QAD Lean Manufacturing Solution: Lean MFG/PRO

In the relentless pursuit of profitability and competitiveness, more and more companies are turning to lean manufacturing systems and strategies to reduce or eliminate waste in their production processes. Once confined to the automotive industry, lean principles are becoming standard operating procedure in many industries today. Top manufacturing organizations know the value of staying trim and focusing on the lean fundamentals:  eliminating waste, simplifying processes and continuously improving. By pursuing lean strategies—optimizing inventory and streamlining manufacturing processes—they have a  proven track record of operational and strategic success, which ultimately translates into increased value to the end customer.

"It [QAD] has established itself as a thought leader for the concept of Lean Enterprise by developing applications to support lean production and lean supply chain environments." - AMR Research, August 23, 2003

QAD has solutions that enable lean strategies.
QAD Enterprise applications support lean planning and execution of your operations from vendor managed inventory to pulling parts using Kanban signals at the pace of actual demand. Add advanced inventory management, flow scheduling, supply scheduling and QAD applications give you all the support you need to further your journey on the path to becoming a Lean Manufacturing enterprise.

The Lean Supply Chain
The convergence of QAD's solution and the fruition of industry interoperability efforts aimed at significantly reducing the time it takes to communicate information within supply chains is allowing companies to accelerate exchanges with their trading partners.  Instead of sending information back and forth in the form of purchase orders or schedules, you and your suppliers can access inventory balances and future demands through a secure portal. Suppliers can replenish requirements as required and customers can check to see that their demands are being fulfilled. This enables suppliers to reduce waste by focusing on actual customer pull of their products rather than forecasted estimates.

Achieving Lean Performance
The QAD Lean Manufacturing solution, Lean MFG/PRO, allows manufacturers to take advantage of more efficient techniques for streamlining manufacturing processes and reducing waste in their operations and supply chain. This complete, integrated lean manufacturing system provides the tools to assess, plan, execute and measure the progress of a company's lean transformation. Because no single method is right for all manufacturing processes and material types, QAD's flexible solution provides a full range of options for efficient management of a lean enterprise. The core components of this system include:

Demand Leveling
Lean MFG/PRO enables both lean planning and execution processes. Efficient response to fluctuating customer demand requires real-time analysis and the monitoring of lean parameters based on actual demand, future requirements and the state of readiness of the extended supply chain. Lean MFG/PRO synchronizes manufacturing processes with the extended supply chain and responds to changes in demand and supply, allowing manufacturers in real-time to monitor customer demand and adjust their operations when changes occur.

Lean MFG/PRO sends Kanban signals within the plant or to suppliers via EDI or through the Internet to downstream operations. Kanban signals and Internet visualization facilitate lean by making accurate inventory replenishment information immediately visible, thereby reducing information lead-time and eliminating waste in the flow of material from suppliers to customers. Demand leveling tools built into Lean MFG/PRO  include:

• Kanban or Pull Signals, which allow inventory shipments to be dynamically optimized to the rhythm of customer demand.
  
  
• Every-Part-Every Interval (EPE I) calculations for lean lot sizing.
  
  
• Takt Time Calculations used to synchronize the rate of production with the rate of sales (customer demand).
  
  
• Supermarket (buffer) Performance Management for optimizing a pull-based replenishment system.
  
  
• Safety Stock Calculations to minimize stock on hand can be regulated based on average demand estimates, desired service  level or peak demand during a user-specified period.
  
  
• Mix Analysis Workbench provides tools for calculating daily production volume, determining the optimal mix of various inputs, aiding in Supermarket evaluation and updating the master production schedule.
  
  
• Flow Scheduling provides the ability to generate time-phased sequence statements of production requirement for production lines in a flow manufacturing environment.

Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI)
Instead of sending Kanban signals to your suppliers, you can give them responsibility for and authorization to replenish goods. QAD's vendor-managed inventory capabilities and Web-based portal technology make it is easier to collaborate with your suppliers. Rather than send information back and forth, customers and suppliers can access inventory balances and future demands through a convenient portal and the supplier can replenish stocks as required. When the customer gives the supplier access to more real time information, the supplier can reduce administrative costs and possibly inventory levels.

Consignment Inventory
QAD's consignment functionality allows inventory ownership to be recognized at the point of consumption with suppliers or customers. This makes processing less costly because inventory is received from suppliers as consigned goods, without actual transfer of title. The supplier maintains the consigned goods as finished goods inventory until a notice is generated that the inventory has been used. When a customer does not take title to material until it is actually used in manufacturing, raw material and purchased parts inventories are, in effect, eliminated. As a result, inventory turns increase and the use of capital assets is maximized.

Supplier Visualization (SV)
Supplier Visualization facilitates vendor-managed inventory (VMI), a method through which the supplier is responsible for maintaining agreed upon inventory levels, by sending minimum/maximum inventory data via the Web. SV also facilitates partner connectivity by allowing suppliers to access inventory information, which is key to establishing a true pull-based manufacturing system. Suppliers are able to track inventory from the customer's Web site in near real-time and can be automatically alerted by a page or e-mail when inventory drops or rises beyond agreed upon levels. When SV is used in conjunction with Consignment Inventory, raw materials and purchased parts inventories are, in effect, eliminated.

Inventory Replenishment
Integrated with system components of demand leveling, Lean MFG/PRO provide manufacturers with fast, easy, direct access to effectively manage their inventories. All methods of replenishment are supported including discrete purchase orders, schedules, VMI, Kanban and JIT sequencing. Customer forecasts flow directly into production planning. Inventory alerts can be sent via shipping schedule, broadcast, kanban or an inventory minimum/maximum signal. Shipping instructions can be received via traditional EDI, XML or through a Web browser via B2B ecommerce.   These tools enable lean enterprises to minimize inventory carrying costs and speed the flow of information across their extended supply chain.

QAD Lean Implementation Service Package
Our consultants are industry, product and technology experts who help you move from planning to deployment with a set of best practices, repeatable processes and resources that go beyond the expected.  QAD consultants are thoroughly trained and experienced in QAD applications. Overlay this skills set with an in depth understanding of vertical markets we serve and you are assured smooth project implementation, effective knowledge transfer and rapid ROI.

QAD's Lean-specific Implementation Service Package is based on our Total Implementation Framework, a proven methodology for deploying complex enterprise systems in a variety of operating environments. The steps toward deployment include:

Lean Concepts, Workshop & Discovery – Assess where the customer is in their lean transformation and how the capabilities of Lean MFG/PRO will enable the company to best meet their business objectives. Here we will educate the client on best practices in lean manufacturing per their industry, conduct a full evaluation of the customer's current ERP operating environment and identify areas of continuous improvement.

Lean Planning – With a solid understanding of the customer's business requirements, we will begin avalue stream modeling of their business operations and derive Value Stream Maps. At this stage, QAD assists the client in constructing the current and future operational states that form the basis of lean deployment plan.

Lean Pilot Project Definition – Having the future lean state defined, we will compose a lean deployment plan, a phased approached to implementing Lean MFG/PRO via a pilot project that will ensure success early on and provide a model for further stages of deployment.  All key participants in the pilot will be trained on our solution and serve as internal experts in the technology/process as the solution is rolled out across the enterprise.

Lean Test Simulation, Pilot Project – A test environment is created to model the working environment of the pilot project; Lean MFG/PRO is installed, the system configured and control/production data loaded. Using the test environment, users will conduct simulations and assess the results.

Lean MFG/PRO Deployment – After the test simulations are completed and approved, the physical implementation, testing and approval will take place. This will lead to the fully deployed instance of Lean MFG/PRO in the customer production environment.