Offering further evidence of the strength and ongoing innovation in its supply chain management (SCM) strategy, Microsoft Business Solutions (MBS) has unveiled a pilot project it developed in alliance with KiMs, a mid-size Danish manufacturer that employs 270 people and ships about 100,000 pallets of snacks per year, which involves elements critical to automating a company’s supply chain. The scheme extends KiMs’ existing business solution (Microsoft Business Solutions-Azapta) covering demand planning, event management, trading partner collaboration and hands-free warehouse management using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, which combines silicon chip and radio frequency technology.
KiMs implemented Microsoft Axapta in June 2003 for manufacturing, raw-materials procurement, sales order management and warehouse management, but wanted greater visibility into its supply chain, from suppliers through distributors. KiMs wanted to monitor pallets of finished goods as if moved out of production and in to third-party warehouse and greater knowledge of the exact location of products at various points in the supply chain, to increase product availability.
“Our strong position growth in the Danish market has been achieved through our ability to anticipate and meet customers’ demands in a wide variety of areas. Putting technologies of the future to the test is important to KiMs, and we are very pleased to have been involved in this pilot project with Microsoft Business Solutions,” says Jørn Tulstrup Rohde, chief executive officer of KiMs. “The prospect that RFID can help is dramatically increase our ability to read and anticipate or inventory flow is compelling, and we are thrilled to be at the forefront of supply chain management innovation with the help of Microsoft Business Solutions.”
