Maximizing Supply Chain Visibility

Solutions with SCOR®

How to Maximize Supply Chain Visibility

Solutions with SCOR® and Create Long-Term,
Measurable Results

White Paper

by Kari Dwyer
Blue Sky Logistics, Inc.

Executive Summary

Maximizing the benefits of Supply Chain visibility solutions is

within reach when the SCOR-model, created by the Supply-
Chain Council, is adopted. Understanding the advantages of
the SCOR-model and identifying how existing Supply Chain
processes relate to the model can increase the ROI on existing
Supply Chain systems and visibility investments. By defining a
Supply Chain visibility strategy that aligns with the SCOR-
model, pertinent information can be analyzed and efficiencies
gained that will deliver measurable and actionable results.

April 2006

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 competitors. Supply chain visibility solutions coupled with the
SCOR-model can help bridge the gap between supply chain
processes, thus providing a standardized method of obtaining
and reporting the information required for continuous supply
chain improvement.

What is SCOR®?

The Supply Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) model was

created by the Supply-Chain Council (SCC), which is an
independent, not-for-profit, trade association comprised of a
partner base of 800 companies worldwide interested in
advancing supply chain management systems and practices.
The SCOR-model is a business process framework designed to
link best practices, technology, benchmarks, standardized
metrics, and business processes in an effort to increase
efficiencies in supply chain management operations. The
SCOR-model is becoming more widely adopted as supply chain
companies seek standardized methods of capturing and
reporting information.

The SCOR-model has been developed to describe the business

activities associated with five major supply chain management
processes which include:

Plan (Demand/Supply Planning and Management)

Source (Sourcing Stocked, Make-to-Order, and
Engineer-to-Order Product)

Make (Make-to-Stock, Make-to-Order, and Engineer-to-
Order Production Execution)

Deliver (Order, Warehouse, Transportation, and
Installation Management for Stocked, Make-to-Order,
and Engineer-to-Order Product)

Return (Return of Raw Materials and Receipt of
Returns of Finished Goods)

Within each major process, levels are assigned to identify

specific attributes of the five processes. The highest level is
Level 1 where the process types are identified and the
competition performance targets are established. Level 2
provides more definition of the process categories and defines
the configuration level through which a company’s operations
strategy is implemented. At Level 3, the processes are
When a company sets annual decomposed and best practices, process performance metrics,
performance goals within the and element definitions are defined to “fine tune” a company’s
supply chain, how does it know operations strategy. Although Level 4 is not defined in detail in
when the performance goals are the SCOR-model, the SCC identifies Level 4 as the definition of
met? How are the performance strategic, company specific practices to achieve competitive
goals measured? Are the advantage.
measurements taken using the
most accurate data available?
These questions are paramount
when attempting to minimize the
gap between a company and its

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 savings. As Six Sigma-Lean grows in popularity within the
supply chain space, the SCOR-model will become even more
widely adopted as it strives to build a solid foundation in the
establishment of best practices and standardized metrics.

Maximizing the Value of Visibility with SCOR®

The SCOR-model adds value to supply chain visibility solutions
through the addition of standardized metrics, improved
communications due to standards-based definitions, and
increased ROI through leveraging the existing visibility solution
framework.

Standardized Metrics

The addition of standardized metrics into existing visibility

solutions is important externally and internally to organizations.
From an external perspective, standardized metrics enable
companies to better compare business process performance
with competitors, suppliers, and other companies. Standardized
metrics are also a key component in collaborative activities
which provides more opportunities for enhanced coordination
and less management overhead when interfacing with partners.
The more companies that adopt the SCOR-model, the likelihood
increases that benchmarking results will be based on more
similarly defined calculations providing a more analogous
comparison.

When measuring Perfect Order Fulfillment, a company may

measure a Perfect Order by one definition resulting in 95%
compliance, and their supplier may measure a Perfect Order by
an entirely different measurement resulting in 85% compliance.
In this specific example, both partners would have completely
different perspectives on performance due to company specific
metric definitions. Standardized metrics play a large role in
providing consistency in performance measurements on a
broader scale.

Internally, the addition of standardized SCOR-model metrics

increases the functional value of visibility solutions. For
example, how does a supply chain executive currently assess
the Cash-to-Cash cycle time? How does a CFO assess the
Supply Chain Management Cost? These are questions that the
SCOR-model attempts to define. By clearly defining
standardized metrics, the SCOR-model helps companies take a
closer, more accurate look at how their supply chains are
performing. Examples of SCOR-model Level 1 metrics include:

Perfect Order Fulfillment

Many supply chain companies
Supply Chain Management Cost
and vendors have begun
Cost of Goods Sold
implementing the SCOR-model
into their existing processes and
have realized significant cost-

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Return on Supply Chain Fixed Assets

Through implementation of SCOR-model metrics, companies

can take advantage of supply chain metrics created by industry
experts to increase efficiencies in the supply chain.

Standards-based Definitions

By incorporating the SCOR-model within a cross-functional,

visibility solution across the enterprise, companies can benefit
from a consolidated knowledge base. In some supply chains,
the lack of standardized process definitions becomes a point of
misinterpretation between different departments. Non-standard
definitions or terms that cross department boundaries may be
interpreted differently based on the audience. For example, the
lack of correlation between logistics metrics and financial
metrics is one example by which non-standard definitions cause
inconsistent, or biased results. Standardization of metrics
across the supply chain will help eliminate sources of
inconsistency and provide a common ground for reporting
dependable results. With increased pressure to improve risk
management and planning within the supply chain, receiving
and reporting information that is accurate, consistent, and
reliable is essential.

