QuickStart

Set up your sites

The Connected Chain Manager is structured in three levels:

1. Organizations:
   Organizations form the top level of the wayCloud platform (Connected Chain Manager) data structure. All uploaded data as well as users are bound to one organization. Users can belong to multiple organizations at the same time.

2. Sites:
   Within an organization there can be one or more sites, which are usually the production sites or warehouses of an organization. User rights can be bound to locations.

3. Materials:
   Materials are always tied to a location and are either materials shipped to customers, purchased from suppliers, or exist solely internally as intermediate products. It is best to start directly with the setup of your own sites in order to be able to create materials in the next step. You will find the required functions under Data > Internal data > Sites. Afterwards you can Set up your material.

Set up your materials

Now that you have created your sites, you can proceed to create the materials. Navigate to Data > Internal Data > Materials to manage all materials within your organization. For easier configuration and data maintenance, you have the choice between creating materials manually or bulk uploading them. Here, a material is always tied to a location and requires at least one base unit in addition to the name. Materials form the basis for mapping customer and supplier relations as well as internal production.

Continue with the setup of your suppliers in order to establish supply relations with your supply chain partners in the further course.

Set up a supplier

Navigate to Data > Supplier-related data > Suppliers to add your suppliers. The supplier view provides a list of all supplier organizations and a graphical visualization of the sites. The visualization shows both the suppliers' locations and your own sites. Additionally, connections between sites are shown if supply relations already exist between two organizations. Create your first supplier by adding an organization in the left grid. Both delivery capacity limits and KPI thresholds are used in the reports. Suppliers are initially created with the connection status local. This means that no data is exchanged with a business partner. In local status, your supplier will not be informed about their involvement. This allows your organization to upload this data for planning and simulation purposes. Technically, the supplier grid is identical to the customer grid. They are the central point from which you can request a business relation with your suppliers or customers. To exchange data with your suppliers, you must explicitly request the business relation. The confirmation of the request as well as the corresponding site assignments are performed in the same menu. The status changes accordingly to connected. Now data, such as transaction data, will be automatically exchanged and synchronized between both organizations. Continue by adding sites of your supplier, from which your supplier supplies you. In the next step you can continue with Create supply relations. For details, see Connection and mapping.

Creating supply relations

Supply relations are the central elements that define which suppliers deliver which material to your sites and which material is delivered from your sites to your customers. After adding supply relations transaction data can be uploaded and reports can be used. Create supply relations by navigating to Data > Supplier-related data > Supply relations. Supply relations can be added as a bulk upload or through the interface. A supply relation consists of sender information (organization, site and material) and receiver information (organization, site and material). The remaining information (lead time, target stock range values, and target delivery capacity coverage) is shared and synchronized between the two connected supply chain partners.

Analogous to the establishment of business connections, supply relations are initially created locally and can be connected with a connected organization as well. Only in connected state suppliers can see the shared data and have the option to upload their data. Both lead time and target values can be maintained by both parties for the connected supply relation. After supply relations are added, the data is displayed in the reports. To get a complete report, you now need to maintain transaction data in the system.

Maintain transaction data

Navigate to one of the three data sections via the menu bar and perform the following steps to maintain your transaction data. Each tile represents a data type. The following data types are available:

1. Customer- and supplier-related data:

   • Call-offs
   • Backlog
   • Delivery capacities
   • Transits
   • Demand forecasts

2. Internal data:

   • Stocks
   • Production

Within each data type, you have the following options:

1. Download template:  Here you can download the template that can be used to upload bulk data into the system. Bulk data maintenance and related features may not be available for all data types.

2. Upload template:  This action allows you to upload the prefilled template. (You can check the result in the import history. See below.)

3. Browse:  Clicking on the tile or using the browse button will take you to a list of individual records. Within this list you can add new records and edit or delete existing records. Data can not only be uploaded but also added or changed directly in the reports. For example, supply capacities are easiest to maintain directly in the report at monthly level. In order to monitor the stock range of your suppliers, the following data must be provided:

• Call-offs: Your call-offs sent to your suppliers.
• Transits: In transit from your suppliers to you.
• Stocks: Both, your stocks at site level and the stocks of the suppliers.

