Module Brief

E2 COLLABORATIVE
SUPPLY PLANNING

In todays complex global supply networks, the only way to

accurately synchronize demand with supply is to implement
a collaborative supply planning processa daunting task
given the rapid fluctuations in supply and demand signals.
The process is complicated further because companies must
coordinate and collaborate with hundreds of suppliers across
the supply network, each of which may have different tools
and technological capabilities. Unfortunately, not many
solutions extend beyond the four walls of your enterprise.
E2 Collaborative Supply Planning is a proven module that
enables forecast collaboration between buyers/planners
and suppliers, helping to match supply and demand across
the network. E2 Collaborative Supply Planning provides a
collaborative multi-enterprise platform for you to publish mid
to long-term forecasts, and to receive suppliers commits and
potential upside capabilities.

e2open.com

Module Brief

Synchronize Supply and Demand

Key Features
Automates the forecast-collaboration
process between you and your
trading partners
Allows all partners to track demand
and supply events using exception
management capabilities
Supports multiple B2B integration
options with any-to-any B2B
transformation support
Integrates performance management
and decision support by monitoring
KPIs
Enables role-based configurable work
flows
Provides unified views and forecastcommit work flows to the entire
supply base and all trading partners

Demand-supply synchronization is achieved via a forecast-commit processa capability that has

proven difficult to automate. E2 Collaborative Supply Planning provides a forecast-collaboration
platform that enables you to publish mid to long-term (52 weeks or more) forecasts in daily,
weekly, and monthly buckets, and to receive commits from suppliers. With the E2open module,
suppliers also have the ability to provide their potential upside capabilities, enabling you to
respond more effectively to surges in demand.
E2 Collaborative Supply Planning includes a rich set of alert and exception capabilities that
immediately inform you and your trading partners about any supply-demand disconnects. In the
case of exceptions (such as forecast-commit mismatches), the alerts are dynamically triggered
to help users proactively resolve and avoid potential supply issues. The module also supports
configurable email alerts to notify users about any such exceptions.

Key Benefits
Streamlined and automated forecastcommit process across the entire
supply base
Reduced data latency
Improved supply assurance
Dynamic alerts and exception
management
Improved productivity with reduced
supply chain operational costs
Continuous performance
improvement via KPI tracking
Minimal IT investment
Rapid time to value and significant
ROI

Figure 1: E2 Collaborative Supply Planning provides a common platform for forecastcollaboration processes between enterprises and their suppliers.

Automate and Streamline Your Forecast-Collaboration Process

To communicate demand forecasts with their trading partners, many companies continue to
use manual, paper-based processes such as Excel spreadsheets, emails, faxes, and phone calls.
This unstructured, disconnected method of communication between buyers/planners and
suppliers often leads to human errors and data latency, making it difficult to get an accurate,
comprehensive picture of the demand-supply situation. Due to constant fluctuations in demand,
supply and demand rarely meet up in a manually-orchestrated supply chain. The result is excess
inventory when supply exceeds demand, and lost revenues when supply is less than demand.
E2 Collaborative Supply Planning automates the forecast-collaboration process between you and
your trading partners. After each planning run in your system, a new forecast is loaded into the
E2open module so that suppliers can view and respond. Suppliers can commit via Web UI entry,
Excel UI upload, or B2B. Commits are automatically downloaded to your backend system. The
module also provides the ability to roll up data by various predefined groupings (suppliers, items,
regions/sites, hierarchies) in order to view the aggregated demand-supply picture.

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Figure 2: E2 Collaborative Supply Planning provides a collaborative platform to manage

forecast-collaboration processes with real-time visibility to business process exceptions,
supporting proactive resolution.

Scale Your Forecast Collaboration to All Trading Partners

E2 Collaborative Supply Planning provides the ability to seamlessly and rapidly connect to
suppliers and trading partners, regardless of their technological capabilities. Traditionally,
companies have established connectivity with only a handful of trading partners using EDI. Most
still rely on manual processes to manage forecast information and supplier commits. E2open
provides multiple integration options with trading partners, regardless of the formats and
protocols they use. The robust integration layer enables any-to-any B2B transformation of the
documents between you and your trading partners, effectively leveraging any B2B investments
you (or your trading partners) already have.
E2 Collaborative Supply Planning supports rapid connectivity with your multiple backend
planning systems to automate and streamline the process. In addition to B2B, the module also
provides a user interface for buyers/planners and suppliers to enable the forecast-commit
process.

Forecast Collaboration Performance Monitoring

To improve overall execution of the forecast-collaboration process, E2 Collaborative Supply
Planningtogether with the E2 Collaboration Centerprovides a rich set of key performance
indicators (KPIs) and business analytics that enable continuous performance measurement and
monitoring. As soon as a new version of forecast is uploaded, the previous version and associated
commits are rolled over and stored for data analysis and reporting. The ad hoc workbench
provides an easy-to-use interface to quickly generate custom BI reports from the transactional
business data available in the module, or to modify the pre-built KPI reports included in the
workbench. Some examples of reports include the following:

e2open.com

Forecast Waterfall generates demand forecast waterfall reports to show how demand has
changed week over week (an indicator of forecast volatility)
Commit Waterfall measures the change in supplier commits for each planning cycle
Forecast Versus Commit tracks supplier performance by measuring the percentage
deviation between forecast and commits for each supplier

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Forecast Versus Actual Pull tracks the actual consumption of material against demand
forecasts
Forecast-Commit Cycle Performance tracks supplier responsiveness to provide commit
against the forecast

Lower Total Cost of Ownership

E2open, headquartered in Foster City,
California, is the leading provider of
on-demand solutions for collaborative
execution of multi-enterprise business
processes across todays global trading
networks.

E2 Collaborative Supply Planning is designed to minimize the total cost of ownership (TCO) by
providing the application via a cloud-based model. Deployed as an on-demand, managed service,
E2open is responsible for software, solution configuration, trading partner onboarding, and system
operations. This means the module is deployed rapidly, resulting in faster time to value with
minimal IT investment. E2 Collaborative Supply Planning comes with pre-built, configured, and
tested adapters for your ERP system, enabling rapid integration with your backend ERP systems.

The company delivers a complete

business process, including software,
deployment, operations, services,
and community management,
representing the industrys first
collaborative execution solution
for the extended demand-supply
ecosystem. This approach helps global
enterprises improve visibility, control,
responsiveness, and collaboration across
multiple tiers of customers, partners,
and suppliers, resulting in major
improvements across all key operational
and financial performance metrics.
Deployed as an on-demand, managed
service, E2open easily connects with SAP,
Oracle, and other ERP systems of record
to extend the value of these investments
beyond internal company processes. The
company also features a performancebased, pay-as-you-go model to assure
customer success.

e2open.com

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For More Information

For more information on E2 Collaborative Supply Planning, please visit E2open at www.e2open.
com or call us at +1.650.645.6500.

E2open
Corporate Headquarters
4100 East Third Avenue, Suite 400
Foster City, CA 94404
P: 1.650.645.6500
F: 1.650.645.6555
e2open_us@e2open.com
www.e2open.com
Offices
E2open U.S.A.
Foster City, CA
Dallas, TX
Austin, TX

E2open Europe
Reading, UK

E2open Taiwan
Taipei, Taiwan

E2open Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

E2open China
Shanghai, China

E2open maintains locations in Malaysia, Taiwan, China, the United Kingdom and the United States.
MMVIII E2open, Inc. E2open and the E2open logo are registered trademarks of E2open, Inc. All other marks are trademarks, service marks or
registered trademarks of their respective owners. All rights reserved.

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