Supply Chain Management & Internet Based Technologies, computer-aided management of the workflow, Internet-based solutions, etc.
The continuous improvement of the services provided and the constant search for new solutions are at the core of the business mission of Unitec. This continuous search for solutions to improve efficiency has led us to consider the strategic use of the latest communication technologies available. It has been shown that industrial procurement management using these technologies reaches the top of the development scale in this area. The immediate benefits are easy to document and the medium-term and long-term benefits are predictable and certain.
The optimization of administrative procedures and procurement requirements largely requires effective and innovative instruments. To achieve these objectives such as time savings and cost reduction, it is necessary to understand and introduce new means and appropriate technologies to eliminate the problems in communication and optimize the work done within the company, including several areas such as procurement, deliveries and inventory.
Real-time sharing of information reduces the number of communications both inside and outside the company, with a consequent dramatic reduction in all associated costs (telephone, fax, man-hours), delivery times and follow-up.
Developing and proposing effective solutions based on new technologies is one of Unitec's primary goals. Unitec has always invested funds and resources in the research and development of administrative and IT tools.
The computer-aided management of the workflow
Unitec has sophisticated software developed by its own team of programmers, capable of managing all aspects of supply chain management.
Every process is managed by the computer system: from registering customers and suppliers to managing requirements, receiving offers and issuing orders, invoices and reports.
The graphical aspect and functionality have been taken care of down to the smallest detail to enable quick and, above all, intuitive query. This is a fundamental factor since it depends on the speed of execution, control and, above all, the reduction of the impact of human error.
This tool enables efficient, secure and extremely fast management of all tasks. In 90% of cases, request-quote-order issues occur within a few hours in one day.
Everything is in constant development to support the new demands of the market and customer requirements.
Internet-based solutions
The understanding and development of Internet-based technologies is a primary goal of Unitec's research activities. Thanks to the technical knowledge acquired in this area, Unitec Services & Web GmbH was born, a company created to develop new management tools based on Internet technologies and integrate them into the range of hi-tech services that Unitec offers to its customers with the aim of optimizing costs.
Unitec, in collaboration with Unitec Services & Web (https://usw.unitec.it), has developed a range of Internet-based solutions intended for procurement departments and related agencies for industrial procurement via the Internet and warehouse management.
The aim is to address and solve a wide range of purchasing agency problems in order to achieve the optimization of procedures through the following steps:
- Reduction in administration costs (fax, telephone, working hours and communication);
- Consolidation and reduction of paper documentation;
- Improving the capture and discoverability of documents and information;
- Change the type of communication from synchronous (telephone) to asynchronous (e-mail);
- Improvement and drastic reduction in tracking;
- Independence of workplaces from their physical location;
- Homogeneity and divisibility of information;
Various following applications have been developed for activities: procurement, deliveries, inventory, tracking and reporting.
The application for procurement departments allows to query in real time a database of 31,258 items from 2,224 different suppliers (constantly updated), with corresponding multilingual descriptions, and to issue delivery requests in real time from anywhere in the world, at any time and in any language.
If the item or supplier is not present in the database, it is still possible to submit the request using a special procedure.
The ability to issue requests via the Internet makes it possible to drastically replace the traditional administrative media such as paper, fax and telephone and reduce delivery costs.
Further savings are achieved by consolidating requirements, i.e. h. through the possibility of requesting multiple items with a single procedure versus multiple deliveries.
This contributes to cost optimization thanks to the drastic reduction in paper document production such as fax and other means of communication.
The workplace is available everywhere and personalized and therefore independent of the physical location in which it is located.
Even if a specific workstation is unavailable, the continuity and availability of the service and, above all, the integrity of the data are not affected. These aspects are one of the fundamental requirements for the introduction of telework.
It is possible to issue procurement and/or delivery requests via the Internet in a completely innovative, simple and intuitive way. It's like using a shopping cart!
It only takes a few moments to browse and find the relevant manufacturers and select the items to order.
The selected items are then inserted into a list that can be visualized, changed in quantities or deleted at any time.
It is not necessary to issue the request immediately. In fact, if the request is not sent, the list is not deleted and remains available for other work sessions... even for days or from other workstations.
As far as deliveries are concerned, the request is made the same as for procurements, but based on the data provided by the customer. The contracted agencies such as maintenance or inventory can enter requirements for frequent inventory replenishment.
Therefore, if necessary, the procurement office receives notifications of requirements sent by the agencies directly to the supplier.
All customers, depending on their requirements and level of qualification, can update themselves in real time and carry out tracking of ongoing procedures, i.e. h.:
- Issued Requirements;
- Request processing status;
- List of offers received;
- Delivery conditions;
- Issued orders;
- Delivery;
- Delivery notes;
- Invoicing;
Great attention and care were placed on the reporting. Thanks to this application, all customers can receive reports on ongoing procedures on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, depending on their level of qualification. Reporting can be static or dynamic and therefore updated in real time. All of these operations are accessible from anywhere at any time, regardless of the workplace location and therefore also during meetings, discussions and travel.
The type of reporting is customizable depending on information needs and can be in both graphical and tabular formats. Depending on the data available, it is possible to create statistics of an operational, functional and organizational nature.
Virtual warehouse
Another and revolutionary innovation is the introduction of the VIRTUAL WAREHOUSE: This concept consists in the possibility that different plants of an industrial group or from different industrial groups can share a single virtual warehouse based on real stocks.
These assets are physically distributed among multiple participants in the plan, but logistically shareable by all.
This creates the opportunity to have larger emergency inventories while at the same time reducing individual inventories below the historical minimum point of business operations.
Demonstrative applications
A fully working demonstration version is available on UNITEC's dedicated server www.netsourcing.it. It is possible to request an access password from the following contacts:Unitec D
High-tech industrial products
SALES GmbH
Leipziger Strasse 19
D 86368 Gersthofen
Germany
Tel. 0049 821 247960
Fax 0049 821 2479678Unitec Services & Web S.r.l.
www.usw.it
Via Carlo Alberto n.17
04016 – SABAUDIA (LT)
ITALY
Tel. 0039 0773 512022
Fax 0039 0773 511382
