Service Parts Planning
The Opportunity
Service parts is one of the great sub-optimized areas of supply chain planning. We project that service parts will become a future area for companies to drive easy value. Having worked on several service parts projects with two of the major software vendors, we are optimistic about the possibility for a sea change in the planning of parts. The opportunities extend all the way from planning to service parts network configuration.
Specific Solutions
SAP SPP is becoming an important solution as part of SAP SCM. They have put a significant amount of resources of the last few versions into enhancing SPP. This attention from SAP shows that service parts planning may be becoming mainstream. However, SPP is not always the best solution, here are specific pros and cons to using SPP vs MCA and even vendors such as Baxter and Servigistics. These include:
- Is SCM already configured in other areas?
- Is the focus of the planning high level or operational?
- How important is ease of simulation capability?
- Do you intend to set service levels through your supply chain?
- How much maintenance are you prepared to deal with regarding master data maintenance?
Answers to these and more questions can help me advise you as to the best course of action to bring about the highest percentage likelihood of success in your service parts planning project.
http://www.scmfocus.com/servicepartsplanning/2010/03/spp-continues-to-have-implementation-problems/
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