Problem Statement

Are you in the branded apparel business? In the Chemical, Pharmaceuticals or Bioscience industries? Or are you a consumer goods manufacturer that frequently outsources the production or packing of certain products to suppliers?

Then you will be familliar with the dilemma. You have to choose contract manufacturing operations (CMOs) wth long lead times and lock in capacities, so that when you need them to fulfill your demand, they are ready. Among qualitative aspects (product design, quality control, ethical standards), the choice from a supply chain perspective should also be quantified from the perspectives of service level, capacity availability and landed cost.

Typical planning and procurement systems do not support the required analyses to make such a choice. As soon as you are facing your network with multiple receipient locations and multiple vendors scattered across the globe to choose from, who could supply you with a variety of transport modes through a variety of nodes, Excel is not an option anymore either.

Solution Statement 

We can help. Sophus’ supply chain optimization models can be used to understand how many and which potential CMOs should be contracted, to provide the required maufacturing capacity at the reqested service level to meet forecasted demand. While doing so, the analysis ensures that the landed cost to your business is kept at a minimum and advises on the flow paths and transport modes your supplies en route from your CMOs to you should take.