As supply chains grow increasingly complex, it can feel impossible to understand how to assess and optimize inventory from end to end. Supply chain leaders, already tasked with the daily responsibilities of firefighting through shortages and ballooning inventory, also have compounded responsibilities to guarantee sustainable on-time delivery over time.
However, inventory data collection is often tedious and manual, and it can take weeks, if not months, to complete. And as soon as it’s analyzed, the inventory data may already be out of date. And while ERPs can hold all of that inventory data, they require expensive, manual, and time-intensive maintenance to keep up to date. Without a simple, structured process for routine inventory data updates, it’s even harder to see and act on opportunities for improvement in the factory.
That’s why lean manufacturers introduced the Plan for Every Part (PFEP). As your team develops inventory optimization goals to reduce shortages, improve working capital, and ultimately maximize production throughput, your PFEP can help you prioritize opportunities that can create the biggest impact in end-to-end inventory management. Instead of churning through noise to look for exceptions, your team can instead efficiently manage the outliers that most affect your supply chain.
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Supply chain managers are constantly hampered by distractions. You get stuck monitoring on-time deliveries, vendor-managed inventory (VMI), and impending (or existing!) shortages. Ever feel frustrated by the challenge of how to deal with material shortages?