偉創力 (Flextronics) 的供應鏈軟體

RACHAEL KING, Flextronics Will Manage Global Supply Chain With New Real-Time Software, Wall Street Journal, July 7, 2015 

Flextronics International Ltd., said Tuesday it has created software that will help the company manage its complex global network of 14,000 suppliers in real time. 

Flextronics, which designs, manufactures and ships products for other businesses, expects the software to help identify potential problems with suppliers earlier and redirect work to keep inventory moving. 

Some companies have chosen to centrally manage their supply chains using a control tower approach. In contrast, Flextronics wants the whole company to see the same information globally, but let local managers make decisions. 

“The guys sitting in the plants can see the information at the same time and they can make their own decisions, said François Barbier, president of global operations and components at the Singapore-based Flextronics in an interview.... 

Effectively managing the supply chain is critical for companies hoping to recover from unexpected events such as political unrest, terrorism, natural disasters and extreme weather. “An earthquake in Taiwan or a fire in China may impact one of our suppliers that won't be able to deliver on time and that might drive another problem in the system because I might not be able to build the product and deliver on time,” said Mr. Barbier. Flextronics produces millions of products each month for other companies, he said. 

The company began developing the software more than two years ago. Gus Shahin, Flextronics’ senior vice president and chief information officer, integrated data from various systems such as inventory monitoring, manufacturing, quality, outbound transportation and delivery and figured out how to deliver large quantities of data in real-time. 

At the company’s Silicon Valley innovation center, there are 22 touch screens arranged in a semi-circle where teams can pull up information from different parts of the globe, including real-time video feeds of production facilities. 

One of the biggest challenges in creating the software was building uniform part numbers and naming conventions across the company’s global systems. “We allow the factories a certain degree of autonomy and that creates challenges in master data management,” said Mr. Shahin, in an interview.