Synchronizing material to capacity shrinks inventory levels…

There is good news and bad news about MRP: The good news is…it has been around for a long time.  The bad news is…it has been around for a long time.  Since the introduction of the BOMP (bill of material processor) concepts by IBM in the 1960’s and the educational documentation offered by Oliver White and APICS, thereafter, the concept of material planning based on fixed lead times from a Bill Of Material (BOM) is time tested but worn out.  The need to shrink costs to stay competitive requires rethinking of a better mouse trap.

Manufacturing companies now have the chance to add Express Material Scheduling which not only respects the material consideration of old MRP but time phases them with the capacity and resource availability of the production floor.  With EMS, planners no longer have to spend time estimating production capability, resource availability and chasing predecessor and successor jobs based on the BOM.  It can be accomplished in seconds with the newest (second generation) in Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) systems.

Having integrated a number of these products and learned the hard way their limitations, we now know that software tools released into the market in the past several years can truly turn the “planner” into a one person LEAN machine.  By visualizing and optimizing the production and capacity plans in one or several factories at a time (supply chain), these tools are formative, productive, effective and easy to install.