Improved inventory feedback will help the company to review supply and demand

Healthcare manufacturer SSL’s managed network linking UK offices with factories in the Far East went live last week.

SSL ­which includes global brands such as Scholl and Durex ­is using supplier Easynet’s Asia Pacific gateway to extend its resource planning applications to factories in Quingdao, China.

The improved information will help SSL monitor and forecast worldwide demand for its products, head of infrastructure projects John Keelan-Edwards told Computing.

“We used to run many different systems, but the new network has enabled us to move to a single, unified system,” he said.

“We can now use standard processes across our entire commercial supply chain. Once we have linked the majority of those chains, a key benefit will be the improvement to our inventory management.”

SSL has facilities in 65 countries, 44 of which are now connected to the network.
Advances in global communications are allowing the company to work in different ways, said Keelan-Edwards.

“There are technological challenges when you are running transactional services on a factory based in China, from systems based in the UK,” he said.

“With the new system we can be far more prescriptive in terms of supply and demand.”