CDIF: Customer Data Input File

Introduction

CDIF stands for Customer Data Input File. It is a standard excel file format using which customers can provide all the required or available supply chain information which can be fed into the Resilinc portal. CDIF includes 9 different tabs to load information about every element of supply chain such as Supplier, Part Sourcing, Product, BOM, Sites etc. In addition to the basic data elements, CDIF also allows customers to create product to site, part to site & site to site mapping.

To get desired visibility of the data in Resilinc portal, it is important to know how to feed data into each of the CDIF tabs and understand the use of it. Below are some of the best practices to refer to,

• Suppliers (Tab-1)

To start off the CDIF process, customers must identify the dependent source systems (ERP, SAP etc.) to gather and download the required supply chain data they wish to load in Resilinc.

• Supplier Name

In this tab list the supplier information such as any internal supplier identification numbers, category, head quarter address, supplier contact details, any custom risk scores or key performance indicators* etc.

Note:

1. Resilinc uses standard supplier names in its database to help link all the supplier related information from different sources together. The process is referred to as Supplier Name Normalization, before loading new supplier names in the system it’s advisable to share the list of all the new suppliers with Resilinc at least a couple weeks prior to have all the supplier names normalized before the data load date.
2. Due to name normalization multiple supplier names, entities, business units, subsidiaries belonging to one parent organization will get merged under one single supplier name and the information available for these supplier entities, business units etc. gets consolidated under single normalized supplier name. E.g., if supplier names provided are ABC China, ABC Metals, ABC Inc. & ABC Plastics which are all different business units or subsidiaries of a common parent organization i.e., ABC Ltd., then instead of 4 different supplier names Resilinc system will only show 1 supplier name i.e., ABC Ltd and all the information in the CDIF such as parts, sites, contact details etc. will get consolidated against 1 supplier name/ tenant.  

• Supplier External ID:

Companies may use unique internal identifiers in their source systems to identify their suppliers. For ease of identification & to maintain relevance with their internal system customers can load any supplier identification numbers in the CDIF for each supplier. The external ID shows up in the Resilinc system against the respective supplier on different reports & dashboards.

Note:  Due to normalization process, if multiple supplier names provided in the CDIF are normalized into 1 supplier name, the system will show multiple external ids for that supplier entry.

• Category:

Resilinc supports Partner Categories in its web portal, in the category’s column customers can add the respective category or categories the supplier is associated with (use comma to separate multiple categories, if applicable). It’s a free text field and customers can define their own categories relevant to its business.

Category is one of the common filters available in the Resilinc portal that allows users like category managers, commodity managers etc. to filter data associated with each category. Users can also define their personal EventWatch settings by selecting respective categories to pre-filter relevant data in the portal & the EventWatch notifications.

• Financial Risk & Partner Custom Defined Risk columns:

Customers have the option to load available supplier risk scores or supplier performance indicators in the Resilinc system using the CDIF. The Partner’s tab has provision of 9 columns to include such risk indicators or any applicable operational KPI’s for suppliers. The risk scores added using these columns can be visualized in various dashboards and analysis available in the portal.

There are 4 columns to ingest financial risk indicators & 5 columns for custom defined risk or parameters specific to the customer organization. However, customers can use all these columns to ingest any required risk factors, irrespective of the column title in the CDIF. Resilinc supports a risk score scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is low risk score and 10 is considered highest risk. If customers looking to ingest a score with different scale than 1-10, such scores need to be normalized to Resilinc system acceptable scores before loading.

Benefits: Risk scores or supplier performance indicators can help customers integrate risk scores from various sources & customer’s own operations KPI into one platform for proactive risk identification & create a well-rounded supplier scorecard. Customers get to assign appropriate weightage and thresholds to each of the critical parameters based on their organization’s SCRM objectives. Also, supplier risk and performance can be viewed together and used in planning mitigation strategies e.g., if a supplier risk score is high however overall performance trend has been positive, then customers may not choose to go for stringent action plans. On the other hands if performance & risk scores both show a negative trend, then required mitigation strategies need to be initiated.

• Supplier Emergency Contacts:

Supplier contact details can be the supplier contact person or a dedicated account manager etc.  who can be contacted regarding any identified risk or in case of any emergency situations. The contact details remain visible in the Resilinc portal for easy access. The same supplier contact can receive impact confirmation request for any disruptive events & any assessment request can also be routed to them.

