THE MAIN IDEA: All supply chains are composed of combinations of just four entities: Products; Facilities; Vehicles; and Routes. If icons for these entities are shown on a map-based graphical user interface (GUI), then is easy to create a very accurate model of any supply chain anywhere in the world. Here are the four entities and their icons:
- Products – things in demand at various facilities
- Facilities – places where products are made, stored, sold or consumed
- Vehicles – mechanisms to move products between facilities
- Routes – paths taken by vehicles to move products between facilities
There is also a fifth entity built into the other four – Time. Facilities have product demand per day, and vehicles have operating costs per kilometer; and delivery routes have travel times.
SCM Globe has a user interface (UI) design that enables people to easily define instances of the four entities in their supply chain models. Define combinations of these four entities; drag-and-drop those entity icons to place them on a smart map (like Google Maps). That creates a mathematically rigorous supply chain models without you having to deal directly with the math.
Then run simulations to see how well your supply chain works. See operation results as they unfold while the simulation runs. Use the simulation data to create performance reports to identify areas for improvements. Keep improving your model based on simulation results.
Check out more information on how these simulations work, “Supply Chain Modeling and Simulation Logic”.