reducing inventory

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 […]

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, […]

Part 2 with Excel simulation on how to reduce inventory with safety lead-times If you haven’t read ‘Part 1: how to reduce inventory with safety lead-times’ it is a short analogy on how electronic board production is like organizing a meeting between Elon Musk and 9 young new interns. Please read if you have any […]