Singularly focused vendor responds to changed planning needs
By Staff -- Manufacturing Business Technology, 7/1/2006 12:00:00 AM
Kanban is at the heart of "pull" production methodologies, being the signal that triggers replenishment from stores of components or material to the line just-in-time. Over the years, it has become integral to many Lean operations within the four walls of the plant. Extended ERP supplier Glovia International released an electronic version, glovia.com Electronic Kanban, in mid-2005, enabling automated notice for demand-driven materials and inventory replenishment in the plant. This year Glovia expanded that capability to support the full end-to-end supply chain, from "the supplier of your supplier to the customer of your customer."
"Electronic Kanban fits in with Lean and Six Sigma, triggering material flow based on consumption," says Jim Errington, a VP with Glovia, a subsidiary of Fujitsu. "With our most recent release, kanban use isn't limited to the four walls of the plant, but can trigger movement from any point, wherever the material is to wherever it needs to be."
Glovia does this via triggers set to predefined minimum thresholds, with the system creating a kanban pull order for the predefined quantity of material from stores to the specified location—whether it is the plant requesting material from internal stores or a supplier, or from a customer requesting resupply to their site.
"If it's a manufactured part, the system can cut a work order—which traditional kanban can't do—and it will appear on the planner's screen for scheduling," explains Errington. "Or it can generate a purchase order. In essence, it's instant MRP."
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