Consistency is capitalized

Axxom focuses on end-to-end supply chain design

Shortly before ACHEMA 2006 opens its doors Axxom Software AG introduces a new technological approach which, for the first time, allows an end-to-end supply chain optimization of very large, multi-stage networks. On the base of the so called Cost Scaling Algorithms (CS-Algorithms) the producing industry now can realistically plan very complex business scenarios with several hundred sites and thousands of products and customers. The optimization of the processes is done end-to-end, along the entire supply chain: from suppliers to production and distribution sites and all the way to the customer. The high efficiency of the approach also enables an integration of all planning levels from operative to tactical as well as strategic scenarios in just one consistent data model. Due to the automatic balancing of conflicting objectives the system covers all relevant stages within the supply chain and finds the actual global optimum for the entire supply chain instead of selective improvements. Demo scenarios can be viewed from May 15th to 19th at ACHEMA 2006 in Frankfurt a.M., Germany, in hall 9.2, booth K37.

Companies which aim at increasing the value added of their supply chain as a whole cannot be content to improve the processes in sub-areas only. Target must be an end-to-end optimization which integrates all planning levels - from suppliers to production and distribution sites and all the way to the customer. Only this way they can identify the super-ordinate, global optimum out of all the given data and restrictions, explains Dr. Christoph Plapp, CEO of Axxom Software AG. 
The benefits of an integrated supply chain optimization are intriguing: the transparency of the system structure is deliberately improved so that planners and supply chain managers can better evaluate individual business processes and their impact on other areas within the chain. Simulations here offer support as they allow the quick calculation of so called what-if-scenarios in a so far unknown depth of detail. Question as to site selections or the comparison of alternative distributor strategies can easily be answered. The increase of transparency and efficiency, moreover, help companies to adjust processes dynamically and most of all cost-efficiently without losing sight of the available workforce, the guaranteed delivery service and the simultaneous reduction of production costs. Sub-processes can be coordinated end-to-end and integrated in just one single system architecture. The result: optimal, cost-efficient planning scenarios, in line with the respective, current business perspective.

With the further development of the CS-Algorithms to market readiness and their application to the calculation of network scenarios Axxom has set a new benchmark in optimization: The new approach for the first time allows the calculation and optimization of global networks with several hundred locations, thousands of products and customers detailed and without pre-processing. Moreover, it integrates all planning horizons in one consistent data model, from the operative to the tactical and the strategic level. Up to now there existed utterly no algorithms for the calculation of such complex supply chains, nor did the efficiency of todays computers suffice for the processing of the arising data.

The high performance of the CS-Algorithms together with the minimal modeling effort give the approach a further competitive edge: they allow to operationalize strategic planning, that is, the constant, dynamic optimization and adaptation of the network to the daily business.