Wesupply and UMECO Components new joint venture
Wesupply and UMECO Components new joint venture
Keywords: Aerospace industry, Internet, Supply-chain management
A new joint venture created by Wesupply Limited and UMECO Components plc is believed set to drastically change the way that OEMs and suppliers work together in the aerospace industry – reducing costs, saving time and removing inefficiencies.
The new business, called “Wesupply Aerospace”, will introduce best practice to the industry by integrating processes and optimising fulfillment activities between all partners within the supply network, through the use of Internet based technology.
Wesupply Aerospace claims to reduce costs, save time and remove inefficiencies from the supply chain by optimising the sourcing of common components as well as the real-time sharing of inventory, demand and fulfillment information between a company and the aerospace supply network. The service lets users define their own parameters and rules to highlight, monitor and manage these processes.
A common industry product coding database enables OEMs to perform parametric searches via the web to show where identical or similar hardware/ components are being manufactured and supplied, as well as industry usage and how much inventory is currently available at all locations in the supply network. This will enable OEMs to locate hardware/components quickly and easily, whilst allowing design engineers and sourcing specialists to make the most cost effective decision on which component to use for a particular product.
Wesupply Aerospace facilitates end to end partner integration and information sharing between organisations. This will, it is believed, improve responsiveness and reduce cycle time by removing non value added activities associated with typical customer- supplier relationships.
In addition, suppliers will be able to market their products to ALL OEMs and those with excess/obsolete inventory will be able to make it visible and available to the aerospace market place via UMECO Components existing distribution channels. Suppliers using the service will have the ability to perform “two way selling” between supply chain members to fulfill demand requirements, thus reducing excess/obsolete inventory and reducing cost.
In addition to improved visibility of product, demand and inventory, Wesupply Aerospace also participates actively in the fulfillment process, monitoring the day to day activity, alerting supply chain stakeholders to material changes,predicting errors or omissions, managing exceptions and suggesting corrective actions.
Via an Internet browser, the system gives users 24/7 continuous access to mission critical real-time supply chain information. Customers are given complete control of business processes, allowing them to configure business rules for their suppliers and ensuring 100 per cent compliance with their model of best practice. The service is said to also enable customers to reduce their logistics overheads and enhance supplier relationships by allowing them to:
manage the delivery and receipt of information,
provide increased visibility of changes in demand and help suppliers to plan more accurately,
alert suppliers to exceptions in the supply chain,
reduce administration by producing self-certified invoices, thus removing the need for invoice matching,
act as a clearing house for EDI messages, reducing communication and integration costs for suppliers, and
analyse supplier performance, allowing accurate supplier ratings for future contract allocation.
The solution is said to also allow suppliers to manage the risk caused by frequent alterations in forecasts and schedules, allowing them to achieve consistent delivery of correct shipments on-time. Looking at day-to-day processes, the solution allows suppliers to:
remove the task of turning raw data into real-time information,
automatically highlight changes by comparing latest purchase orders,shipping instructions and forecast details to previous information,
reconcile shipments and deliveries while managing exceptions,
produce bar coded labels for consignments without the need for investment in applications or specific printing equipment, and
remove the need to chase invoices as all information has already been agreed on goods shipped and received.
Jason Crabtree, CEO and Chairman of Wesupply Aerospace commented: “The joint venture has enabled the development of a new and completely unique service with widespread appeal in today’s global economy. The key to staying competitive and responsive to the needs of the customer is collaboration, and within the aerospace industry the failure to collaborate effectively is currently resulting in poor forecasting, inaccurate order processing and uncompetitive lead times.”
Paul Heaven, managing director, Wesupply added: “For the Wesupply business this is a very important move, providing a unique and highly effective vehicle to market the intelligence of the original solution to the aerospace industry. We are very pleased to have entered the partnership – this is now a very exciting time for both Wesupply and UMECO Components, as well as those OEMs and suppliers who are set to achieve significant business benefits from a new way of working together.”
The joint venture company is owned equally by Wesupply and UMECO Components and has its global headquarters in Leamington Spa, UK.
Already several major players in the global aerospace sector are reported to have expressed firm interest in the service.
Details available from: Wesupply. Web site: www.wesupply.aero
