Companies across the world rely on technologies from Schneider Electric to manage energy and run processes in ways that are safe, efficient, reliable, and sustainable. Meeting their needs calls for a lot of air freight and express shipping. Across its seven global regions, the company manages around 360,000 shipments every year, moving 40,000 tons of products between its 220 factories, 103 distribution centers, and countless customers.
Customer Objective
Schneider’s customers expect their orders to be delivered on time, in full, and in perfect condition. In pursuit of that aim, the company has looked for ways improve the performance of its global supply chain. That requires efficient networks, reliable processes, and capable logistics partners. It also calls for a smart approach to risk management so that, in the rare but inevitable cases of delay or disruption in the supply chain, Schneider can respond rapidly to get things back on track and reassure its customers that their critical equipment is on its way. Schneider’s ongoing pursuit of excellence has led the company to embark on a comprehensive supply chain transformation with the goal of significant improvements in efficiency, visibility, and risk management.
Everstream Solution
A key enabler of Schneider’s transformation is Everstream Analytics, a leading end-to-end supply chain risk analytics company, together with seven “control towers” — one for each of Schneider’s global supply chain regions. Each control tower uses fully customized Everstream software to visualize and monitor Schneider’s supply chain in that region (North America; South America; Europe, the Middle East, and Africa; India; China; the Pacific countries and East Asia Japan). The model incorporates the company’s own facilities, those of its key suppliers, and critical transport nodes like ports, airports, and distribution hubs. In total, Everstream Risk Assessment maps more than 2000 points around the world, including comprehensive dashboards to show the status and location of every shipment currently in the network. The Everstream solution allows Schneider to continually monitor the performance of each regional supply chain, and an automated system alerts control tower staff and other relevant personnel if any shipments aren’t moving smoothly through the network.
Additionally, the control towers are all linked directly to Everstream’s Incident Monitoring service, which gathers data on potential supply chain risks from a wide range of internal and external sources, including traditional and social media, live transport data, and observers on the ground. This data is fed into the supply chain model, providing staff with near-real-time information on any external events with the potential to cause delays or disruptions and letting them know exactly which shipments might be affected. The monitoring system gives Schneider an invaluable early warning of disruption in its network. Instead of responding to an issue once it has occurred, staff can often act up front — diverting shipments, organizing alternative transportation, or warning customers of unavoidable delays.