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06/15/2012 12:06 PM
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It is necessary production leveling in a make to order environment? I have some doubts if this tool lean can operate in this environment. I think the leveling of production would be more appropriate for production with more uncertainty in demand. I hope comments. Thanks
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06/18/2012 10:50 AM
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Robert, can you give us a bit more information about the environment you are in
and what your challenges are? (where and why you don't think it will work)
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06/18/2012 10:50 AM
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Roberto,
With production leveling, different products are produced on a single production line in a cycle over short time intervals. The cycle of production runs is repeated to produce products at uniform rate over cycles. This does not easily apply to make-to-order (MTO) systems where jobs have different routings and stringent due dates.
If delivery of high variety jobs by specific due dates without advance production is very important for customers in an MTO system, then production leveling is ineffective.
Computer-aided job shop scheduling is one of the viable options for controlling and managing MTO production. It can handle all the complexity arising out of high known variation among jobs, stringent due dates and make-to-order rule.
Prasad
www.optisol.biz
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06/21/2012 03:25 PM
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MTO environment require a highly skilled, highly flexible workforce in order to allocate resources to the strongest pull at any given time. Highly reliable machinery with quick changeovers as well as workcells that are easilyconfigured to the material flow increase value added activities. MTO environments require high level visual controls providing "real time" information for quick responce.
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06/22/2012 10:30 AM
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A great book to read that is specifically targeted at a MTO evnironment would be "Made to Order Lean" by Greg Lane. But first I would recommend reading "Creating Mixed Model Value Streams" by Kevin Duggan. This book is refered to a lot in MTO Lean as it walks you through the foundational concepts needed for MTO.
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06/22/2012 10:30 AM
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Paul,
I agree that MTO environment requires efficient, multi-skilled workforce to handle high variety production and stringent job due dates. But, the seemingly rational, real-time allocation of such workers to various operations on shop floor without properly understanding "the ripple effect over time" may not support the best production control for MTO units. The MTO units can take full advantage of multi-functional machines and multi-skilled workers with the help of intelligent production scheduling which is currently absent in many units.
A mechanism that not only shows the current status of workload through visual aids but also provides reliable prediction of workflow and moving bottlenecks can suggest at any time a quick and appropriate response along with a prediction of the impact of the response. In many MTO units, by visual management as suggested in Lean, we make quick and seemingly rational response in real time without much idea of the ripple effect of the response on future workflow. We tend to believe that the responses which look rational in real time are going to provide the best production control in MTO units. Intelligent, model-based, job shop scheduling software can suggest quick response along with the prediction of ripple effect. Production control cannot be efficient in MTO units (with diverse job routings and specific job due dates) without meaningful prediction and what-if analysis of workflow. Lean offers neither workflow prediction nor what-if analysis for MTO units in general.
Prasad
Optisol
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