This story is for CEOs who:
- Need help in tracking, controlling, and saving costs
- Cannot access the data they need in a form they can use
- Have complex logistics which resist optimization and are dragging profits down
The Challenge
A global supplier of commercial explosives, primarily for the mining industry, prided itself on customer service, manufacturing and delivering more than 1.2 million tons of ammonium nitrate from multiple facilities on three continents. However, they lacked any real measure of the cost and efficiency of their logistics; they were unable to track inventory levels, production volumes, key raw material purchases, and sales. Where the data existed, it was buried in multiple siloed systems.
Controlling costs while maintaining high fulfillment standards
- Identified cost savings through advanced data analytics
- Up-leveled sales, inventory, and operations planning (SIOP) to align budgeting, forecasting, production planning, inventory levels, and raw material purchases
- Created a digital twin—a simulation model that gathers data in real time—for weighing various network optimization scenarios and evaluating investment decisions before committing
Lessons learned for other executives
- Confident decision making requires reliable data and the tools to wield it
- Near real-time visibility into global logistics and operations is possible
- Technology helps to evaluate investment decisions and optimization scenarios
The Results
- Provide “One version of the truth”
- Implement self-serve analytics dashboards providing near real-time visibility into logistics operations and financial metrics
- Develop digital twin of complex multi-mode logistics network
- Support strategic decision making with complex scenario modelling to improve costs, service, and profitability
- Accelerate digital maturity by years
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Gaining near real-time visibility into logistics (CS281)
