Supply Chain Planning with Kinaxis Maestro and TraceLink Opus

This process outlines the comprehensive approach to supply chain planning, orchestration, and collaboration using Kinaxis Maestro alongside the TraceLink Opus platform. The following steps describe how to effectively manage and synchronize supply chain activities to ensure timely fulfillment of customer orders.

Step 1

Begin by launching Kinaxis Maestro. This platform serves as the focal point for an end-to-end supply chain planner responsible for a variety of oncology products. The planner ensures that both actual customer orders, depicted in green, and forecast orders, shown in blue, are fulfilled on time and in full throughout the planning horizon.

Step 2

Currently, there are no demands at risk within the planning horizon. The oncology products have a complex bill of materials with multiple levels, encompassing Contract Manufacturing Organizations (CMOs), Contract Packaging Organizations (CPOs), and material suppliers.

Step 3

Consider part D1510, sorbic acid, which is on the critical path of the bill of materials. Any disruption to this part could trigger shortages and adversely affect customer service levels. By reviewing the planning sheet for part D1510, planners can examine the planning horizon segmented into weekly buckets.

Step 4

In the short-term horizon, firmed purchase orders are visible, whereas the longer-term horizon displays planned orders generated by the concurrent planning engine in Kinaxis Maestro. It is crucial that CMOs and suppliers, such as the partner Novocurex, commit to this forecast to secure the plan. Previously, planned orders had to be extracted into Excel files and sent via email to partners, requiring feedback to be manually entered back into Maestro for visualization.

Step 5

This manual process was disconnected, time-consuming, and prone to errors. However, the TraceLink connector allows the automatic transformation of a supply plan into a forecast plan, which is digitally submitted to the network of partners.

Step 6

Connect to TraceLink Mint, where the partner Novocurex reviews the forecast plan received from Biogenica. The partner can integrate this forecast into their ERP or planning system using TraceLink Mint's versatile integration capabilities.

Step 7

The supply chain planner at Novocurex receives a notification to review the forecast plan. With a single click, Novocurex can copy the forecast into a new transaction called the forecast plan response. Novocurex is able to edit dates and quantities to align with their capacity to meet the supply forecast requirements.

Step 8

In this scenario, Novocurex indicates an inability to fulfill some of the required quantities. The Novocurex planner submits their forecast plan response through TraceLink Mint. Back in Kinaxis Maestro, the planner can access the scenario showing the forecast plan response from partner Novocurex.

Step 9

The TraceLink forecast response transaction appears in the planning sheet, revealing a shortage projected for July for this part. The concurrent planning capability in Maestro illustrates the impact on the overall plan.