LLamasoft Optimiza vs. Spreadsheets

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1 EBOOK LLamasoft Optimiza vs. Spreadsheets Top 5 Reasons Why Optimiza Wins Over Spreadsheet-Based Solutions 1

2 Most supply chain planners know Microsoft Excel like the back of their hand the relationship started way back in high school, and after so many years of daily use, they know its capabilities and feel confident building more and varied spreadsheet-based formulas and calculations. But what happens when the dataset becomes too large to solve using Excel, no one else is quite sure how the formulas were even created, or the supply chain questions become too complex and numerous for the spreadsheet to answer? Spreadsheets are great for many things, but supply chains are no longer simple, and therefore using Excel as the foundation for your corporate planning is inefficient and poses huge risks to a stable and effective planning process. Here are some of the top reasons supply chain planners say they prefer Optimiza to Excel. 2

3 1 Data Entry, Silos, Personnel Changes and Risks Every time a new project comes up or a question is raised in the boardroom, a supply chain planner who is using only Excel has to reinvent the wheel, so to speak, and build a new plan from scratch. This is time consuming, prone to errors, and the result is a very complicated spreadsheet which only the planner who built it knows how to use. This raises many questions such as, who will enter all the data? What if that person leaves the company? What if the company wants to bring on another person? A spreadsheet-based planning tool makes training, collaboration and even updates difficult. Spreadsheets are normally created by an individual working on their own in a silo with very little cross communication, which brings a host of other risks. They become tailored to the planner s style, likes and needs and don t necessarily cover all the objectives of the business. The planners will know how the document works but can this knowledge be passed on when either they leave or the team expands? This is a very risky approach to take and it could mean starting from scratch again to create a working document two or three people can use. With this approach the highly trained and skilled planner becomes more of a data entry specialist rather than better spending their time optimising the supply chain and making the right decisions for the business. Optimiza has a Business Rules Engine which allows organisations to add and adapt the standard functions to effectively simulate their own product flow and business constraints. This enables the software to fit the company and not vice versa. It will remove the silos, data entry constraints and elements of the unknown, with the added advantage of making it a robust repeatable process. 3

4 2 Where is the Automation? To keep up with the ever-changing business landscape you need to be on your toes and have all your information up-to-date and at your fingertips. When using spreadsheets all of your demand data has to be entered manually, rather than pulling from multiple data sources. Creating an accurate and trustworthy forecast is a very collaborative process which will require information from many areas; a spreadsheet just isn t designed to handle this, especially as the data becomes more complex. You may have offices or warehouse locations holding stock all around the country, each working from a different spreadsheet. Before you can even think of having a semi-accurate forecast you will have to compile all of the data, which is time-intensive and takes planners off task to complete. Working this way will almost always guarantee some data is lost or changed due to the vast amount of spreadsheets you will receive, and your data planners will be forced to act only as data entry specialists. With all businesses you need to be looking for ordering trends many months in advance. Doing this as a manual process and is extremely time consuming. Optimiza has Data Control and Process Functionality that allows for it to be connected with almost any data source using all media types from flat files to EDI to Direct Database Data Transfer. With full automation and monitoring of the data updates it gives planners the knowledge and confidence that their plans and decisions are based on the most recent and correct information. 4

5 3 Troubleshooting Errors S1 Spreadsheets are only as good as the person entering the data. If multiple people have access to the spreadsheet there is no form of revision control unless you save multiple versions of the spreadsheet and risk editing the wrong one. User error can cause huge damage and have almost irreparable consequences within a company. A slight change in data can cause a whole forecast to shift resulting in either too much or too little being shipped and at the wrong time. Trivial things like having the wrong cell formatting not copying a formula correctly or even over-writing a formula with plain text can all play a part in creating erroneous data, and trying to troubleshoot a spreadsheet is very laborious and timeconsuming. Without suitable auditing, how are you to know until it is too late? S2 S3 Optimiza has a full audit logging and reason coding capability which allows managers to track all changes made by every user and understand when and why these changes were made. This allows full traceability and accountability to aid in eradicating errors and working out a solution if an error does occur. 5

6 4 Slow Decision Making Unless you are working from just one spreadsheet, getting the data you need quickly is very unlikely. It will require some cross extraction and then multiple cross checks to make sure the data is right, after which the data will more than likely be out of date. As spreadsheets lack any real time triggers, you will spend hours just looking for information you need, trying to notice any changes in the information and then trying and make a decision based on that information. In the modern fast-paced business environment this isn t feasible. If the planner is away and a report is needed, who will do it? You need something automated, regular, reliable and able to pull information from multiple sources. The best way to do that is to stay away from spreadsheets. Optimiza has a fully-integrated visibility layer that allows organisations to easily build customisible working grids, KPIs and enquiries within the Planner Workbench. This manages each user s individual processes and allows quick access and answers to any questions and alerts to anything unexpected. Process mapping gives managers access to all the information required for rapid decision-making and change approvals. 6

7 5 Spreadsheets aren t Scalable In your business the main objectives are to make a profit and grow as an organisation. As the business grows, so will your data set, creating a vast spreadsheet that becomes more cumbersome each time you add something to it. The larger the spreadsheet becomes, the more complex it will be. In simple terms, you will quickly outgrow the spreadsheet and it won t be able to keep up with everything you are trying to do. Make the change away from spreadsheets sooner rather than later and limit any possible damage that might occur. Optimiza moves with the growth of your company and has Process Alignment Functionality that is aimed at enabling a continuous improvement culture that will ensure long-term entrenchment and success. It is built upon the Six Sigma principles of DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve and Control). Have we got your attention? Don t take our word for it. Join an experienced community of supply chain planners who have made the change from Excel to Optimiza. 7

8 Join an Experienced Community of Supply Chain Planners LLamasoft is dedicated to helping businesses at all stages of supply chain planning to survive and thrive whether they are just getting started on a quick-win project or seeking ways to expand the planning initiative to a global service centre. Partnering with LLamasoft ensures you ll have more than just software and technical support, but education, coaching, best-practice guidance and a growing community of supply chain planners. That means that when you join the LLamasoft family you become part of a growing network of LLamasoft practitioners providing a strong peer network of businesses like yours learning to leverage their supply chain for competitive advantage. The LLamasoft community is made up of driven, ambitious individuals who seek to design a better future with stronger, more efficient supply chains 8 Microsoft and Excel either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Tableau is a registered trademark of Tableau Software in the United States and/or other countries.

9 FURTHER READING Design Your Business to Thrive DOWNLOAD EBOOK ebook: Design Your Business to Thrive Four Components of a Smart Supply Chain Modeling Platform Building a sustainable supply chain modeling platform to help your business survive and thrive in a volatile global marketplace takes more than just great technology 2015 LLamasoft Inc. All Rights Reserved. Optimiza Ltd Avon House, 435 Stratford Road, Shirley, Solihull, B90 4AA, United Kingdom Phone: +44 (0) LLamasoft.com Info@LLamasoft.com Optimiza Limited. All rights reserved. v.02/26/16