Our factory is a Japanese manufacturing company in Thailand.
We introduced a world-famous ERP system some time ago. The executives at the Japanese headquarters liked the consulting firm’s proposal and started implementing the system in several countries.
It was supposed to enable more efficient production.
However, many problems have occurred at this Thai factory and I, the new factory manager, am expected to solve them.
Deliveries are frequently late and there is a lot of overtime work.
After talking with Mr. Ai, Mr. Chai, and Mr. Poo, and consulting with my predecessor, I have come to understand the cause of the problem.
Cause1 : Change of orders
It has happened in the past that advanced notices deviate from the final order, but there was a large order called “recovery plan after Covid ” and this was changed again badly just before the delivery date.
Cause 2: ERP cannot respond to sudden changes
The factory’s previous system was basically a monthly system that created manufacturing plans and ordered materials using MRP. The system had been customized in various ways to allow changes on a weekly basis.
The previous factory manager was able to change material orders according to changes in the system to ensure that there were no shortages and to reduce wasteful or long-stored material inventory.
The new ERP system, however, basically created purchasing and manufacturing plans on a monthly basis and did not have the ability to make changes midstream. The new ERP system was based on the idea that changes could be handled by using safety stock. (See below for more detail)
However, due to the recovery plan by Corona and delays in delivery of imported materials, the plan had to be drastically changed in the middle of the month, and Mr. Ai, Mr. Chai, and Mr. Pooh were forced to create production and procurement plans for several hundred orders per month in Excel and issue work instructions to the work site.
It was difficult to accurately reflect changes in production plans in the procurement of materials and the allocation of equipment and lines, resulting in frequent delivery delays due to shortages of materials and congestion in the use of equipment.
The new plant manager thought the following.
There will be more plan changes in the future, and we don’t want to increase safety stock.
Let’s consider introducing Asprova, which can change the production plan on a weekly or daily basis and link it to the purchasing plan.
There are several hundred orders, and considering the number of operations and purchases, it is impossible to plan more than 1,000 elements in Excel.
Ai and his team are likely to quit.
In Japan, Asprova has been introduced in many factories to complement ERP.”
Supplemental information; ERP can’t manage changes
SAP also does not assume a flexible response to sudden changes and additions in a system designed to manufacture as planned on a monthly basis.
Many Japanese companies take it for granted that they can respond to severe order changes.
So there are aomw Japanese production management systems and ERPs have the ability to respond to changes.
Asprova can change some orders or tasks after they have been planned and adjust them to the whole.
