What does SAS® Service Parts Optimization do?

SAS Service Parts Optimization enables companies to optimize their service parts inventories over a multi-echelon service network. By providing service organizations the ability to forecast short-term, new-part and lifecycle parts demand, as well as calculate optimized inventory and order quantities for parts distribution systems, the solution helps organizations maintain adequate stock levels, maximize response times and improve customer satisfaction.

Why is SAS® Service Parts Optimization important?

SAS goes beyond the standard EOQ poli-cies to provide an accurate forecasting en-vironment designed specifically for service parts, combined with a true multi-echelon inventory optimization capability for optimal parts planning. While typical ERP systems attempt to optimize sequentially – leading to inflated demand forecasts and stock overages – SAS enables true multi-echelon optimization by letting you optimize inven-tory levels simultaneously for every SKU at every location in your network.

For whom is SAS® Service Parts Optimization designed?

SAS Service Parts Optimization is designed for senior managers responsible for improv-ing aftermarket customer service while maintaining or lowering parts inventory to increase profitability of aftermarket service business. The workflow is designed to enable the forecasters and inventory analysts to provide parts-demand plans, optimized inventory policies and orders suggestions to the parts buyer/planner.

SAS® Service Parts Optimization

Automate and optimize service parts management

With aftermarket service and higher margin sources of revenue becoming crucial differentiators in the minds of customers, organizations are look-ing for ways to make their aftermarket operations more effective and profitable by reducing excess parts inventory, reducing stock-outs or by lowering redistribution costs.

SAS® Service Parts Optimization helps organizations automate and optimize their service parts management by providing service groups the ability to forecast short-term, new-part and lifecycle parts demand, as well as calculate optimized inventory and order quantities for parts distribution systems. SAS software’s accurate forecasting helps to maintain adequate stock levels, maximize response times and improve customer satisfaction.

SAS Service Parts Optimization is de-signed for complex global environments, scales to large volumes of data, and includes targeted interfaces and work-flows to support day-to-day activities of forecasters, inventory analysts and buyer/planners for parts planning, inven-tory optimization and replenishment.

SAS software’s data management al-lows you to know how much and what kind of inventory is required at every location, as well as all associated costs for every single part. With the SAS solu-tion’s unmatched forecasting accuracy, depth and breadth, organizations can take advantage of an infinite number of models from multiple model fami-lies specific to service parts demand forecasting. The forecasting capabilities are accurate, frequent and automated, down to the SKU level.

The SAS solution is scalable to encom-pass hundreds of thousands – or even millions – of SKUs at every single loca-tion, so the solution can grow along with you to a large service network. Secure, customizable, persona-based interfaces provide information and capabilities to users based on their business roles. And flexible solution architecture enables solution implementation in a phased, step-by-step manner.

With SAS Service Parts Optimization, you can:

• Reduceinventoryholding,orderingand backorder penalty costs.

• Calculateoptimalinventoryreplenish-ment policies.

• Developbetterreplenishmentstrate-gies for fast-moving items.

• Usededicatedpersona-basedinter-faces to support the daily activities of forecasters, inventory analysts and buyer/planners to facilitate parts planning, inventory optimization and replenishment.

• Automaticallydrawindatatoconductwhat-if analysis to easily perform MIRPadjustments.

• Baseyourservicepartsstrategyoninformation from all service systems across the enterprise.

• Alignservicepartsstrategiesbysharing appropriate information with service professionals throughout the organization.

Key benefits

Reduced stock-outs and overages• Forecastshort-term,long-termand

end-of-cycle demand with confidence usingtheSASForecastServermod-ule, providing flexibility and automa-tion for accuracy.

FACTSHEET

• Moreaccurateforecastsdrivelower

safety stock levels which can be

tightened along with overall inventory

– adding even more efficiencies to the

overall supply chain.

Lower parts inventory levels and inventory carrying costs• Calculateoptimalinventorylevels

and replenishment policies based on user-specified constraints such as required lead times, costs and target service levels.

• Scenariomodelingcapabilityallows

you to produce and compare alter-

nate planning scenarios for multiple

items, thus helping select the optimal

policy from a set of policies to main-

tain optimized stock levels, improve

customer satisfaction, and reduce

ordering and inventory costs.

Timely, proactive planning with limited resources• SASServicePartsOptimization

includes dedicated persona-based interfaces and workflows to support day-to-day activities of forecast-ing analysts, inventory analysts and buyer/planners, thus enabling them to do more in less time in a streamlined manner.

• Plannerscancustomizekeyreplen-ishment policy drivers such as review period lengths, customer service measures, ordering rules and cost figures to streamline replenishment for specific items.

