Inventory management

Managing manufacturer lead-times to reduce stock levels is not an exact science. Lead-times are inaccurate. Manufacturers favour one customer over another without considering their respective order creation dates. Many suppliers communicate their lead-times by technology and not by manufacturing part numbers. And of course, lead-time discrepancies exist in the same technology family. Inaccurate lead-times lead […]

You’ll sleep better with supply lead-times updated every week. When I ask supply-chain executives about their action plans to keep stock low or decrease their stock levels, they usually suggest: improve the S&OP process (the #1 action in efficiency); increase VMI or CMI coverage*; negotiate short lead-time programs against weekly forecasts; watch orders which need to be rescheduled or […]

Everything you need to master Electronic Data Interchange for electronic component purchase orders… but were afraid to ask! It may sound trivial to some, but I have come to realize that for many professionals working in high-tech manufacturing, the EDI connection can be something of a mystery. So what is the EDI? Actually, it’s not that […]

First, a disclaimer: my sincere apologies for this (potentially) misleading title. If you are in a low-mix high-volume industry such as computers, communications or consumer electronics, then odds are that you experience no issues and would discover next-to-no inventory saved by re-scheduling back-orders. However, if your business is high-mix low-volume such as industrial, military, aeronautical, […]

Everyone who has worked in a supply-chain business during electronic component allocations knows that it is a difficult time. You’re literally overwhelmed with shortage risks. It is inordinately stressful. You have so many shortage risks to consider that you barely have time to work on anything else. Those 5 shortage calls a day don’t allow […]

The ABC analysis of inventory comes from the Pareto principle, which states that 80% of effects come from 20% of causes. The Pareto principle is more than 100 years old and for decades, ERP systems have applied the ABC rule to categorization codes for articles. While these concepts are extremely valuable, splitting items in A, […]