To monitor the delivery capacity coverage of your suppliers, the following additional data becomes necessary:

• Delivery capacities: Provided by supplier in connected state.
• Demand forecast: In addition, demand forecast can also be used as demand element to calculate delivery capacity coverage.

Once you have uploaded the current transaction data, you can use the reports to evaluate and monitor your supply chain. Under Administration you can find the Import history  The import history contains a list of the recent uploads as well as a documentation of any error messages that occurred during import.

Connection and mapping

To realize the full potential of the wayCloud platform (Connected Chain Manager), it is essential to invite your supply chain partners to collaborate and share data on the platform. Only in connected state both parties do have a shared view of reports, while data maintenance efforts are kept at a minimum. It is necessary to consider the underlying layer structure and sequence of the wayCloud platform (Connected Chain Manager):

1. Organization level:  At the organization level, the agreement to exchange data between two organizations is established in the form of a business connection.

2. Site level:
   Site level is where the allocation of sites takes place. You create your customer and supplier sites. The customer or supplier then receives a mapping request and maps it to a internal location.

3. Material level:  Material level connections are achieved by creating and connecting supply relations. Parameters such as lead time and target values for stock range and delivery capacity coverage are also stored here.

Reports

After supply relations have been connected and all relevant transaction data has been uploaded, the reports provide up-to-date analysis of system data, which allows for quick and easy assessment of your supply network's status.

Customer/supplier board:

The supplier board shows the materials delivered by suppliers, while the customer board contains the materials sent to your customers. All materials from the previously created supply relations are displayed in this board. Materials are grouped by customer/supplier location or assigned tags. On the overview grid, ring charts display the KPIs of the supply relations for stock range and delivery capacity coverage based on their target ranges. Within the board itself, you can choose between five tabs:

1. Supply relations:  KPIs for stock range and delivery capacity coverage are displayed for each material.

2. Order list:
   The orderlist shows all stored call-offs of your customers. You can confirm them directly with one click or add a confirmed quantity and confirmed date manually.

3. Stock range:
   This view displays the delivery situation between customer and supplier sites. Stock range is calculated from stock, transit, and call-off quantities. Customers and suppliers see the same data, enabling joint assessment of delivery performance and risk identification.

4. Delivery capacity coverage:
   Call-offs and delivery capacities are aggregated for all materials on a monthly basis. This helps to ensure that delivery capacities and call-offs match.

5. Communication:
   Users on both organizational sides have here the possibility to communicate transparently with each other in real time.

Planning board:
The planning board is used for production and procurement planning. Similar to the customer/supplier board, the overview grid of the report shows all materials within a site and their corresponding KPI status.

1. Sales:
   In the sales view you can see the expected stock development of your materials. For each material, the current stock and backlog, is offset against future customer call-offs and your planned production. Customer call-offs are aggregated per material and displayed for each day of the selected planning horizon.

2. Procurement:
   In the procurement view, you can see the expected stock development of your procured materials, purchased from your suppliers. Your current stock is offset against planned inward stock movements (for example, committed transits from suppliers) and outward stock movements (for example, actual customer call-offs) and existing suppliers' backlogs.

Supply networks

Supply networks enables you to build cross-tier reporting and track stocks and coverages across the supply chain. Connect and interact with multiple companies across your supply chains. As a result, you'll achieve maximum visibility and identify risks even earlier. The supply network consists of 7 tabs:

1. Supply network scope:  Here you define the scope of the selected supply network on material level. You can add or remove materials individually.

2. Network visualization:  The supply network visualization provides you a graphical overview of the existing sites of all business partners and the their concerned supply relations.

3. Risks:  Here you can see current risks notifications for your sites, which can cause a future bottleneck.

4. Node parameter:  In the Node parameters tab, you can define individual target values for the stock range at material level. These are explicitly used only for the calculation of the respective supply network.

5. Edge parameter:  In the Edge parameters tab, you can define individual values for the lead times at material level. These are explicitly used only for the calculation of the respective delivery network.

6. Chain coverage overview:  In the chain coverage overview, you track the stock range and primary demand risk KPIs of all supply relations marked as critical paths. This view is particularly useful for coordination during supply bottlenecks. Comments with possible countermeasures can also be stored for each supply relation.

7. Chain coverage:  In the chain coverage you track the stock range and primary demand risk KPIs of all supply relations.

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