Canon takes a better picture of its supply chain

Imaging specialist improves sales forcasting by 20 per cent

Supply chain management system helps imaging specialist improve sales forecasting

Imaging specialist Canon has improved the accuracy of product sales forecasting by more than 20 per cent using supply chain management software.

The inventory management system from Oracle is providing long-term forecasts and short-term scheduling across Canon’s European consumer imaging business, ensuring that the correct quantity and product types are available at sales centres.

The company, which specialises in making cameras, printers, and fax machines, has added the supply chain planning application to its existing Oracle enterprise resource planning system.

Erik Moses, Canon planning and scheduling manager, says benefits include more efficient planning, which will improve sales, reduce inventory and increase customer satisfaction.

‘Before implementation, the company was using spreadsheets as well as informal discussions about how to get supplies to our sales centres,’ said Moses.

‘We have reduced our excess inventory by more than 10 per cent and simplified situations where demand exceeds supply in the case of what we call hot products.’

The new system has improved forecasting, product allocation and supply chain planning operations across the company’s European headquarters and 13 warehouses.

Butler Group analyst Teresa Jones says one of the challenges of introducing a supply chain planning application is making sure that the system is operated correctly.

‘Because supply chain management systems can be so complex, operators may not necessarily understand how they work, or believe the system, and then you end up with a worse problem,’ she said.