Blog · Board and management reporting · Supply chain
The ten questions a COO puts to the supply chain and service functions, which suppliers are deteriorating, where is single-source risk, what is the lead time really, where is inventory ageing, which sites are short and which are long, is the demand plan biased, what are we paying early for nothing, which accounts consume the most service, are we meeting the SLAs we signed, and what changed, each with the computed table, the identity behind it, and the answer a COO should send back.
A chief operating officer asks the supply chain and service functions questions that come back as averages. Each question has a table, per supplier, per site or per account, with an identity to a ledger. This guide is the ten questions, the tables, and the answers to send back.
| # | The COO asks | The table | Identity | Send back |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Which suppliers are deteriorating? | OTIF per supplier per site, three-month trend, spend at risk | Receipts join to PO lines | A supplier-level scorecard |
| 2 | Where is single-source risk? | Parts with one supplier, by site, with inbound share | Parts sum to the item master | A count with no spend or criticality |
| 3 | What is the lead time really? | Actual lead time and spread per supplier-site-item vs ERP parameter | Receipt after order, every line | The ERP parameter quoted as fact |
| 4 | Where is inventory ageing? | Ageing bands per site; transfer pairs; write-down exposure | Bands sum to inventory ledger | Network turns |
| 5 | Which sites are short and which are long? | Aged stock at one site against stock-outs at another, same SKU | Same as 4 | Two separate reports |
| 6 | Is the demand plan biased? | Forecast bias per SKU per site at fixed lead time; override log | Every period has a snapshot at lead time | Accuracy without direction |
| 7 | What are we paying early for nothing? | Days to pay vs terms, early with no discount, cost of capital | Payments equal invoices paid | Company DPO |
| 8 | Which accounts consume the most service? | Effort hours per account vs revenue, against tier norm | Effort sums to logged hours | Busiest accounts by count |
| 9 | Are we meeting the SLAs we signed? | Attainment per account against its own contract; credits owed | Every ticket against one target set | Attainment against the team default |
| 10 | What changed? | The movements page | Every line cites | Narrative |
COO: Which suppliers are deteriorating? Supply chain: S-0217 at Plant B, 71 percent from 89, three consecutive declines, $2.1m spend at risk. At Plant A the same supplier is at 96. Table 1, rows 4 and 5. COO: What is the lead time really? Supply chain: K-104 from S-0217: 21 days median at Plant A with a 4-day spread; 24 at Plant B with a 15-day spread. The ERP says 21 at both. Plant B carries a thousand units of safety stock for that spread. COO: Where is inventory ageing? Supply chain: Plant B, 46 percent over 180 days, $2.8m. Two SKUs transfer to Plant A and release $240,000; the rest is $0.9m of write-down exposure.
Three questions, one plant, one supplier, and a plan.
Averages. The supplier at 94; the plant at 71 invisible.
Parameters quoted as facts. The ERP's lead time nobody checked.
Ageing and shortage in two reports. The transfer never happens.
SLA against the default. The tightest contracts breached invisibly.
Covirage produces the ten tables from the PO, receipt, stock, forecast, payables, ticket and contract exports, with the identities checked. The supply chain page describes the supply setup, and the OTIF trend guide covers the first table.
Supplier deterioration by site, because it is the one that turns into a line stoppage, and the trend shows it a quarter before the scorecard does. A supplier at 94 percent overall and 71 at one plant is the first table.
Receipts join to PO lines; inventory bands sum to the inventory ledger; rental or service days times rate equals invoiced revenue; payments equal invoices paid. Each table names its ledger of record and sums to it, and a table that does not is sent back.
Monthly for the supply tables, on the receipts and stock files; weekly for the service tables, on tickets. The movements page monthly. None of it needs a connector; the exports on a fixed cut are the integration.