• Tier Level & Higher Tier Partner:

A tier level can be assigned using the mentioned column, this can allow customers to differentiate between tier-1 & sub-tier suppliers, also define supplier interdependencies. In case of sub-tier supplier (Tier-2 & above), higher tier partner column needs to populate with higher tier supplier name. Below is an example,

   Supplier hierarchy – Supplier C (Tier-3) >> Supplier B (Tier-2) >>  Supplier A (Tier-1) >>  Customer Org.

• Part Sourcing (Tab-2)

      Below are few important data points that customers can consider adding in the part sourcing tab.

• Part # (Column A) & Supplier Part # (Column E)

In this column customers can add all the customer part numbers (CPN) associated with all the tier-1 suppliers which customers looking to load in Resilinc.  

In the Supplier Part # (PPN) column customers can include the number or term partners use for the respective customer part number. This allows to link customer part numbers to partner part numbers. In case of unavailability of supplier part numbers of customers can use their own partner part numbers in the column since the both the mentioned fields are mandatory in the CDIF.

• Part Category

Part Category is an important field where customers can categorize each part into its respective category. It is a free text field which can have categories specific to customer organization. Categories listed in this column populate in various reports and dashboards as well as personal settings in the Resilinc portal and allows user to filter data in the system by Categories.

Use case: Category Manager/s can select respective part categories in their personal user settings to receive event notifications relevant to them & auto-filters the data in the portal to visualize only relevant data in the system.

• Alternate MPN #1 -5

This is an optional field which customers can use to mention alternate Supplier part numbers (PPN) specific to the suppliers. The values in MNP# columns populate in the part-site mapping tab of the SCV assessment which allows the supplier to identify their part or part revisions.

• Sourcing & Split (Column L & M)

Sourcing field allows customer to define sourcing strategy for every part, i.e., sole sourced, single sourced & multi-sourced. Resilinc system automatically calculates the sourcing for single & multi-sourced parts, it’s advisable to mention the sole sourced parts in the CDIF. Based on the sourcing defined the sourcing risk scores are calculated for every part.

Split – in case of a multi-sourced parts customers have the option to define sourcing split for such parts. For e.g., a part is sourced from 2 suppliers, 60% sourcing is from 1^st supplier and the remaining 40% from 2^nd supplier, the split can be mentioned for the part by creating 2 separate rows in the part sourcing tab.

• Supply Chain Mapping Required

All the parts which required to be pre-populated in the Supply Chain Visibility (SCV) assessment required to be marked as “Yes” in this column. If the parts are not selected before the SCV assessment launch the parts may not populate in the assessment for part to site & multi-tier mapping.

• Annual Spend on Supplier Part

Annual spend amount for every part can be mentioned in this column for easier visibility in the portal. Spend amount is calculated at a part, partner & category level in the system and the spend amount can be visible in the respective dashboards.

• BOM (Tab-3)

       Bill of Material can be defined in this respective tab, customer can mention the product & the respective material details to tie the customer parts (CPN) & products in this tab. Bill of material details defines the connection between the products and the parts linked to it. The details loaded in this tab are visualized at the part & product level in the respective dashboards. 

• Product (Tab-4)

       Product tab can be used to include some critical components and data set about the product such as revenue, inventory along with product and organizational hierarchy up to 6 levels. 

• Product Hierarchy Level 1 to 6 (column A- F)

       If customers plan to roll out Resilinc program at an organizational level which includes multiple companies, business units or divisions within the same parent organization, then these columns can be utilized to define company hierarchy by products belonging to every company & business unit which can allow users to filter data by their respective business area.

       Below is the default CDIF column and product hierarchy mapping as it is visible in the portal.

      Each CDIF column is assigned a default terminology which is visible in the Resilinc portal, especially in the dashboard filters for “Product Family” as shown below.

     Customers do have the option to update / change the default system terminologies for all the Product Hierarchy column headers. It can be done in the Data Load settings.

• Revenue Q1 – Q4 and FG Inventory (weeks)

Revenue numbers can be loaded in the Resilinc portal at product level for each financial quarter, these numbers are used in calculating “Revenue at Risk” which allows customers to quantify risk associated with all the supply chain levels i.e., partner, site, parts, product, categories etc. and understand which element is critical to their supply chain. Revenue at risk can be visible for every warroom event as well as on most of the reports and dashboards.

Finished Goods Inventory values can be mentioned in weeks between 1-52, finished goods inventory is considered in the final revenue at risk calculation.

