APM Company's Supply Chain Performance Improvements Which Laid On The Analysis On Sales Order Management Data

APM Company is an U.S based global supplier of Nylon 6.6 plastics resin, in the response of the fast growing market in Asia, the company imperatively requires to improve its supply chain capability to well manage the logistics cost and to be more responsive to the customer's needs. In an all, the company is striving to bridge the gap in customer's expectation on supplying lead-time because all manufacturing facilities locate in North America which regarded as one of the most disadvantages for APM Company to join the competition. Besides, how to well control the logistics cost and manage stock level at 3 distribution warehouses in Asia should be another target for improvements.The dissertation delivers a brand-new angel to study the supply chain performance for APM Company through solid analysis on the sales order data from ERP system and then to surface some critical issues like the unreasonable manufacturing lead-time, unreliable demand forecasting and unsatisfied logistics cost. In the meanwhile, the data analysis also displays a problem in customer credit control and the poor management in account receivables which result in the negative impact on company's supply chain deliverables and company's cash flow.Based on the analysis on order data and the established theories & studies in the area, the thesis aftermath provide the solutions to problems. In a summary, by applying customer segmentation and practicing on formulation of Exponential Smoothing, to accomplish the production supply stability, shorten order delivery lead-time as well as improve the accuracy and reliability on demand forecasting. By extending the logistics delivery point and kick off VMI Consignment with Singapore JIT customer to lower logistics cost, optimize the stock level and respond to customer's needs more quickly. In the final, by improving the working process and fully exploring ERP resource in risk control to shorten the Order -To-Cash circle time and strengthen the control in customer credit and account receivables.The studies in the dissertation are playing a key role to improve the SC performance and boost company's competitiveness. As a fact that the data of sales order management can be visible through all stages in supply chain activities, it tells which part in supply chain need to be aware of and to be improved. As well, it also provides useful reference for designing solutions.