HarrisData Kanban and Manufacturing Resource Planning Systems
The ability to replenish needed raw materials and parts is critical to the manufacturing process. Replenishment of the proper amounts at the exact time is equally important to control costs and eliminate waste. Typically the replenishment systems employed are Manufacturing Resource Planning II systems and manual Kanban. The costs of excess inventory and over-runs can be significant, but it is pointless to reduce the manufacturing process to minutes if scheduling a build takes days, or suppliers take weeks to provide materials. The combination of MRPII and manual Kanban into an automated system can provide significant manufacturing power to a company and ease many of the pains associated with the procurement of materials and inventory.
Kanban is a method of streamlining the procurement of raw materials and tying the production replenishment to discrete events. Rather than relying on a derived or calculated trigger point (as with MRP/DRP, Min/Max logic), a Kanban system automates the release of shop orders and schedules materials deliveries, tying them to physical events such as emptying a tub of parts, or cutting open a last box. Kanban process is generally a visual system, but virtual Kanban can be utilized to facilitate remote processing or integration of the supply chain.
HarrisData has facilitated and extended the process to support better job costing while improving visibility and providing real time reporting associated with barcodes or RFID. This visually managed process can then integrate with MRP, harnessing its power while improving materials placement through Kanban.
Benefits of HarrisData Kanban
The utilization of HarrisData Kanban offers significant benefits to manufacturers resulting in cost reduction and time savings.
Process Automation eliminates the need for human intervention and frees resources to pursue analytical functions that were once impossible. Management responsible for purchasing and planning is freed from shop order reviews and delivery scheduling of vendors. Replenishment takes on new meaning where once depleted inventory was always replenished and when customers ordered more, it was sent.
The reduction or elimination of non value-add activities in the procurement process is another benefit of the Kanban implementation. The supply chain process becomes focused on supply need and not an opinion from purchasing or procurement.
Kanban Replenishment and the Elimination of Corrupt or Inaccurate Data
Manufacturing Resource Planning assumes that the inventory data is correct. Inaccurate inventories, product structures, unrealistic production schedules or sales forecasts all contribute to unnecessarily high levels of inventory. Kanban can serve as a buffer against bad information by tying procurement and production to real-event triggers. Kanban can prevent the utilization of excess inventory associated with inaccurate forecasts. Materials consumed will only be what are required for production.
A Kanban system automates the release of shop orders and schedules vendor deliveries based on physical events such as an empty tub or bin, or the opening of the last materials box. Since it is based upon real time events and not a computer model, there is little chance of depleting supply parts, therefore preventing costly over-stocks in inventory.
Kanban Functionality in HarrisData Software
Kanban functionality is fully integrated into HarrisData Manufacturing software. The solution supports three separate sets of container re-sizing calculations for the Kanban program. Kanban users can build their own set of formulas by selecting item characteristics, MRP rules and system settings to obtain the exact mix that is right for a particular manufacturing environment. Kanban Analysis can also be easily extended with custom analysis techniques.
If you would like to learn more about HarrisData Manufacturing software and Kanban, request more information online or call 800-225-0585 to speak with a HarrisData business consultant.