Use JDE Integrations to Solve Customer Shipping Problems

As irritating as it can be for you and your team to deal with supply chain issues, it’s your customers that matter the most. Therefore, it makes the most sense for some organizations to focus on solving problems that a supply chain crisis causes for the people they serve and sell to.

Empower Customers to Navigate a Supply Chain Crisis with Integrations

With Oracle JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Software, you can integrate its Sales Order, Inventory, and Transportation Management solutions to enable customers to exercise control over how and when they get your goods.

For example, suppose you manufacture electronics, and the factory you hire to assemble your components is in Western China. The closest port to your factory gets shut down because of an outbreak. But there are other ports you can use. Even though they’re farther away, and it would cost more to truck orders to them, they can still get the job done.

Many companies use what essentially amounts to a “black box” order fulfillment system—the customer has no idea what’s going on; they just know they’re not getting their order when they want it. But by integrating your JDE Inventory, Sales Order, and Transportation systems, you can give customers the ability to choose their own shipping options.

Using this example, if your primary port has been closed down, you don’t have to wait for it to reopen before getting customers what they need. You can give them the option of using an alternate port, paying a little extra because of the increased transportation costs, and waiting a little longer than they had hoped. But for the customer, the good news is they know their item is coming, when, and how much it will cost.

In this way, you mitigate the impact of a supply chain crisis on the people who matter most: your loyal clients.

Use EnterpriseOne Requirements Planning to Build Agility During a Supply Chain Crisis

You can leverage JDE EnterpriseOne Requirements Planning to circumvent various supply chain challenges. The most frustrating moments during a supply chain crisis are when you feel your hands are tied. Sometimes it feels like your business is at the mercy of broken transportation systems. Here’s how Requirements Planning can provide a way out.

Even before the last supply chain crisis, some manufacturers had begun finding alternative suppliers for their components. For some, the cost of retaining a backup plant is more than worth the security that comes with knowing you have options. After you identify the components most vulnerable to a supply chain issue, you can either use multiple providers or keep one on retainer.

You then enter the information for each provider and what they produce in your JDE EnterpriseOne Requirements Planning system. By integrating JDE’s EnterpriseOne Distribution Requirements Planning, Material Requirements Planning, and Master Production Schedule, you can get automated recommendations regarding which supplier to use to produce your goods.

For instance, suppose one of your component suppliers can’t deliver on time because a shipping port is understaffed because of people being forced to stay home. You can input this factor into your JDE system and in a matter of moments, it can automatically tell you which supplier you should use instead. In addition, once you’ve integrated the right systems, you can get an instant projection of:

• How much it would cost to go with a different supplier
• How much longer it would take
• How the difference in price would impact your costs
• How the change would impact what you charge customers

Then, by integrating this system with your e-commerce site, you can automatically populate the pricing fields customers see when they place an order.

This way, you automate your supply chain crisis management and maintain a transparency with customers that earns their longstanding loyalty.

Use EnterpriseOne Advanced Pricing to Mitigate the Financial lmpact of a Supply Chain Crisis

With EnterpriseOne Advanced Pricing, you can strategize and automate price adjustments to different products to systematically offset increased costs—instead of guessing how much you should increase prices.

For example, suppose a supply chain crisis has forced you to switch from ocean freight to an air-based shipment system. This will increase your shipping costs by 15% and bump up your cost of goods sold (COGS) an extra 5% per unit.

Instead of simply increasing the price of that item, you can use EnterpriseOne Advanced Pricing to Explore ways to offset the price increase across a range of products, not just those directly impacted by the shipping issue. You can even use Advanced Pricing to ensure your adjustments automatically reflect in customer-facing catalogs and your overall accounting system.

Using Advanced Pricing, you may discover, for instance, that by increasing the price of a more popular item by 1.5% and a less-popular product by 6%, you can completely offset the shipping increase. Either way, JDE’s tools put you in control of your pricing system, enabling you to adjust your revenue stream and mitigate whatever the next supply chain crisis throws at you.

With GSI, There’s No Need to Fear the Next Supply Chain Crisis

These are just a few options JDE gives you if you want to cushion the blow of the next supply chain crisis. GSI’s JD Edwards experts can show you more. With GSI, your JDE implementation is smooth, flexible, and designed to help you succeed, no matter what happens in the global markets. JD Learn more by connecting with GSI today.