A global mining and construction vehicle manufacturer known for producing top-tier mining and construction equipment relies on a vast supply network to keep their machines running smoothly. With thousands of suppliers, factories, and dealers scattered worldwide, maintaining clear visibility and seamless supply chain collaboration is crucial, especially when managing interdependencies within different tiers to ensure a reliable flow of goods.
The Situation
The mining and construction industry is highly vulnerable to macroeconomic fluctuations, experiencing unpredictable shifts in supply and demand. During economic downturns, suppliers are burdened with excess capacity, while in periods of growth, they struggle to keep pace with rising demand. This company faced significant challenges in managing a volatile supply network, with large teams dedicating countless hours to phone calls and emails in an effort to confirm supplier commitments and track down critical components. Lacking real-time visibility into supplier capacity and constraints, production plans frequently unraveled under the pressure of rapidly changing supply conditions.
The Challenge
The manufacturer urgently needed a more effective way to synchronize supply with demand to maintain production efficiency and achieve their on-time, in-full (OTIF) targets. However, coordinating with over 6,300 multi-tiered suppliers proved to be a monumental challenge. Outdated manual processes and limited visibility made the task even more daunting—time-consuming and prone to human error, these inefficiencies left field operations vulnerable to critical parts shortages and costly delays.
The Solution
To overcome these challenges, the manufacturer implemented an integrated, end-to-end supply chain platform that transformed their supply chain collaboration, execution, and logistics capabilities. By seamlessly connecting with over 6,000 multi-tier suppliers through e2open’s flexible “come-as-you-are” integration approach, they achieved unprecedented b-directional transparency. The company was able to share demand forecasts with their suppliers to give them advanced insight into future needs. In return, suppliers provided accurate capacity commitments and real-time inventory positions, which allowed the manufacturer to balance demand and supply.
The Outcome
By leveraging e2open’s multi-tier business network and connected platform, the manufacturer shifted from slow, reactive, manual processes to a digital-first orchestration model. With real-time logistics, capacity, and inventory data from partners, the manufacturer optimized production planning, efficiently allocated constrained components to ensure reliable supply, and enabled confident delivery promises to customers and dealers.
The benefits were immediate and far-reaching:
- Supply chain collaboration with bi-directional alignment
- Optimized production planning driven by real-time data
- Resilient supply chain operations that can pivot quickly
- Improved OTIF performance with predictive ETAs
Applications used:
E2open Supply Planning
E2open Supply Forecast Collaboration
E2open Supply Inventory Collaboration
E2open Global Logistics Orchestration
Key points module:
Seamless Multi-tier Collaboration
Optimized Production Planning
Data-driven Decision-making
Improved OTIF and Predictive ETAs
