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Building resilience from day one: Why supply chain strategy should start at the design phase
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Flex Pulse Risk Management | Flex
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Flex Pulse® Risk Management
Manage supply chain risks early in the product lifecycle
Achieve greater supply chain resiliency with artificial intelligence and machine learning
With our Flex Pulse® Risk Management application, we collaborate with our customers to assess and mitigate supply chain risk in the early phases of the product lifecycle.
Leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML)-driven analytics, we help assess your risks and mitigation options for greater supply chain resiliency. Flex Pulse Risk Management is an automated report that provides part-level insights to identify supply chain risks for a product’s bill of materials (BOM), analyzing factors like the quality and capability of suppliers, how many other companies are using the component, and end-of-life risk. By identifying and quantifying these issues in the design stage, we help our customers avoid incurring production and financial impacts in the product build stage.
The Flex Pulse Risk Management application report contains:
- Part characteristic risk analysis: compliance and end-of-life risks
- Supply chain risk analysis: lead time, stock out, availability, and escalation
- Overall supply chain risk score for the BOM: compares the BOM risks to other products within the same industry, as well as product-specific comparisons
- Suggested risk mitigation strategies: includes an assessment of the number of hours of engineering resources needed to improve the overall risk score
Flex Pulse Risk Management application insights help reduce risk
We began leveraging the tool for new products being manufactured by Flex. Flex Pulse Risk Management analyzed 1,200 new products from November 2022 through November 2023, resulting in significant reductions in risk.
Each BOM analyzed contained an average of ~250 components on OEM products across industries that Flex serves, including Automotive, Industrial, Health Solutions, Consumer Devices, Communications and Enterprise Compute, and Lifestyle, resulting in the following positive impacts:
9%
Average parts of a BOM identified and recommended to be moved from a single-sourced to multi-sourced position
16%
Product risk reduction for a typical product BOM from Flex Pulse Risk Management-identified opportunities recommending lower risk alternatives
Flex Pulse Risk Management diagnostic report provides visibility to your product’s specific risks throughout the supply chain:
EU RoHS compliant risk
Number of parts that contain certain hazardous substances which are restricted
End-of-life (EoL) risk
Parts with high to medium EoL risk that will become unavailable and require additional source
Lead time risk
Measures the variability of lead times benchmarked across different parts within the same commodity group
Stock out risk
Uses real time distributor data to check if current stock is available for parts
Availability risk
Measures historical data of similar parts within the same commodity and benchmarks performance to predict likelihood of future shortage to occur
Escalation risk
Number of parts that have been internally escalated within Flex during last 12 months due to material shortages
By proactively addressing risk with Flex Pulse Risk Management, we are using supply chain insights in the design phase to help our customers succeed and deliver a competitive advantage.
Beginning in November 2023, we now proactively analyze the supply chain risks of all products manufactured by Flex, with Flex Pulse Risk Management analyzing over 30,000 products each month. In the future, as we combine and build on existing analytics solutions, our customers will continue to incrementally benefit from clear, quantifiable, and actionable insights into their supply chain.
Flex Pulse Risk Management: proven technology with a sound foundation
The powerful insights delivered by our Flex Pulse Risk Management tool come from leveraging a combination of both internal and external data sources. In addition to pulling information from Flex-owned databases of more than 5 million components, Flex Pulse Risk Management monitors more than a dozen external data sources in real time and uses that information to assess risks and recommend solutions. Over 340,000 unique parts are tracked week-over-week to optimize decision-making and capitalize on market trends.
Flex Pulse Risk Management was developed on top of several proven applications within Flex’s It-Right data/analytics platform powered by AI/ML models:
- A pricing application that leverages internal and external data to ensure that quotes for components are competitive and accurate
- A design application developed to identify alternative parts to support multi-sourcing, as well as design and engineering activities
- A market-tracking application to provide insight and visibility into the electronics components market
Flex’s unique position of being a global diversified manufacturer enables us to have this cross-industry visibility and insights into supply chain risk. With Flex Pulse Risk Management, we help you mitigate potential disruptions in the supply chain by analyzing how much risk there is in a particular product and the associated components in the BOM. We can take best practices from different industries to develop strategies and innovations that enable companies to de-risk and build resiliency into their supply chains.
Flex Pulse Risk Management recognized with prestigious industry “Manufacturing in 2030” award
The Flex Pulse Risk Management tool program was recognized with the “Manufacturing in 2030” award by the Manufacturing Leadership Council in June 2023 for its forward-looking innovation and the value created with the benefits of the solution.
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