Product revenue details can be confidential for the organization, or it may be tedious to get the revenue details maintained on distant system, in such case customers can use indicative revenue numbers in the CDIF which will generate the revenue at risk. Indicative revenue and identifications can be internally defined by the risk management team.

• Site List (Tab-6)

In this tab customers can list all the supplier locations that they wish to monitor for any disruptive events. Customers can load their own sites or plant location for EventWatch monitoring. Customers can include information such as site/ plant addresses, alternative sites, site recovery time, emergency contact for every site etc. Below are few important data points that customers can consider adding in the Site List tab.

• Site Number

Site number can be a unique identifier for site or plant locations. Site numbers in the CDIF needs to be unique for every site, one site number cannot be assigned to multiple sites. Similarly, one site cannot be assigned to multiple suppliers. Site names are visible in the site dashboards & reports, more importantly using the site number customers can create multiple site level connections in different CDIF tabs such as part-site mapping, product-site mapping & site to site mapping.

If customers use any site or plant ids in their internal systems, they can load the same ID’s in Resilinc system. If the site numbers are unavailable, customers can use random sequential numbers such as 1,2,3,4…

• Site Address Details (column C to H)

Accurate site address is mandatory to create geocoding for every site that customers want to monitor in EventWatch. Site address 1, City, State/ Province & Country are mandatory address components which need to be mentioned in the respective columns. In some cases, city & state name can be common, so customers can mention same name or values in both the columns. Also, if one of these values are unavailable in the customer database, as an alternative customers can use any one of the available values, i.e., City or State, in both columns to ingest the site address and start monitoring the site. It is recommended to update the addresses as required to ensure accurate geocoding of the site location.

Country names column has pre-loaded country names based on ISO standards, it is recommended to use the same, though it is not mandatory. If the system finds non-standardized country names in the CDIF when it’s loaded the user loading the CDIF receives an email notification for the country names which requires correction.

• Activity & Recovery Time

Site Activity is a pre-defined field with standard list of activities that customers can select from and assign it to the site. One site can be assigned multiple activities, the activities can be visualized in relevant reports & dashboards in the Resilinc portal. Site activity details are available in the WarRoom which can allow users to assess the potential impact to supply chain operations based on the activities and take the appropriate next steps.

Site activity & recovery time are interlinked columns, recovery time is mandatory if site activity is mentioned and vice e versa. The acceptable recovery time value can be between 1-52 weeks. Based on the site recovery time, the system calculates recovery risk score for the site. Recovery time is considered as maximum time for a site to resume 100% of current volumes, should the site be impacted by a major disruption. Customers can assume a worst-case scenario such as some equipment / tooling damage, labor needs to be moved, raw material / component pipeline needs to be replenished etc. Recovery time can be an indicator for sites preparedness to handle disruption effectively and can be considered as critical risk factor.

• Alternate Site Number & Alternate Site Bring Up Time

Alternate site is the location that can perform similar operations / activities as the corresponding primary site listed. Customers need to mention the site number from list of all the available sites. The alternate site needs to belong to the same supplier as the primary site. Alternate Site Number & Alternate Site Bring Up Time are interlinked columns, alternate site bring up time is mandatory if alternate site number is mentioned and vice e versa.

Alternate sites bring up time is the time in weeks, required for the alternate sites to get fully operations if the primary site is impacted and the supplier had to move operations from the primary site listed to the alternate site. Both the details can be critical during a disruptive situation, alternate site & the bring up time is visible in the WarRoom which the risk teams can refer to while assessing an impact. Similarly, a supplier with an alternate site location can be considered lower risk as alternate site ensures business continuity even in case of disruption.

• Site DUNS number

In addition to the Site Numbers, Site DUNS can also be loaded as a site identifier. DUNS numbers are visible in multiple reports, dashboards as well as in WarRoom details page.

• Site Emergency Contact Details (Column P to R)

A dedicated supplier contact can be assigned & loaded for every site. Any contact listed in these fields are assigned a specific role (crisis manager role) by the Resilin system owing which the contacts can receive WarRoom impact confirmation requests from the customer. Site emergency contact Site emergency contact name & email, i.e., columns P & Q are interlinked columns, if either of these values provided the remaining field will be mandatory.

CDIF tabs 1 through 6 allow customers to list all the details about their suppliers, parts, products, supplier sites etc. However, the next few tabs of the CDIF file allow customers to form connections between parts, products and sites which are already provided in the previous tabs from 1 through 6.

