3 The progression to supply chain event management
Fig. 7.3 The progression to supply chain event management
Event management software is now becoming available from a number of providers. The principles underpinning event management are that ‘intelligent agents’ are created within the software that are instructed to respond within pre-determined decision rules, e.g. upper and lower limits for inventory levels at different stages in a supply chain. These agents monitor the critical stage in a process and issue alerts when devi- ations from required performance occurs. The agents can also be instructed to take corrective action where necessary, and they can iden- tify trends and anomalies and report back to supply chain managers on emerging situations that might require pre-emptive attention.
Whilst event management is primarily a tool for managing processes, its advantage is that it can look across networks, thus enabling con- nected processes to be monitored and, if necessary, modified.
Clearly the complexity of most supply networks is such that in real- ity event management needs to be restricted to the critical paths in that network. Critical paths might be typified by such features as: long lead times to react to unplanned events, reliance on single-source suppliers, bottlenecks, etc.
Event management is rooted in the concept of workflow and mile- stones, and Figure 7.4 uses nodes and links to illustrate the idea of workflow across the supply chain. Once a chain has been described in
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terms of the nodes that are in place and the links that have been estab- lished, the controls that have been defined respond to events across the chain. An event is a conversion of material at a node in the chain or a movement of material between nodes in the chain. Events should only happen as a result of an instruction (control). Therefore on the time horizon over which instructions are issued, events are capable of being monitored for the timeliness and completeness with which they are exe- cuted against the original instruction.
So, for example, a simple data string will be attached to the following events at the time the instruction is issued:
● Node point ● Process (conversion or link) ● Date of instruction ● Product code ● Quantity ● Date for commencement of task ● Date due for completion ● Consignment/order number ● Next node in the chain
The data string can be very lengthy depending on the product and industry and the level of data capture that the firm is trying to achieve.
Event management systems rely on being connected to the systems of the players in the extended chain (both internal to the firm and with its suppliers and customers) so that their obligation to comply to the con- trols that have been set and their actual performance is recorded through
a data feed to the event management system, when the event happens.
When an event does not occur on time and/or in full, the system will automatically raise alerts and alarms through an escalation sequence to the people controlling the chain requiring them to take action. Currently, event management systems typically do not determine the actions that are most appropriate or provide optimization capabilities; however, future generations of supply chain event management systems will prob- ably have this capability.
Key Nodes
## Date start
## ## ## Date start
Date start
Date start
Date start
Date start
## ## ## Date due
Date start
Date start
Date start
Date start
## ## ## Date due
Date due
Date due
Date due
Date due
## ## ## Quantity
Date due
Date due
Date due
Date due
System ref ######
System ref
System ref
System ref
System ref
MANAGING THE GLOBAL PIPELINE
System ref ######
System ref
System ref
System ref
System ref
Single end-to-end view of the chain gives visibility of non-conformance and hence risk
Fig. 7.4 Event management across the supply chain
Source: Cranfield School of Management, Creating Resilient Supply Chains, Report on behalf of the Department for Transport, 2002.
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