility provided by the Memphis plant.
Sharp microwave drawers are sold to dealers, distributors and retail outlets.
The company sells microwave drawers with sharp names, but also to companies with six private label drawers.
The company has 11 patents for the product;
Even if all the microwave drawers come with the brand of another company, they are made by Sharp. Non-
The products of the sharp brand have a variety of control styles, menus and unique signature cosmetic design elements that help to differentiate their respective products from the basic sharp products.
Their integrated business planning process facilitates support for high-service supply chains.
Their process starts with forecasts from customers.
This is a four-month rolling weekly forecast.
The forecast was locked into the production plan in the last six weeks.
But in the past two months, customers have been able to adjust the order forecast 10 to 15% up or down.
97-98% of production is predicted using this adjustable manufacturing process.
It is difficult for most consumer electronics companies to use this process;
Getting good forecasts from partners is something for many businesses --to-
The struggle of consumer companies. But Mr.
Weedfald pointed out, "This is a thoughtful product.
People who look at the construction and renovation of the new House do not want construction at night.
We benefit from providing a highly predictable product.
Sharp has two meetings a week.
First, an extensive cross-functional team browses each account and predicts the time and size of the order for that account.
Then summarize the account forecast to forecast the revenue and profit of the Department for the next four months.
Finally, "go very tight", balancing the products that the salesperson wants to produce and the products that the factory can produce.
This meeting includes employees in sales, marketing, service, finance, product management, manufacturing and other departments.
SHCA has less than 200 people, 25 of whom are attending this weekly meeting in a room at the new zeimonwell headquarters.
This proportion is very high among the business units involved in integrated planning. But Mr.
Sanduski asserted, "We are a team and everyone needs to know what's going on.
"In many companies, it is difficult to get good participation from sales.
In this department, sir.
"Every salesperson understands that their job is more than just sales," Weedfald said.
It is product knowledge of sales, market, supply chain management, operation and 360 degrees.
We tell our sales team, 'You are the president of your company.
"Again, according to him.
Sanduski, "our supply chain team needs to know about our social networks;
They need to know each customer touch point.
This is a highly collaborative culture.
The restructuring, which took place in February, strengthened cooperation to merge independent manufacturing, sales and service organizations into an integrated sector.
In addition, the headquarters was transformed from an office space three years ago, where the elderly have private offices with doors and windows, and others work in high-wall compartments.
They pushed down the walls and created an open environment.
"No one has an office . "
"It's not me, it's not Peter.
Everyone has a desk in an open environment.
This promotes better communication.
"No one reports to anyone, sir.
Weedfald added, "anyone can talk to anyone.
This allows to discuss customer issues with manufacturing or service organizations "and then act quickly.
A second meeting is held every week to help improve their forecasts.
The sales team is involved.
At this meeting, the team looked at what they sold to customers-selling in sales, not what their customers sold-selling in sales.
"We may have a customer with 14 weeks of supply ,"Weedfald said.
"But we expect their sales to be higher as we only have 10 weeks of supply.
Do we need to promote it?
If this analysis is not performed, the sales cycle will slow down as "inventory consumption" occurs.
This in turn disrupts the "process" of the supply chain ".
"This is also a form of analysis that relatively few companies are engaged in, but it can greatly improve the accuracy of forecasts.
Support sales through new customer incentive programs.
"One of our biggest dealers, there was a lot of incentives in the past. ” Mr.
Weedfald explained.
"In the past, their bonus plan was based on quarterly results measured by sales.
For example, they get a bonus if they buy more than 1000 pieces.
We showed them new projects back in December.
Now, bonuses are based on sales, not just what they buy.
We did not change the size of the bonus.
We showed them the benefits of the project and they agreed to the new project.
This helps us achieve remarkable results in the supply chain.
All in all, Sharp is showing a very mature IBP process.
They have high-fidelity collaborative forecasts with key customers.
Second, they do weekly forecasts instead of more normal monthly ones.
Predictions often improve accuracy.
Similarly, they sell through analysis that further improves the accuracy of the forecast.
They support the IBP process with a highly collaborative team culture.
In their case, "inclusive business planning," you may voice over the process.
It's not bad for a company that doesn't officially recognize their processes as "Integrated Business Planning", but all of this is done through customers --
Focus on transparency and harmony.