How can I create an Info Share? Follow
Information Sharing (IS) is a process where a LevaData user shares their organization's forecast information with their Suppliers or CM/ODMs. There is no interaction or back and forth with the supplier, only information sharing.
Sharing forecast information with key suppliers and CM/ODMs greatly benefits supply chain resiliency. When the buyer is transparent about forecasts, the recipient of this information can prepare their operations to produce the quantity demanded. This enables the recipient to potentially reduce lead times and delivery constraints, while facilitating upscaling of production to meet the demand of this known forecast quantity.
LevaData users select the required fields that need to be shared with the recipients from a standard set of data fields that are available. Information sharing is always read-only to the recipients.
Creating an Info Share
- Navigate to Vendor Collaboration in the left-hand menu
- Select Info Share from the Create dropdown.
Once a new Information Sharing window has opened, you must now modify the specific information and scope you want to include and schedule.
Info Share Information Section
| Field | Input Required |
|---|---|
| Name | Give your Info Share a name. |
| Choose Template | Select from the drop-down menu from the list of templates created. If your organization has not created a custom one, you will have an out of the box pre-built template. |
| RFQ Recipient | Supplier or CM/ODM - who you plan on sharing the information with. Recipient Supplier or CM/ODM columns are made available in the Templates for reference purposes, and users can verify the recipient on the preview page before sharing the template. |
| Time Granularity | You can select monthly/quarterly/yearly based on the frequency of how the information needs to be shared. This choice will modify the subsequent selections and the table of information. |
| Period |
If you want a specific period with a fixed start and end, select 'Static'. If you want a future consecutive number of time periods, then you can select 'Rolling'. This choice will modify the next input. |
| Static: Start Quote Period and End Quote Period |
Specific fixed start and end point with the period time based on the time granularity selected. |
| Rolling: Next | Forward rolling <X> number of periods based on the time granularity selected. |
Info Share Scope
In the scope section, you can use any of the standard filters.
- Forecast > 0 - Indicating a part that has forecast information to share.
- Part of Info Share - Indicating a part that is already included in an existing info share.
- Not Part of Info Share - Indicating a part that is not currently in an existing info share.
- (+) - Interface to create your own custom filter with any of the standard fields available in the table.
You can also filter to all parts, single source parts, or multiple source parts by clicking the radial buttons for each option. By default, all parts are displayed.
Example Info Share
In this example our organization is going to (1) indicate monthly and share the monthly forecast for the last four months of 2023. Selecting (2) Forecast > 0 and Not Part of IS ensures we have valid forecast data to share that hasn't been shared. Selecting (3) Multi source gives us parts which have multiple suppliers. Selecting (4) an example part that we manage that has multiple suppliers with whom we would like to share forecast information.
Scrolling (5) further to the right, we can review the forecast information in-line in the table for the parts:
Once satisfied, we can proceed to (6) Next.
Preview & Send
In the preview window, you can (1) leave messages for all recipients or select an individual recipient and leave them a custom message. You can (2) preview the info share to see how the recipient will view it. When satisfied, you can (3) Send it.
Recipient View
When you view as the recipient (Supplier View button above), you have the option to preview how the info share will look from their perspective, and make sure that the forecast information looks correct.
Reviewing Existing Info Shares
After you have sent it, the Info Share will be in the hands of your suppliers or CM/ODMs, and you will have access to refresh the information share through the Vendor Collaboration interface. You can click into the link or check the RFX Status.
RFX Statuses for Info Share
- Draft: The GCM has created an Info Share but has not sent it to any recipient(s).
- Sent: The GCM has created an Info Share and has sent it to recipient(s).
- New: The recipient(s) will be able to see the new Info Share in the LevaData supplier portal.
- Viewed: At least one of the intended recipients have viewed the Info Share.
- Close: Closed by the GCM when the GCM knows the recipient has viewed it and has no plans to update further.
Share Latest Information
After you have sent an Info Share and provided forecast information, you may want to make a quick update to that information following a more recent data load of your part forecast information to the LevaData Platform. You can do this via the Share Latest Information input.
When you select and confirm, the previous forecast will be overwritten with any updated forecast information for the original time period of the Info Share. If the time period has elapsed, it is advisable to instead close the existing Info Share and create a new one.
Closing an Info Share
There may be a need to close an info share after it was sent. Possibly due to incorrect or incomplete data that needs to be fixed in the next data load. Alternatively, you may no longer have any need to refresh it or inform the noted recipients. Selecting Close IS and picking the time of the original record will confirm the close.
You will receive a notification prompt in the upper right of the LevaData Platform confirming the close. If you need to double check, then selecting View Archived items in the table view will permit you to view your closed Info Share.
Conclusion
Sharing forecast information with your suppliers and CM/ODMs helps them to schedule and optimize their production to meet your known demand needs. As long as your organization loads forecast information for parts into the LevaData Platform and refreshes those on a regular cadence, you will be able to Info Share these forecasts with your vendors and help improve the supply chain resiliency of all the parts that you buy.
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