Honeycomb ERP Supplier Releasing provides for the management and optimization of purchasing contracts with suppliers. A very rich and deep set of functionality allows for the control of releases, advanced logistics and accounting controls.
System Flexibility
Supplier Releasing provides flexible options for entering into contracts with suppliers and managing supplier releases.
Contract Options
Contact periods can be for the current model year or multiple model years and can be changed or extended as renegotiations occur. The system also permits changes in contract prices, quantities and delivery dates.
Open Account Options
Supplier Releasing enables you to deal with trading partners on an open account basis using pay on use or regular invoice options.
Shipping Container Management
Disposable and reusable containers can be associated with items and managed as part of the release process. Honeycomb®ERP tracks the quantity of reusable containers leaving and returning to the facility by container type.
EDI Integration
Honeycomb®ERP's ability to integrate with all leading EDI message handling providers gives you a convenient method for transmitting releases to suppliers, receiving information back from suppliers, and reporting quantity or quality discrepancies. The system supports ANSI X12, ODETTE, EDIFACT and ANX message formats.
Supplier Contracts
Once a contract is defined, it is available for use in the supplier releasing transmission of forecasts. Computer planned orders (CPOs) are converted and supplier releases are transmitted daily, weekly, monthly, etc.
Audit and Reporting Capabilities
Honeycomb®ERP provides a comprehensive audit trail of all modifications to the original contract in addition to an audit trail of all releases, advanced shipment notices, receipts, inspections and returns. Daily planned receipts can be reviewed online or by requesting a hardcopy report.
Extensive Features
- Pay on use option
- Forecast sharing (percent of release by trading partner)
- Archiving capabilities
Supplier Releases
- Release management by either discrete or cumulative amounts
- Flexible purchasing options
- Ability to receive Advanced Shipping Notices (ASNs) unattended
- Automatic generation of release numbers
- Tracking of highest total authorized YTD released-to-ship, released to fabricate and released-to-purchase raw quantities
- Comprehensive audit trails of all information sent to suppliers
Material Receipts
- Daily planned and actual receipts reports
- Confirmation of ASN receipts
- Automatic transmission of receiving and discrepancy advisories
- Containers tracked by type
- Supplier performance evaluations
Inquiries
- Contract order
- Rolling schedule
- Receipts inquiry
- Outstanding releases
- Container tracking
- Demand forecast
- Receipts review
- Inventory study
Reports
- Supplier contract releases
- Receipt tickets
- ASN
- ASN acceptance
- Demand study
Supplier Portal
Leveraging Portals to Increase Visibility, Extend Collaboration and Improve Materials Management
Many supply chains do not perform as expected because manufacturers and their suppliers are disconnected: changes in demand are slow to filter down from manufacturers and changes in supply are slow to percolate up from suppliers. Manufacturers can be forced to expedite supply orders and carry excess inventory, while suppliers struggle constantly to adjust production to changing demands from the manufacturers. Both manufacturers and their suppliers need a tool that helps them increase visibility, extend collaboration and improve materials management.
Honeycomb ERP Supplier Portal is a real-time, browser-based solution that enables manufacturers to meet customer demand and reduce costs by enhancing collaborations, visibility and communication with suppliers. the solution provides a synchronized, real-time view of order and material management activities, thus ensuring that the entire supply chain is working with the most current information.
Collaboration, Visibility, and Communication
Supplier Portal enables manufacturers to improve communication and collaboration with suppliers by providing several capabilities:
Status Overview
In the portal, a performance dashboard indicates the status of critical activities, allows users to drill down into details, and determines the proper action needed. The status overview information on: open orders, overdue shipments, upcoming shipments, order changes requiring acknowledgement and re-order point requirements.
Supplier Message Boards
Supplier Portal enables manufacturers to create and publish messages to their suppliers. The messages can be automatically emailed and are seen each time a user logs on to the system. Recipients can be targeted with user definable attributes such as all suppliers, individual suppliers, specific types of suppliers and more.
Alerts
The portal ensures that suppliers have read messages and establishes alert dates, dates by which a supplier must acknowledge or respond to messages.
Inquiries
Supplier Portal provides inquiry capabilities to enhance visibility within the following areas: purchase and contract orders, material receipts, items, returns to vendor and payment information
Collaborative Order Management
Supplier Portal enables manufacturers to collaborate with suppliers and ensure they receive materials needed to fulfill customer demand. The portal is populated with information from a manufacturer's production plans, which provides suppliers with visibility into required items and dates.
Capabilities for Manufacturers
View order confirmations, view latest status of any shipment, add and view notes
Capabilities for Suppliers
Search for shipments, accept or cancel orders, order cancel notices, confirm order for delivery to manufacturer, split deliveries, create pack slips, confirm ship, update and maintain user profiles, add and view notes
Satisfy Demand More Effectively
Supplier Portal enables supplies to split deliveries when they cannot completely fulfill an order by the required date. Suppliers can split the order to satisfy demand by delivering a partial order immediately and then providing the balance at a later date. Manufacturers instantly see this and are able to incorporate it into production plans.
Streamline Shipping and Material Receipts
Manufacturers can control supplier shipments and material receipts more effectively with centrally managed pack slips. The solution allows suppliers to create pack slips using Honeycomb®ERP Publisher and upload then into the portal. Suppliers then access download and print the pack slips.
To confirm an order line item has shipped, suppliers update the portal with actual shipment date, expected arrival date, carrier and Bill of Lading number. Manufacturers can also use the portal to execute spot buys for critical orders.
Honeycomb®ERP Supplier Portal helps manufacturers and their suppliers streamline shipping and materials receipts in a number of ways:
- Eliminate discrepancies between ordered and received items
- Prevent early shipments from suppliers
- Reduce excess inventory levels
- Eliminate unexpected receipts, such as late, partial and unknown shipments
- Accelerates material receipt processes
- Eliminates material receipt data entry errors
Materials Management
Supplier Portal also helps manage inventory levels throughout the supply chain and execute material management strategies:
Electronic Kanban Signals
Provides an electronic trigger to request items from suppliers. Gives users visibility into Kanban items
Supplier Managed Inventory
Enables consigned inventory, providing suppliers with visibility into manufacturer's contractually mandated inventory levels.
Security
Portal provides security features to prevent outside parties from accessing the system. It also restricts end-user access to only authorized information and functions.
Flexible and Easy-to-Use
Provides manufacturers with a tool that can be used throughout the entire supply chain. The solution allows for manual information updates via a browser and supports automated system-to-system updates via XML. With continuous updated feeds from Honeycomb®ERP's real-time database, manufacturers can be confident that the information they provide to suppliers is accurate and up-to-date.