Leveraging the Visibility Framework

Integrating portions of the SCOR-model into a visibility solution

can take advantage of many inherent features of a visibility
framework such as current integrations, existing metrics, and a
common representation medium such as web-based user
interfaces and portals, reports, and alerts.

Incorporating SCOR defined metrics into a visibility solution

takes advantage of existing integration capabilities into multiple
supply chain management systems, thereby increasing the
amount of supply chain data available to access. A high-quality
supply chain visibility solution can take advantage of well
integrated systems as well as disparate systems that are not
fully integrated by extracting the information needed, applying
standardized calculations across multiple systems, and
presenting a final output. Attempting to integrate SCOR defined
metrics separately into multiple, independent systems could be
costly, redundant, and require a lengthy development cycle.

Analyzing metrics at an individual system level may make sense

for some divisions of the company but does not help supply
chain executives at higher levels in identifying how the total
supply chain system is performing. In order to truly understand
the performance of a supply chain, a comprehensive, enterprise
view of the supply chain is essential.

Cash-to-Cash Cycle
time

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 In addition, lower level metrics in visibility solutions can
oftentimes be incorporated or rolled up into high level SCOR-
model metrics to provide a more holistic view of the supply
chain. By integrating or combining existing metrics in the
creation of higher level metrics, a more comprehensive view of
the supply chain can be assessed and monitored.

Results of the standardized metrics can be displayed using the

visibility framework, thus maintaining consistency of the data
presentation and delivery across the enterprise.

Getting Started with SCOR®

Starting an initiative to implement the SCOR-model within a
visibility solution requires executive commitment and
sponsorship to ensure that affected departments are
cooperative and committed in participation. Initially, assessing
the current state of selected processes in the operation is
“What gets necessary to better understand which processes need the most
improvement. For example, if more improvements are needed
measured in the “Deliver” process, then focusing first on the
implementation of key delivery metrics could foster immediate
gets cost savings. Identifying the most strategic metrics from
targeted business processes will aid in prioritization and reap a
faster return on the investment.
results.” Vendors with knowledge of the SCOR-model can help
companies achieve the benefits that the model provides. A
number of supply chain visibility vendors have added SCOR
- Supply Chain Council compliant metrics into their solution offerings. Whether a SCOR
(SCOR Reference model) project is performed internal or external to the organization, it is
important to understand that the SCOR-model is continually
being extended and new versions of the model should be
reviewed to take advantage of the most recent updates.
Adopting the SCOR-model is a continual process and requires
frequent, proactive assessments.

Measuring Results and Taking Action

Developing measurable results is important in ensuring that
existing supply chain systems are performing. It has been
stated that “what gets measured gets results”. In the
competitive environment currently experienced by supply chain
operations, knowledge of key business process performance is
imperative. By identifying the current state of business
processes, establishing standardized metrics, and setting
performance goals, obtaining measurable results becomes a
reality.

Measuring and tracking performance results over time allows

companies to monitor the success of focused, strategic
initiatives in various business processes. How do companies
really know if initiatives to improve Vendor Compliance are

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successful? By calculating Vendor Compliance results using a
standard definition supplied in the SCOR-model, tracking
Vendor Compliance results over time in an enterprise visibility
solution will enable companies to measure historical trends and
compare the results with competitors.

Results become actionable when robust visibility solutions allow

the ability to drill-down to supporting information represented in
metrics to gain additional understanding of underlying issues.
For example, an On-time Delivery metric may yield results 5%
lower than the goal set by an organization. The ability to drill-
down to specific vendors to examine on-time delivery
performance would aid in identifying vendors who repeatedly
miss scheduled delivery dates. By taking action with specific
vendors, overall on-time delivery performance can be improved
over time. Lack of supporting information for higher level
metrics oftentimes impedes the ability to take necessary action
in order to achieve a noticeable improvement. However,
layering the SCOR-model over lower level metrics in a visibility
solution provides a dramatic view of specific factors that are
contributing to the performance data. Taking action from the
bottom up is the most effective means in improving supply chain
performance.

Summary
The value of supply chain systems is judged based on the
results they deliver. As with most models, a model is only as
good as the execution of the standards it represents.
Incorporating the SCOR-model into a supply chain visibility
solution will have the greatest impact if the standardized metrics
are defined properly, implemented correctly, executed timely,
and acted upon if necessary. Actionable data is possible when
visibility solutions provide access to lower level, detailed
information in support of higher level metrics.

The SCOR-model adds value to visibility solutions through the

addition of standardized supply chain metrics, increased
continuity in definitions and terminology across the supply
chain, and increased ROI through leveraging current
investments in the visibility solution framework.

As the SCOR-model continues to expand in definition,

companies that begin to incorporate the model into their visibility
solutions and take action on the results will be well on their way
to reaping long-term benefits that will provide dramatic impacts
to the bottom line.

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About the Author:

Kari Dwyer has worked in the supply chain industry for over 10
years, and has been working to increase visibility throughout the
supply chain. As a member of the Supply Chain Council, Kari is
dedicated in her pursuit to maximizing value of existing supply
chain systems through leveraging technology and integration to
increase standardization across the supply chain.

About Blue Sky Logistics:

Blue Sky Logistics, Inc. is a supply chain visibility software

company that provides customers with targeted executive
decision dashboards, such as its flagship product, Insight™.
The company’s solutions are web-based and configurable to
serve the needs of multiple individuals within a company’s
various levels of supply chain responsibilities. Blue Sky
Logistics offers integrated, prepackaged supply-chain software
and quality service offerings to clients to enhance their
customers' competitive advantage in the marketplace. For more
information, visit www.blueskylogistics.com.

Steve Hensley
704-543-6570
[email protected]

Blue Sky Logistics, Inc.

654 N. Denton tap Rd.
Suite 150
Coppell, TX 75019
704-905-5190