Manufacturing Isn’t Linear; Stop Planning That Way

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

In the last couple of years, exacerbated by the chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic, the uncomfortable reality is that many manufacturers are not well prepared to properly deal with and respond to last minute changes in the supply chain, worker availability, or major swings in customer demand. Many of you likely have a painful story or two about scrambling to address unexpected changes in the production plan and schedule over the last few years.

With the pandemic mostly in the rearview mirror, many organizations today are investing in solutions that will better equip them to handle any major disruption using tools that will provide both enhanced intelligence and agility. We can’t control the future, nor any surprise disruptions to the global marketplace or supply chain, but we can look at our digital transformation strategy, and more specifically, digital visibility tools that help us better plan production.

Adapting to Last Minute Changes

Given the current challenges related to component allocation and extended supply-chain lead times, manufacturers today are regularly being forced to change production plans due to last minute changes in material availability. It’s the sad truth that critical components often don’t arrive on the required date for production, and planners are left scrambling to figure out how to re-align the production flow. Planners need to be equipped with a tool that appropriately evaluates the reality of materials so production orders can be easily and efficiently re-scheduled if a critical component doesn’t show up when originally scheduled.

In many of these no-show material cases, planners need the flexibility to assess production options even without all required components, perhaps cutting the job in half based on available material and running that order through to the testing process, then holding those units at mechanical assembly until the rest of the order is ready to be built when the remaining material is in-house. The ability to identify and address risks beforehand ensures manufacturers can maintain continuity in operations and minimize the impact of no-show components.

Another complication many electronics manufacturers deal with regularly is when a top customer requests an urgent and hot order. These last-minute orders usually wreak havoc on production when they’re plopped in unexpectedly. Planners need visibility on how to effectively squeeze in an urgent order and clearly evaluate available capacity and downstream effects on production. Simultaneously balancing multiple delivery requirements can be nightmarish, so the ability to easily visualize and choose the least painful option—for example, weighting profit margins more heavily with minimal impact to the overall production plan—is of the utmost importance in these hot order situations.

To read this entire article, which appeared in the August 2023 issue of SMT007 Magazine, click here.