• Product- site map (Tab-7)

The tab allows linking products to the respective manufacturing sites. Customers can add the product/s which are listed in the Products tab and map each product with the respective site where the final product is manufactured. The product-site mapping helps customer understand exact product level impact in a Warroom whenever a site is potentially disrupted.

• Product Name

List all the products which are required to be mapped to the respective sites. Customers need to ensure all the products listed in the product-site map tab are also mentioned in the product tab.

• Site Number & Alt Site Qualified? Y/N (Column C & B)

Product mentioned in column A can be mapped with sites using the Site numbers. The site number needs to be one of the site numbers which are listed in the Site List tab of the CDIF.

If an alternate site is qualified for the primary site and mentioned on site list tab, then the respective column can be marked as “Y” (Yes). This helps users identify products which are mapped to sites which are supported with a qualified alternate site.

• Activity & Recovery Time

Activity and Recovery time for the site are mandatory for mapping as the information can be critical in assessing risk associated with the site based on factors such as products mapped to the site, activities & how long does it take for the site to recover from events. 

• Part- site map (Tab-8)

This tab allows linking manufacturer’s part or material numbers to the respective manufacturing sites. Customers can add the partner part/s (PPN) which are listed in the part sourcing tab and map the required parts with the respective site/s. Customers can either create part-site mapping for all the parts or subset of parts, depending upon the information available.

• Part-site mapping can be critical to enhance supplier network visibility & understand the exact region or country of origin for the parts or material.
• Such visibility allows customers to proactively discover, assess and quantify any risk associated with supplier’s site location, also understand overall supply chain dependency on a specific country or region.
• Due to part-site mapping, during an impact situation, customer can easily identify the list of potentially impacted parts as it is mapped to the sites in the impacted region which can allow the risk teams to work on mitigation plan.

• Supplier Name & Supplier Part #

Customers can only use Supplier part # (PPN) to map it to the respective supplier sites, customer part# (CPN), if different than the Supplier part# (PPN), cannot be used for mapping. Both Supplier Name & Supplier Part # which are mentioned on the Part-site map tab must be listed on the part sourcing tab (Tab-2).

•  Site Number, Activity & Recovery Time

Site number, activity and recovery time are mandatory fields on this tab. Customers can use the same information, if already provided on Site List tab (Tab-6). Appropriate site numbers, as mentioned in the Site list tab (Tab-6), needs to be mentioned next to every Supplier part# (PPN) which maps the part to the mentioned site and completes part-site map. Supplier part number & site number should belong to the same partner/ supplier. A supplier part belonging to one supplier cannot be mapped to different supplier. 

In case of a Warroom, users can identify impacted sites and parts by activities performed at the site to assess the operational impact, also gauge maximum possible delay with the help of recovery time.

Alternate site & alternate site bring up time if available and provided on Site list tab (Tab-6) it can be mentioned in this tab as well. Alternate site number, if listed, needs to belong to the primary supplier.

• Site to site mapping (Tab-9)

Using this tab customer can define the flow of material or flow of Supplier part # between 2 site locations. Customer can create mapping to track the flow of material / parts right from the place of origin to its destination.

In the “From Site Number” field one can list the site number from where the material or Supplier part is shipped and the “To Site Number” field can be used to list the site numbers where the material is shipped. Both, from site & to site numbers should be listed in the Site List tab (Tab-6).

The site information along with Supplier part # (PPN) details create flow of material between different site locations & shows the movement of parts between sites. In case of an unforeseen impact to either of the site locations (i.e., From & To site), with the help of the readily available data customers can take appropriate steps on further part movement or the information can be critical in understanding which location may have delayed shipments or may have a possible supply shortage of certain parts since there is an impact to shipped from site. 

Customers can create multiple row items for every Supplier part#, e.g., PPN 1 moves between different site location such as Manufacturing > Assembly > Warehouse > Distribution which can be defined the site-to-site mapping tab as shown below,

The site-to-site mapping data can be visualized and exported using reports & dashboard capability in the Resilinc portal. An event specific material flow / site to site data is visible in every Warroom for the sites impacted due to the mentioned event. Along with material flow grid, a detailed material flow report can also be exported from the Warroom.

Note: below mentioned CDIF tabs can be neglected as these tabs are under development.

• Executional Details (Tab 5)