Description

The Synchro module is a just-in-time distribution solution designed to handle frequent deliveries to high-volume customers in an efficient and individually tailored manner.  The functionality provided by this module, coupled with the MAC-PAC requirements planning capabilities, allows you to plan and execute a steady flow of inventory through your manufacturing plant, to your picking and packing process, and finally from your shipping docks to your customers, on an as-needed basis.  Synchro will aid you in controlling inventory, facilitating customer demand-oriented production, and meeting customer delivery schedules.

Synchro is designed to meet the requirements of the dedicated suppliers programs initiated by large customers in various industries.  In response to these requirements Synchro offers the following features:

·     Support of repetitive daily deliveries.

·     Splitting deliveries.

·     Immediate recording of demand fluctuation and variance analysis.

·     Strict compliance to the delivery schedule with automatic adjustment on the next shipment for any advance or backorder incurred to date.

·     Synchronization of the shipping schedule based on the reconciliation between customer and supplier year-to-date cumulative quantities ordered and shipped.

·     Supports a continuous system from customer to supplier (EDI).

·     Supports the GALIA standard bar-coded labels.

Synchro is fully-integrated with all of the MAC-PAC modules, with interfaces to the MAC-PAC planning and scheduling, financial, and inventory control modules. 

Synchro receives delivery requests, splits and offsets them according to individual customer delivery rules for an item delivery point, feeds demand into the MAC-PAC planning and scheduling modules, prints customer shipping labels, creates shipping lists, sends both hard copy and electronic invoices and shipping lists, and maintains detailed customer synchronization data to ensure the shipped quantities have been received and accepted by the customer, and are complete.

Synchro also allows you maximum flexibility in implementing contract pricing for specific customers, specific items, and specific time periods.  Every item that you deliver to a customer references, a series of associated documents defining billing, shipping, packaging, and order-splitting information. 

At shipping time, Synchro allows you to print a series of hierarchical shipping labels corresponding to a specific shipping list.  You can also generate packaging unit labels at the end-of-assembly line for use in inventory storage of items.  This allows you keep end items available for distribution that are not allocated to a specific customer if you choose to keep safety stock on-hand.  Labels are required for lot-controlled items, but are optional for non-lot-controlled items.  This helps to ease lot tracking and tracing requirements. 

Synchro also enables you to keep a detailed log of customer requirements by item/delivery point, the delivery progress in meeting those requirements, and most importantly, allows you to compare your delivery information with that of your customer's receipts.  This helps you to keep your shipping information synchronized with your customers' receipt information.  Synchro notifies you of any shipping/receipt discrepancies between you and your customers, and takes corrective action when delivery advances or backorders occur.  Synchronization data is exchanged between you and your customers.  This information is maintained online or by the customer through the EDI message.

The Synchro module allows you to use either electronic data interchange (EDI) transmissions or manual entry of information to receive customer orders.  Synchro supports the ODETTE (Version 2 and 3), VDA, and ANSI EDI protocols, but you do not have to use EDI to use Synchro.  All electronic transmissions sent and received in Synchro can be manually entered and maintained using the online maintenance conversations.  For  environments supporting the ODETTE and/or VDA and ANSI standards, Synchro takes full advantage of EDI technology, allowing you to reduce human error and maximize efficiency.  However, whether you choose to  use EDI or not, it is not required that all of your customers use the electronic transmissions.  You can have some customers sending EDI transmissions, and some customers opting to send manual delivery requests.

The Synchro Customer KANBAN feature controls multiple shipments of the same part on the same day.  Customer KANBAN supports the ODETTE standard KANBAN and PLUQUO messages only (ANSI and VDA standards are not supported.