technologyreview
BY DAVID MALONEY, SENIOR EDITOR
tweaks to the software that drives
your supply chain operations. does your software need a tune-up?
Spiraling costs, glacial order turns,
delivery delays? It might be time to
pop open the hood and make some
MAYBE YOU’RE JUST NOT ABLE TO GET
orders out the door as fast as you used to. Or
your operating costs have been creeping up and
you’re running into delivery delays. Or you’ve
noticed workers resorting to manual processes
or work-arounds for tasks that were supposed to
be fully automated.
All of these can be signs that something’s
amiss with the software that drives your distribution and transportation operations. Over
time, even the best designed system can become
a drag on performance if it’s not kept up to date
and modified as the user’s needs change.
Although the advantages of regular software tune-ups
might seem obvious, companies sometimes shy away from
the idea because they’re afraid the fixes will be expensive. But
that’s a misconception, software specialists say. Bringing an
underperforming system back up to speed doesn’t always
require a major upgrade or a costly replacement. In many
instances, all that’s needed is a tune-up. “There is low-hang-ing fruit that does not require a full upgrade,” says Jeff
Mueller, vice president of Sedlak Management Consultants,
which conducts software evaluations for distribution and
supply chain operations.
In some cases, the fix turns out to be as simple as a few
minor tweaks to the system. In others, it’s as easy as adding one
or more modules to the core system (say, a module for labor
management, inventory optimization, slotting, or electronic
data interchange). The user may not even have to buy the
module (or modules) it needs. Software specialists say it’s not
uncommon to find that a client already owns the required programs but has never gotten around to implementing them.
“Our customers, for instance, use only about 30 percent
of a software system’s capabilities,” says Mike Dunn, group
vice president of sales for Fortna, another consulting and
design firm. What often happens, he says, is that clients opt
for a phased-in approach when they go to install new software. That is, rather than implement all of the modules at
once, they decide to tackle the project in stages in order to
minimize disruption. Trouble is, they never move on to the
second and third phases. The modules end up gathering
dust until a problem arises.
Trigger points
So how do you know when your software needs a tune-up?
In many cases, the signs are obvious. For instance, with enter-prise-level software, a big tip-off is rising operational costs
(or costs that are out of line with expected norms). But performance problems aren’t the only indicator that a software
checkup is in order. You’ll also want to re-evaluate the system
if your company has recently made major structural changes
