Manufacturing Planning Evolved.
Pre-Solution Process
Two planners used five separate reports several times per day to examine component inventory, component purchase orders and receipts, product orders, finished product inventory and safety stock requirements. Relevant data was manually consolidated in a complex excel spreadsheet.
Issues
Most of the reports ran slowly and some were only available once per day. As a result, much of the data was out-of-synch with other data points. Inventory data might have been more recent than warehouse receipts; order information might not reflect product manufactured during the first shift. Furthermore, because of extensive component overlap, it was difficult to evaluate the impact of the plan. Filling one order might make it impossible to fill several others. Finally, the process of consolidating and making sense of all the data available was manual, labor intensive and required detailed knowledge of several operational systems. On many days, planning for a shift only ended when the shift was over.
The Quantified Solution
Quantified Mechanix consolidated data from all of the relevant operational systems into an integrated manufacturing data mart that was automatically managed and refreshed frequently throughout the day. We structured the data to reflect the way the cell planners managed manufacturing inputs such as inventory, orders, high priority products and key customers. Quantified Mechanix created a real-time feedback loop so planners could produce a rough plan and validate it against component inventory. Now, linked drill-through reports provide pathways for investigating inventory and order issues before they pose a problem.
The Longview . . .
The answer to the question “What needs to be made?” is now just a click away. As a result, the senior planner, who could not leave his planning duties until his replacement was self-sufficient, is now managing the product line. Overtime is a thing of the past for the planner that took over, and she plans both shifts. What's more, because the relevant data is integrated and aligned with management goals and objectives, the manager can start thinking about what she should build.