InterSystems.com

Summary

UST + InterSystems

CUSTOMER

InterSystems Partnership and Technology
Help UST Bring Supply Chain Optimization
as-a-Service to Market

USTCHALLENGE
To optimize supplyand demand levels
in an unconstrained
environment
OUTCOME
Digitally optimized
safety stock levels
in real time and abalanced productionline

A leading manufacturer and marketer of musical instruments andamplifiers was running out of components on the production line due todemand fluctuations and differences in lead times for different parts. To
remedy this situation, the company wanted to digitally optimize safetystock levels and production line balancing. And they wanted to provide
planners with the visibility to the right inventory, at the right time, atthe right place to ensure that desired service levels are maintained andinventory is minimized across the network to improve working capital.
“They needed a high-power inventory and production optimizer,” says
Jonathan Colehower, managing director, global operations and supply
chain practice at UST. “But a typical solution for them would cost about$2 million and take years to implement fully. The company needed anaffordable solution now.”
UST employs 33,000 people, in 30 countries, with expertise in digitaltransformation, systems integration, and software solutions for
manufacturing and other industries.

Overcoming Common Objections to Optimization
Solutions
The manufacturer of musical instruments and amplifiers
engaged UST for help, and UST proposed its InterSystems Supply
Chain Orchestrator-powered OPTUM product as the Inventory
Optimization as-a-Service solution. In proposing OPTUM, UST
knew it would have to overcome common objections to optimization
products, including:“OUR CUSTOMERSARE GETTING 80% OF“INTERSYSTEMSWHATTRADITIONALPROVIDES ALL THE
SOLUTIONSCAPABILITIESOFFER
AT 20% OF WE
NEED WITH
TO MEET OUR
THE COST,
BUSINESS DEMANDS,IMPLEMENTATION
IN ONE SEAMLESSCOMPLETEDIN JUST A
FEW ENVIRONMENT.”WEEKS”
Anthony
Gillaizeau,
Balaraj
Pudota,SeniorVice IT
President
ofCFAO
SupplyManager,
Chain and SAP Practice,
UST•

A lack of trust in “black box” optimization algorithms fromsolution providers•Modeling of complex scenarios being too slow to provideanswers to immediate issues, or too costly to achieve acceptableperformance•Traditional optimization solutions are expensive and take toolong to implement•Staff with domain and optimization expertise, including data
scientists, are required“We chose InterSystems and Supply Chain Orchestrator specificallyto address these concerns,” says Colehower. Compared to a different
product with an in-memory database that UST had previously used,
Supply Chain Orchestrator provided much higher performance.
Based on real data that the manufacturer provided for testing, UST
could model the manufacturer’s entire production environment in
Supply Chain Orchestrator and run and optimize different scenarios
in near real-time.
Powered by Supply Chain Orchestrator, OPTUM provides planners
and supply chain managers with action options for each scenario itmodels. It ensures that production lines have the right amount ofsafety stock, with optimized routes, prices, and other elements within
the supply chain. “We’ve taken well-known, proven, and trusted
public-domain optimization routines, written in Python, and run
them inside Supply Chain Orchestrator, so customer objections toblack box algorithms disappear.”“The InterSystems team is not just a bunch of analysts
and quants; they know supply chain inside and out. It waseasy to talk to them and for them to understand what weneeded”
Jonathan Colehower, Managing Director, Global Operations andSupply Chain Practice, USTSupply Chain Optimization as a Service
The API and standards-based integration capabilities ofInterSystems Supply Chain Orchestrator and other componentsof OPTUM enable UST to connect it to back-end systems such asenterprise resource planning, human resources, and procurement.
Using this data, UST can offer “composable solutions” that deliver
just what a customer needs, such as analytics, machine learning, oroptimizations, without having to deploy heavy-duty products thatoffer more than what’s needed and take too long to deliver value.
“Our customers are getting 80% of what traditional solutions offer at
20% of the cost, with implementation completed in just a few weeks,”
says Balaraj Pudota, senior vice president of supply chain and SAP
practice at UST.

Go-to-Market Expertise from InterSystems
Colehower credits the know-how of InterSystems experts for helping
UST bring OPTUM to market. “The InterSystems team is not justa bunch of analysts and quants,” he says, “they know supply chain
inside out. It was easy to talk to them and for them to understandwhat we needed.” Delivering answers to resolve supply chain issues,
exactly when needed, at the right price, is a win for everyone working
toward the highest efficiency and business outcomes.

Learn More
To learn more about InterSystems Supply Chain Orchestrator, visit
InterSystems.com/SupplyChain

VERY FEW PEOPLE
FROM THE ICS
ARE REQUIREDTO MANAGE THE
ENVIRONMENT NOW,
WHICH FREES UPRESOURCES FOR THE
TRUSTS.

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