Valmet is a global developer and supplier of technologies, automation and services for the pulp, paper and energy industries. Valmet’s shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki. Jarl Matti Anttila from Jakamo made an interview to Jussi Sinisalo from Valmet China about supply chain collaboration.
What would for you be the most desirable improvement in supply chain collaboration in near future?
Nowadays supply chain control is getting easier because of modern collaboration tools which enable real time activities between different functions of the chain. It is essential for effective co-operation to offer easy and cheap features to all participants. Especially the small suppliers and/or CCC –suppliers must have opportunity to operate at the same level than bigger ones.
What initiatives or procedures would you recommend to investigate or implement to increase productivity in customer-supplier relationship?
One interesting process is operative purchasing. I am sure it’s easy to have significant improvements by developing co-operation at this area. Integrations of ERP systems and collaboration tools are something should be enabled “easy-way”. Especially when complex delivery project, the real time information distribution and communication in whole supply chain is needed.
In your mind, what are the most significant current trends in digitalization of supply chain management?
All the suppliers should be part of supply chain control even though they are very small one. It is worth of reaching win-win situation where company controls effectively own supply chain but the same time supplier finds advantages controlling and developing own processes by using the same collaboration tool.
Specifically, what kind of features and requirements will you be expecting collaboration tools to include?
We have good experiences of continuous improvement-, operative purchasing- and delivery project control features. Maybe in future category management, bid management and R&D projects are also handled with collaboration tools. From sales point of view it would be good customer service to make customer application and quotation with short response time because of effective collaboration tool use through the delivery chain.