• Scenariomodelingcapabilitiesallowplanners to compare planning sce-narios to pick the optimal policy from a number of options so that targeted customer service levels are met.

• Thesolutionprovidesplannersthe

ability to visualize entire distribution

networks so that they can review

and act upon multi-echelon inven-

toryinformation,makingadjustments

proactively where required.

Base service parts strategy on enter-prisewide service systems • SASServicePartsOptimizationuti-

lizes SAS software’s strength in data management to gather and con-solidate large volumes of data from every echelon of the service chain, regardless of format or location across the network.

Solution overview

Robust, effective data management• Gatherandconsolidatelargevol-

umes of data from every echelon of the service chain, regardless of for-mat or location.

• Transform,standardizeandcleansethe data (e.g., reconcile inconsistent naming conventions) to prepare it for accurate forecasting.

• Sharpentheinputsthataffectthe

informationproducedbytheERP

system, thus improving the return on

its investment.

Accurate forecasts at every level• Automaticallygeneratemillionsof

statistically based, multilevel forecasts (top-down, bottom-up, middle-out) at frequent intervals.

Figure 1. Inventory Metrics: Details can be shown by graph.

Figure 2. What-If Scenario: Ad hoc analysis by facility with alerts.

• Produceavarietyofdemandfore-casts, including: short-term (using historic data, event-based and failure-based); long-term (using advanced data mining techniques); new or slow-moving parts; end-of-life.

• Ensureforecastaccuracywithauto-mated diagnostics and best method selection.

• Supportnoviceandexperiencedforecasters with interactive and auto-mated model building.

• Buildaninfinitenumberofmodels

from multiple model families specific

toserviceandadjustmodelparam-

eters as needed.

Multi-echelon inventory optimization• Calculateoptimalinventorylevels

and policies throughout the service chain based on user-specified con-straints (e.g., service levels, lead times, costs) by product, location, category, SKU, etc.

• Takeintoaccountallvariablesonboththe supply side (inventory on hand, on order, committed, in transit, etc.) and the demand side (forecasts, sales orders) for the entire network, as well as every single location.

• Accountforpartspooling,transfersand reallocation for comprehensive parts planning.

• Simultaneouslyplanthebestinven-

tory allocation for every location within

your network.

Dedicated, persona-based interfaces and workflow

• Supportday-to-dayactivitiesoffore-

casters, inventory and buyer/planners

for parts planning, inventory optimiza-

tion and replenishment with defined

interfaces and workflow.

Information sharing throughout the service chain• LeverageBIplatformcapabilities

designed specifically for the service chain, including KPI scorecards,

Key Features

Robust, effective data management• Aggregatesdisparatesourcesofservicepartsdata,whileovercominginconsistenciesandredundancy.

• Transforms,standardizesandcleansesthedatatoprepareitforaccurateforecasting.• PullsdatafromERPandlegacysystemstomaximizereturnonERPinvestments.

Accurate forecasts at every level• Automaticallygeneratesmillionsofstatisticallybased,multilevelforecasts(top-down,bottom-up,middle-out)atfrequentintervals.

• Producesavarietyofdemandforecasts,including:short-term(usinghistoricdata,event-basedandfailure-based);long-term(usingadvanceddataminingtechniques);neworslow-movingparts;andend-of-life.

• Ensuresforecastaccuracywithautomateddiagnosticsandbestmethodselection.• Providesinteractiveandautomatedmodelbuildingtosupportnoviceandexperiencedforecasters.

• Providesnumerousmodelsfrommultiplemodelfamiliesthatarespecifictoserviceorganizations–sothatyoucanselectthemostsuitablemodel.

• Permitsyoutoadjustmodelparameters.

Multi-echelon inventory optimization • Calculatesoptimalinventorylevelsandpoliciesthroughouttheservicechainbasedonuser-specifiedconstraints(suchasservicelevels,leadtimesandcosts)byproduct,location,category,SKUandmore.

• Incorporatesallvariablesonboththesupplyside(suchasinventoryonhand,onorder,committed,andintransit)andthedemandside(suchasforecastsandsalesorders)fortheentirenetwork,aswellaseverysinglelocation.

• Simultaneouslyplansthebestinventoryallocationforeverylocationwithinyournetwork.

Dedicated, persona-based interfaces and workflow• Supportday-to-dayactivitiesofforecasters,inventoryanalystsandbuyer/plannersforpartsplanning,inventoryoptimizationandreplenishment.

• Getcustomizableviewswithaforecasterinterfacetoenablequickanalysisofoutliers.Includedfeaturesallowforpartchaining,newitemforecastingandlastbuyanalysis.

