Not too long ago I spoke with a couple of planners at a manufacturing company. With a certain despair they confided that the planning they created had to be changed continuously. It was certainly no exception that the planning was changed at least 50 times between creation and execution. Even next day’s planning was subject to frequent changes.
I’ve recently read “The Rosie Project” by Graeme Simsion. A hilarious novel that currently can be found in large piles in every bookstore. The leading character is a genetics professor, named Don Tillman, who researches Asperger’s syndrome and shows, without being aware of this fact, quite many symptoms of this syndrome himself. Without...
Driven by big and global developments and specifically in supply chain management, continuous learning should be seen as a continuous process. Since each individual and organisation is unique, developing and implementing effective learning programs is challenging. Supply Chain Movement and consultancy Involvation have therefore developed a mind...
Competition is more global and fiercer than ever. Not many companies are able to dominate the market and hence for most companies cost price is a ‘qualifier’. If your product is too expensive, you’re out. Efficiency is a necessity. On the other hand the market requires more and more service. Product ranges are widened, product life cycles are...
Decrease safety stocks with 25% with a decrease in service level. That sounds like a good deal! And it is quite easy to establish by differentiating service level targets. By aiming for high service levels of inexpensive fast movers and a lower service level of expensive slow movers, a good service level can be obtained on average against...
The life cycle of items is getting shorter and shorter. Many items nowadays exist for only one year or sometimes only one season. Just think of items in the apparel industry or consumer electronics. Managing these short life cycle items is complicated. If these items are purchased in Asia, only one purchasing decision can be made, often long...
Most production companies acknowledge the importance of batch sizes. They realize that batch sizes directly contribute to inventory levels, costs, working capital and even capacity. A one-size-fits-all solution, for instance to give every item a batch size of a month, is without a doubt not optimal. There is room for optimization. There are two...