Cupertino, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/18/2014 -- Often overlooked in lean manufacturing initiatives is the supply chain, in particular supplier replenishment. In the current company blog, Ultriva’s CEO, Narayan Laksham, explored how Global multi-national manufacturers can use supplier replenishment as the ultimate tool in lean manufacturing best-practices.

Laksham explained that Supplier Replenishment is lean because it:

-Improves supplier on-time delivery performance by enabling better collaboration and data sharing between buyers and suppliers.
-Improves buyer and planner productivity by automatically flagging and communicating new and changed orders to suppliers, eliminating unreliable communication modalities.
-Eliminates stock-outs by tracking order status and proactively alerting buyers to high risk situations.
-Reduces Inventory levels by providing better inventory on-hand data and continuous improvement analytics.

“Lean manufacturing principles require a variety of inventory replenishment methods, including: schedule-based replenishment, discrete POs, min/max, consignment and VMI (vendor-managed inventory) replenishment methods. With supplier replenishment, manufacturers can drive replenishment from production schedules, publish forecasts to suppliers, and automate purchase order releases and receipts through a collaborative Internet portal,” noted Laksham.

In today’s fast-paced economy, manufacturers must constantly find ways to reduce costs and improve efficiency. A collaborative supplier replenishment system is a great way to accomplish lean goals.

To read the entire blog, go to: http://web.ultriva.com/ultriva-blog/bid/100838/Lean-Manufacturing-Requires-Supplier-Replenishment.

About Ultriva
Ultriva’s (www.ultriva.com) cloud-based platform leverages and seamlessly integrates with leading ERP and MRP systems, to deliver an end to end pull based replenishment model. Ultriva, based in Cupertino, CA, implemented a global demand driven manufacturing model by providing full visibility, scheduling, and sequencing of production of customer orders. The need for a collaborative transactional portal is essential and E2E (End to End) Pull allows large multi-national manufacturers to actively collaborate with customers for actual demand and synchronize with suppliers for replenishment. E2E Pull offers a better solution to balancing supply with customer demand through procurement strategies, materials and inventory policies tied to actual demand signals. Many suppliers want to provide sufficient service levels to customers and turn supply replenishment and synchronization into a competitive advantage. The company’s global footprint is increasing rapidly with implementations in wide variety of industry sectors and enterprises such as ATK, CareFusion, Emerson, Ingersoll Rand, McKesson, Magellan, Regal Beloit, Thermo Fisher and more. Follow Ultriva on Twitter at @Ultriva.

Ultriva, Inc.
www.ultriva.com
Cynthia Leonard
Marketing Executive
cynthial@ultriva.com
408.961.2495