A common theme in today’s manufacturing world is Just in Time or JIT. Once a new buzzword it has become so commonplace that there is no term, it is often just expected. The main reason for this is that major manufactures carry so little inventory that new factories often have almost no warehouse space at all. Inventory is expected to show up on time as it’s needed and goes from the back of a truck right to the production floor. This is often backed up by financial penalties for being late. With thin margins, there is little room for error. How does one manage in such and arena? Enter manufacturing software or ERP software.
With JIT schedules, timing is everything and ERP software helps by enabling control over raw material buys, production schedules, shipping schedules. ERP systems of customers can also take advantage of EDI or electronic data interchange, allowing vendors access to production planning.
In an ERP system, customer service sees production planning schedules, and as needed receives a purchase order to produce material. The Customer service agent will enter the order into the ERP system and the ERP system will generate a due date based on requirements and available manufacturing time. If the due date does not match customer requirements the company has several options; the company can change the requirements in the ERP system for other jobs, rescheduling the job on time, contact sources to outsource to alleviate the conflict, or at last resort, contact the customer with a proposed revised date. With enough lead time the customer may often shift the due date.
Next in line, purchasing will then schedule material in to match the customer due date. It is critical that material be on time in order to produce on time. ERP systems facilitate this because when the order is entered, purchasing already has the information at hand. In the old paper system, an order might be missed because a paper order was misplaced or did not get to the purchasing department. A missing order with JIT could spell disaster.
After purchasing comes the actual production. With the order automatically scheduled in, the job is well on its way. If there is a production delay of a previous job, the ERP system will flag the job and alert production of a pending conflict. Just as with the original schedule, ERP systems allow manufacturing time to make adjustments, the earlier the better.
As production finishes, the material goes to packaging and shipping. Doing its job, the ERP software assures that the proper packaging was ordered on time and is available as needed. From start to finish ERP helps assure there are no gaps in the system and the JIT order is ready for shipment on time.
Some may say the JIT is all about on time production, but in reality JIT is all about information. What’s good for manufacturing is that ERP software is all about information.
Author Resource:
Samuel Daggle writes articles for the manufacturing and construction industries that focus on providing advice about selecting manufacturing software. To learn more or to read reviews of specific software packages, visit http://www.ctsguides.com/manufacturing.asp
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