ASR Survey Text Results September 2008

We asked, “Can you tell us briefly why ASR interests you?”

The following have been edited only to remove company names and any data that would identify a person or company.

• We’re currently leaning up our supply chain process, and looking for a better solution in terms of synchronizing the demand and supply chain.
• Current safety stock methods create large dead stocks when production changes. We keep large safety stocks which allow us to continue to meet our schedules.
• Interested in some lean initiatives and how it relates to indented bills of materials. Not a believer that “flattening” bills of materials is the solution.
• It sounds like an innovative approach to managing inventories. I’m open to learning about anything that can help me improve my supply chain.
• Leaner inventory requirements while still maintaining flexible production schedules with long material leadtimes.
• Looking for ways to improve Supplier Pulls
• Nothing else has worked yet!
• Looking to solve issues with service, inventory in complex ERP implementation
• Major focus on syncronization
• Our company is migrating toward lean, but the database that was introduced hasn’t reduced inventories, it has in fact increased them which leads me to believe that the stocking threshholds are not all appropriate. i am searching for a way to marry MRP & Lean.
• Looks like an possible alternative to complez systems coordination
• Supporting Lean processes and implementations with existing ERP has posed conflicts.
• To enable LEAN in a huge global consumer goods manufacturing and distribution environment.
• To gain better control in inventories and reduce leadtime in a situation where RM lead times and availability are extremely variable and order mix is 50% MTO and 50% MTS. Industry type is food processing and distribution.
• Looking for ways to implement additional pull items with Suppliers for longer LT items with less volume.
• Lean and MRP fight each other, but we are directed to keep trying to find “better” ways to do things.
• Potential for inventory reduction and improved performance
• Concept of Push-Pull strategy integrated
• A different way to manage something
• To address classic planning shortcomings
• Vendor in space. Offering solution for variability and complexity leveraging LEAN and Six Sigma principles.
• We are using a work around the $18 M software system to drive some of our Scheduling and Capacity Analysis tools.
• We have outsourced all manufacturing and only integrate, program, and test. Our BOM’s are flattened out to {a named} level we sell and the purchased parts we source internationally. Our products are almost all configured and we have converted the {named} level to MTO. We have been under huge pressure from corporate to lower inventories. Our demand variability is off the charts. Spikes all over the place. And forecasting accuracy is in the dumper. We are working with CM’s to provide assemblies JIT and they are always having difficulty keeping the VMI bins full. I think ASR might benefit us and our CM’s.
• Always had an interest in TOC and its application to lean
• Always looking for improvement opportuniaties
• As a CSCP instructor and improvement specialist, I’m looking for better insights to explain / teach simple-to-understand methods and thought processes for lean supply chain.
• Brief Read
• challenge to stay current
• Curious about why it is better.
• For all of the above sources I checked of varability and volatility in our manufacturing environment
• I attended the APICS conference and heard Carol Ptak talk about it but I didn’t fully understand it.
• I have a lot of concern of your approach
• I have worked out some effective strategies for reconciling Lean with MRPII and am always interested in further improvement.
• I received an invitation to attend tomorrow a WEBINAR via APICS
• I used to work at [Name removed} where we did TOC and I was the lead person from {Department}
• Inventory Reductions
• It appears to be a different take on an the management process.
• It's a potential alternative to doing the things that we do today better.
• lean implementation
• Have to much slow moving, low volume material
• more flexibilty
• Seems like it could pull together the current issues.
• Sounds of interest
• Supply chain visibility and velocity
• There has to be a better way.
• Vendor in [industry]. Offering solution for variability and complexity leveraging LEAN and Six Sigma principles.
• Responses represent those of our clients.
• very interesting
• We have {software named} modules linked into our systems. ASR seems similar to MPS logic we built when we were trying to use the {software name} module. Since those implementations, we are moving more toward lean. I’m trying to determine what we need if our business doubles.
• We sell [product types listed], in a mixed market MTO (for export orders) and MTS for national customers. We have the usual set of problems with MTS due to the wild and ever-increasing variety of products. Re-fill policies of final product warehouse are definitely inadequate (for all the known problems) and, in addition, interfere with the nimbleness required to serve special orders.
• We struggle dealing with material constraints.
• We’re in a repetitive manufacturing business, so we need to make the production schedule as level loaded as possible, but of course it would be difficult if suddenly we have stockout, spikes, etc. I would like to know as well how does ASR work with multi-level backflush in the repetitive manufacturing environment?
• What interests me is how to increase supply chain agility in a complicated supply chain where it takes 50 days for the demand signal to make its way through the supply chain, end to end, and 125 days in material leadtime. If you can’t change your supply chain design or control your demand variability, how do you enable your supply chain to be nimble, fast, and flexible.