Page 347 - Orlicky's Material Requirements Planning

326 PART 3 Managing with the MRP System

Material and process traceability is also a very common requirement in this type of
environment. This means that the end product needs to track the lot number of the mate-
rials used and the operator who worked on the units to an end-item batch or serial num-
ber. High-volume, high-variety repetitive production has one foot in the discrete work
order world and the other in the rate-based world. Managing the material and capacity
planning can be a real challenge. The same repetitive tools can be used for a final assem-
bly operation, where many different configurations of parts are running down the same
line. MRP can be linked into the execution on the shop floor to determine the material
configuration and the day required. Normally, the smallest planning time bucket for
MRP is a single day. A kanban process still can authorize replenishment to the minute
supported by MRP scheduling the configuration of the parts to the day.
Some industries require that the component parts come to the line in a specific
sequence, and the response time from the supplier is longer than is manageable using a
simple kanban. Functionality tying less than daily-planning buckets to a serial number is
rarely found in ERP. In this environment, it is very common that line sequencing of the
desired models also must be netted through to the planned purchase order so that the
supplier can sequence the incoming materials to the needs of the line. This process is
known as seiban. The literal translation of seiban comes from three Japanese words that
have been shortened into one term. Seizou is production. Bango is number. Kan Ri is man-
agement. Therefore, seiban can be translated to be “management by lot number.” The
kanji characters for this term are shown in Figure 19-6.
This type of line sequencing is found commonly in automotive and truck assembly.
Replenishments from suppliers are received multiple times each day, and having the
right part on the truck in the right order is essential for overall productivity of the assem-
bly line.

CONFIGURATORS

Repetitive manufacturing frequently uses a configurator tool. Configurators are software
systems that create, maintain, and use product models that allow complete definition of
all possible product options and variations with a minimum of entries. Things to ask
about configurators in a repetitive environment include

FIGURE 19-6

Kanji characters
for seiban.
(Courtesy of
Toshiyuki Okai.)