Manassas, VA – April 18, 2013 – INSIGHT, Inc., top international provider of planning solutions that power supply chain design for the world's foremost companies, announces the release of Version 4.6 of SAILS and Insight Enterprise Optimizer (IEO), the industry reference standards for strategic supply chain design. The latest versions incorporate powerful new features requested by our clients that address sustainability, manufacturing options, transportation rate databases, and managerial preferences.
“More and more clients are requesting sophisticated databases and advanced analytics to directly address supply chain sustainability audits and optimization initiatives in conjunction with the traditional metrics of cost and time. SAILS 4.6 now offers the most comprehensive sustainability functionality in the industry,” said Jeff Karrenbauer, president of INSIGHT, Inc. “We have also built these capabilities into the latest release of IEO to better address complex sustainability questions in light of the demand and cost impact of various marketing initiatives in the context of the entire supply chain, all under a profit maximization umbrella.”
SAILS V4.6 newest features include:
• Sustainability:
o Ability to simultaneously measure and report energy consumption and carbon emissions for the entire supply chain, including procurement, manufacturing, warehousing and transportation activities, thereby supporting shareholder, management and government compliance reporting requirements.
o Ability to report ton-miles (or equivalent), which is useful for estimating energy efficiency and carbon emissions for various transport modes.
o Ability to optimize the network with respect to cost, time, energy or carbon, while simultaneously reporting all other measures, thereby enabling the user to directly compare network designs across scenarios with varying optimization criteria (i.e. what is the least expensive network, the most energy efficient network, the network with the least carbon emissions, etc.).
o Incorporation of innovative research from the University of Rhode Island supply chain management program with respect to carbon emissions of various manufacturing processes.
All of the above support a relatively new perspective: analyzing the impact of outsourcing decisions, especially those which result in very long international supply chains, not just in terms of cost, but also with respect to energy and carbon emission impacts.
• Manufacturing Processes:
o Improved representation of long-term capacity limits, such as those associated with contractual obligations, which results in better procurement and production capacity planning and allocation, especially where volume discounts are applicable.
o Improved, sophisticated representation of the production lines/processes where multiple commodities compete for the same capacity, which results in more accurate production capacity planning and allocation.
• Managerial Rules:
o Ability to specify min/max, volume, energy, and carbon emission limits for arbitrary subsets of facility locations, production lines and processes, which enables the user to, for example, directly incorporate cap-and-trade-based carbon emission restrictions or limit the number of locations or processes of a specific type or in a given area.
o Ability to specify managerial rules such as IF x happens THEN y MUST (MUST NOT) happen, which enables the user to easily assess the impact of such preferences or requirements with much fewer model exercises and far less analysis effort.
INSIGHT Enterprise Optimizer (IEO) 4.6 includes all of the above new features, enabling users to balance all relevant enterprise operations costs, including procurement, manufacturing, warehousing, port handling, transportation, inventory holding, duties, taxes, and marketing costs with the cost and demand impact of new marketing initiatives (thereby relaxing the limiting assumption of a fixed demand forecast), under a profit maximization umbrella. With IEO 4.6 relevant energy and carbon emission restrictions can be added to the traditional capacity limits associated with procurement, manufacturing, throughput, storage, and so on. The result: a significant step beyond Integrated Business Planning (IBP), one that results in a profit-maximized corporate strategy.
“This is the first in a series of major product announcements for 2013, ongoing evidence of our most aggressive research and development effort in history,” adds Karrenbauer.
About INSIGHT, Inc.
INSIGHT, Inc. provides optimization-based supply chain analytics and consulting services to meet today's dynamic business challenges. Founded by supply chain and operations research experts in 1978 to apply world-class technology with intelligence and rigor to decision making, INSIGHT solves the complex supply chain strategic, tactical, and financial planning management issues of the world's foremost companies, including many of the Fortune 100 firms, such as ExxonMobil, Nestle, and BASF. Our software and services help firms minimize costs, maximize profits, free up capital, streamline operations, and increase customer service levels. For more information, please visit us on the Web at http://www.insightoutsmart.com.
“More and more clients are requesting sophisticated databases and advanced analytics to directly address supply chain sustainability audits and optimization initiatives in conjunction with the traditional metrics of cost and time. SAILS 4.6 now offers the most comprehensive sustainability functionality in the industry,” said Jeff Karrenbauer, president of INSIGHT, Inc. “We have also built these capabilities into the latest release of IEO to better address complex sustainability questions in light of the demand and cost impact of various marketing initiatives in the context of the entire supply chain, all under a profit maximization umbrella.”
SAILS V4.6 newest features include:
• Sustainability:
o Ability to simultaneously measure and report energy consumption and carbon emissions for the entire supply chain, including procurement, manufacturing, warehousing and transportation activities, thereby supporting shareholder, management and government compliance reporting requirements.
o Ability to report ton-miles (or equivalent), which is useful for estimating energy efficiency and carbon emissions for various transport modes.
o Ability to optimize the network with respect to cost, time, energy or carbon, while simultaneously reporting all other measures, thereby enabling the user to directly compare network designs across scenarios with varying optimization criteria (i.e. what is the least expensive network, the most energy efficient network, the network with the least carbon emissions, etc.).
o Incorporation of innovative research from the University of Rhode Island supply chain management program with respect to carbon emissions of various manufacturing processes.
All of the above support a relatively new perspective: analyzing the impact of outsourcing decisions, especially those which result in very long international supply chains, not just in terms of cost, but also with respect to energy and carbon emission impacts.
• Manufacturing Processes:
o Improved representation of long-term capacity limits, such as those associated with contractual obligations, which results in better procurement and production capacity planning and allocation, especially where volume discounts are applicable.
o Improved, sophisticated representation of the production lines/processes where multiple commodities compete for the same capacity, which results in more accurate production capacity planning and allocation.
• Managerial Rules:
o Ability to specify min/max, volume, energy, and carbon emission limits for arbitrary subsets of facility locations, production lines and processes, which enables the user to, for example, directly incorporate cap-and-trade-based carbon emission restrictions or limit the number of locations or processes of a specific type or in a given area.
o Ability to specify managerial rules such as IF x happens THEN y MUST (MUST NOT) happen, which enables the user to easily assess the impact of such preferences or requirements with much fewer model exercises and far less analysis effort.
INSIGHT Enterprise Optimizer (IEO) 4.6 includes all of the above new features, enabling users to balance all relevant enterprise operations costs, including procurement, manufacturing, warehousing, port handling, transportation, inventory holding, duties, taxes, and marketing costs with the cost and demand impact of new marketing initiatives (thereby relaxing the limiting assumption of a fixed demand forecast), under a profit maximization umbrella. With IEO 4.6 relevant energy and carbon emission restrictions can be added to the traditional capacity limits associated with procurement, manufacturing, throughput, storage, and so on. The result: a significant step beyond Integrated Business Planning (IBP), one that results in a profit-maximized corporate strategy.
“This is the first in a series of major product announcements for 2013, ongoing evidence of our most aggressive research and development effort in history,” adds Karrenbauer.
About INSIGHT, Inc.
INSIGHT, Inc. provides optimization-based supply chain analytics and consulting services to meet today's dynamic business challenges. Founded by supply chain and operations research experts in 1978 to apply world-class technology with intelligence and rigor to decision making, INSIGHT solves the complex supply chain strategic, tactical, and financial planning management issues of the world's foremost companies, including many of the Fortune 100 firms, such as ExxonMobil, Nestle, and BASF. Our software and services help firms minimize costs, maximize profits, free up capital, streamline operations, and increase customer service levels. For more information, please visit us on the Web at http://www.insightoutsmart.com.
