“Preserve of the rich” generally refers to the practices and techniques used to protect and maintain assets over time, particularly against financial risks like inflation and market volatility. It’s a proactive approach that involves careful planning and execution to safeguard against potential threats.”
Source: Investopedia
Advanced Planning & Scheduling (APS – sometimes called Advanced Planning Systems) has long been recognised as providing huge operational insight and Supply Chain benefit to those organisations which have sufficiently deep pockets to employ the sophisticated technologies it offers. As we all know, the world is an inherently unfair place and such system advantages have traditionally been the ‘preserve of the rich’, typically very large, top-tier players in their chosen industries.
Levelling up: the APS advantage
For many years, implementing an end-to-end Supply Chain Management solution involved substantial financial investment, considerable valuable time (and energy), an IT department capable of undertaking the heavy lifting involved in legacy system and data integration, and the willingness (and OPEX budgets) to maintain often large-scale inhouse, on-premises computer systems. No wonder APS has been the ‘preserve of the rich’ – such demands created often insurmountable barriers to smaller organisations which have been forced to compete using a combination of manual processes and a heavy reliance upon spreadsheets (sounds familiar?).
But to quote Bob Dylan, The Times They Are A-Changin’
Levelling up: the reasons behind the change
This short article explores three key reasons why the Supply Chain APS landscape is shifting. There are other, equally valid catalysts but today, we’ll keep things nice and simple – the first is:
1. Kinaxis Planning One™ – “The perfect digital transformation starting point”
Kinaxis’ Planning One™ solution has been designed to “provide a low-risk, low-cost way for companies of any size to go from Excel to advanced planning in weeks”. It is the first APS of its type created to cater for mid-Tier and small-to-medium sized (SME) enterprises, offering the same functionality and associated advantages of automated end-to-end Supply Chain management but with an understanding of the constraints faced by such organisations. In effect, Kinaxis is saying ‘why should APS be the preserve of the rich?’ – and now, it isn’t…
Planning One™ incorporates Demand and Supply Planning, Inventory optimisation and has the critical ability to offer scenario planning; ‘what if?’ analysis allowing businesses to model the effects of changes to their Supply Chains and gauge the impact without causing upheaval or operational disruption. That plays exactly to the passage in our quote (above) relating to the “safeguard against potential threats” – goodness knows, enough of those abound in today’s world… A raft of add-ons means the solution can grow and evolve, creating incremental business value as the investment matures. It’s also rapid to implement, typically taking weeks, not months, meaning it starts to return on that investment and earn its keep much sooner.
2. The Software-as-a Service (SaaS) model
APS has followed the trend towards providing sophisticated functional Supply Chain Management through a Cloud-based managed platform. In a SaaS environment, the applications used to model complex Supply Chain processes are hosted by the APS provider, meaning that there is no inhouse, on-premises server and/or computer requirement beyond the use of a browser (and/or sometimes a small Client application), a standard feature on all user devices. This reduces cost and complexity, creating a subscription-based scenario where additional users can be added quickly and seamlessly, and at the same time moves the investment from the CAPEX to the OPEX side of the balance sheet. Budgeting for APS becomes far more predictable and indeed, affordable.
SaaS-based APS is quick to implement, flexible and robust. It means that smaller organisations can focus efforts on operational efficiency rather than having to face the costs involved in supporting and maintaining complex, dedicated technology systems. As the system is managed by the provider, it is highly flexible and scalable, meaning that it grows with your business needs. Kinaxis’ Planning One™ is a SaaS solution.
3. The P1 Consulting advantage
P1 Consulting was originally created to provide these advantages to those organisations which have previously struggled to clear the barriers to APS entry. Recognising the constraints, P1C is founded upon the dedicated focus on Kinaxis’ Planning One™ APS solution – it doesn’t offer an agnostic view of Supply Chain Management, it only provides sales and implementation service in partnership with Kinaxis and is the UK’s only Value-Added Reseller (VAR). This dedication brings a clear-cut understanding of the technology, its functionality and the business value it is capable of delivering.
When coupled with P1C’s ability to provide the best, most experienced, certified assets to implement and deploy the Planning One™ SaaS solution, the partnership becomes a winning combination. A conjoined group of professionals who understand the industry challenges and issues rather than merely what APS can functionally ‘do’. P1C can even help businesses to understand and appreciate their own readiness (or otherwise…) to install APS in the first instance, before plunging headlong into a deployment, in case certain aspects of the operation aren’t yet prepared. Data availability, governance and ‘cleanliness’ are often great examples which require addressing before embarking upon APS deployment – move before this, or indeed a host of other parameters, is ready and it’s possible that full benefits may not be realised.
Levelling up: time to take advantage
Advanced Planning & Scheduling brings numerous advantages and huge business value. Now, it is no longer the ‘preserve of the rich’, thanks to Kinaxis Planning One™, the evolution of the SaaS model and P1 Consulting. We started with a quote, let’s end with another, this time from Maynard Jackson, the American Attorney:
“If you don’t like affirmative action, what is your plan to guarantee a level playing field of opportunity?”
At P1 Consulting, we’d suggest the answer is Kinaxis Planning One™…
P1 Consulting – Know Sooner | Act Faster