• Review,analyzeandactupontheentiremulti-echelonnetworkbyproductorlocationhierar-chies;drilldowntolowestpart/locationpairing;createwhat-ifscenariosforidentifyingsupplychainopportunitieswithaninventoryanalystinterface.

• Optimizereplenishmentplans,getdetailsonprimaryandsecondarysourcinganddetermineimpactofareplenishmentplanonservicelevelsandcostswiththeplannerinterface.Lockandpromoteoptimizedplans.

Information-sharing throughout the service chain• Incorporatesbusinessintelligencecapabilitiesdesignedspecificallyfortheservicechain,including:KPIscorecards,drillableviews,snapshotsandtrends,andreporttemplateoptionsthatcanbecustomized.

• Sharesummaryanddetailedreportswithyourlogisticpartners.• Executivedashboardtoshowcurrentperformanceatvariouslevelsandgeographies.• Monitordemandandpipelinevarianceandissuedetailedalertstoreportoutliers.

•Solarisonx64:Version10.

WebSphere Application Server

•AIX:Version5.3and6.1onPOWERarchitectures.

•Linuxforx64(EM64T/AMD64):RHEL4and5,SuSESLES9and10.

•MicrosoftWindows(x86-32):WindowsXPProfessional,WindowsServer2003,WindowsVista*.

•MicrosoftWindowsonx64(EM64T/AMD64):WindowsXPProfessionalforx64,WindowsVista*forx64,WindowsServer2003forx64.

•SolarisonSPARC:Version9,10.

•Solarisonx64:Version10.

•z/OS:V1R7,V1R8,V1R9andhigher.

Client tier supported platforms

•Windows(x86-32):WindowsXPProfessional,WindowsVista*.

•SupportedWebbrowsers:InternetExplorer6onWindowsXPPro;InternetExplorer7onWindowsXPProandWindowsVista*.

* Firefox2.0onWindowsXPPro,WindowsVista*andLinuxx86 (SuSEandRHEL).

* NOTE: Windows Vista Editions that are

supported include Enterprise, Business

and Ultimate.

•MicrosoftWindows(onItanium):WindowsServer2003.

•SolarisonSPARC:Version9,10.

•Solarisonx64:Version10.

•OpenVMSforHPIntegrityServers(Itanium):8.3.

•z/OS:V1R7,V1R8,V1R9andhigher.

SAS Metadata Server, SAS OLAP Server and SAS Workspace Server components

All platforms listed under the SAS Service Parts Optimization server are supported except for:

•OpenVMSforHPIntegrityServers(Itanium):8.3.

Middle tier supported platforms

WebLogic Server

•AIX:Version5.3and6.1onPOWERarchitectures.

•HP-UXItanium:HP-UX11iv2(11.23),11iv3(11.31).

•MicrosoftWindows(x86-32):WindowsXPProfessional,WindowsServer2003,WindowsVista*.

•SolarisonSPARC:Version9,10.

•Solarisonx64:Version10.

JBOSS

AllplatformslistedforWebLogicServerare supported plus:

•AIX:Version5.3and6.1onPOWERarchitectures.

•Linuxforx64(EM64T/AMD64):RHEL4and5,SuSESLES9and10.

•MicrosoftWindows(x86-32):WindowsXPProfessional,WindowsServer2003,WindowsVista*.

•SolarisonSPARC:Version9,10.

drillable views, snapshots and trends, and templated and customizable reports.

• Visualizetheentiredistributionnet-work for multi-echelon inventory sys-tem information.

• Sharesummaryanddetailedreportson an as-needed basis with your logistic partners.

• Viewcurrentperformanceatvariouslevels and geographies throughout the network with an executive dash-board.

• Monitordemandandpipelinevari-

ance and receive alerts based on out-

liers; drill down to detailed analysis.

SAS® Service Parts Optimization

Server tier supported platforms

SAS® Service Parts Optimization server component:

•AIX:Version5.3and6.1onPOWERarchitectures.

•HP-UXPA-RISC:HP-UX11iv2(11.23),11iv3(11.31).

•HP-UXItanium:HP-UX11iv2(11.23),11iv3(11.31).

•Linuxforx86(x86-32):RHEL4and5,SuSESLES9and10.

•Linuxforx64(EM64T/AMD64):RHEL4and5,SuSESLES9and10.

•MicrosoftWindows(x86-32):WindowsXPProfessional,WindowsServer2003,WindowsVista*.

•MicrosoftWindowsonx64(EM64T/AMD64):WindowsXPProfessionalforx64,WindowsVista*forx64,WindowsServer2003forx64.

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