Despite the fact that most organizations use powerful software programs that integrate conventional, well-proven, three-level Supply Chain planning methods – Manufacturing and Sales Plan (MSP), Master Production schedule (MPS) and scheduling – EURODECISION has recently met several production managers faced with operational issues.
Why do production managers find capacity planning so baffling?
A few of our clients have contacted us about production issues that standard tools solutions fail to address (MSP is too macro because it processes product families, while insufficient visibility is offered by weekly production plans):
- My demand is season-driven and I have limited production capacities. How can I anticipate production and keep stocks under control on the SKU dashboard?
- My production capacity has reached its limits and I can’t produce everything. How should I choose which items to manufacture while optimizing my margins?
- How can I be very responsive in production when exceptional events crop up (export orders, promotions, etc.) that will monopolize production resources for several weeks, without jeopardizing the standard orders?
- My production capacities are temporarily reduced, how can I optimize the stockout penalties of certain items in my planning?
What kind of expertise can EURODECISION’s consultants provide?
Our models are produced to the SKU grid and the planning horizon can be up to 52 weeks while making allowance for certain operational constraints such as:
- maximum number of SKUs to produce per day
- target stock level over the coming days
- margin per SKU geared to the batch sizes
- production capacity per line and day/hour, etc.
What kind of expertise do EURODECISION consultants provide?
Our experts will be in a position to identify and gage the issues of implementing our Capacity Planning model once they have a planning/forecasting process audit followed by tests on real data sets.
What added value does the Capacity Planning tool provide?
Demand can be better satisfied while optimizing margins, making allowance for a maximum number of production constraints. With the help of a quantitative Capacity Planning optimization model, production managers can rapidly test several scenarios and take better informed decisions.
*SKU: Stock Keeping Unit: unit used in stock management. It designates a sufficiently specific elementary code to be used for accurate management of inventory volumes
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