Business application software provider Infor is to provide BSW Timber with its SCM (Supply Chain Management) Demand Planning system which will help the sawmill reduce its inventory, improve customer service and tightly manage seasonal peaks and troughs in demand.
BSW Timber’s recent growth through acquisition – it acquired Howie Forest Products in November 2009 – meant that the company’s existing spreadsheet-based planning system no longer supported increased demands.
“The acquisition of a number of additional production sites, combined with continued pressure to meet escalating customer service level agreements has added complexity to our supply chain in recent years,” said BSW Timber financial director Howard Jones.
“Infor SCM Demand Planning will provide us with better visibility of customer demand, facilitating quicker responses to market changes, maximising efficiency and helping us to plan for the seasonality which is inherent in our industry.”
Infor said the system would help BSW Timber to reduce inventory and cut costs and added that better stock availability and replenishment would improve “on time in full” delivery performance.
“Any manufacturer running multiple production sites faces a challenge in aligning production precisely with demand,” said Andy Killic, Infor SCM business consulting manager. “Achieving this alignment profitably has become impossible without sophisticated software to harness the complexity involved. Infor SCM Demand Planning provides the information to deliver the ultimate goal that is efficient operations combined with happy customers.”
