HARMAN International

Business Challenge

HARMAN manages a highly complex global supply chain for both our automotive and consumer electronics divisions. In 2020, faced with the significant global volatility brought on by COVID-19, HARMAN turned to its analytics organization to help avoid disruptions to customers and to HARMAN’s reputation.

Example challenges the analytics team was asked to help solve:

• How do we address the immediate challenges COVID-19 introduced?

• How do we manage near-term cash flow and supply chain resiliency challenges affected by virus-related precautions?

• How do we plan to rescale with agility - and build recovery groundwork?

• How will we adapt to longer-term effects of COVID-19?

Analytics Solution

The HARMAN analytics team created an array of new capabilities, in mere weeks, with the help of best-in-class technology partners such as Snowflake, Qlik and Axis Group.

Example solutions to help manage demand and supply fluctuations:

• Inbound EDI orders – enabling near real-time insights and response to order changes

• Component inventory – helping identify critical components and proactively manage potential shortages

• Bill of materials and foreign exchange changes – aiding production decisions

• Direct material spend and savings – improving data quality for supplier support

• Indirect procurement spend – tracking targets and savings, helping to mitigate risk, and aiding discovery of new savings opportunities

Impact

Example impacts of immediate and ongoing success:

• Empowerment:

  • 600+ active users across the globe

• Enablement:

  • 16 times faster productivity gains

  • Demand planning and other process improvements

• Outcomes:

  • Improved demand forecasting accuracy

  • Improved customer fulfillments and on-time delivery

  • Dramatic crisis response improvements

  • Direct and indirect cost savings

An additional benefit of these new applications is an improved data culture across HARMAN, an organization that now feels more comfortable with a single source of COVID-19 related data – thus helping HARMAN become even more agile and resilient for whatever the future has in store.