Executive Summary Subcontracting with a contract manufacturer is a specialized workflow within subcontracting. We cover the relationship between OEM and contract manufacturer. Introduction (Skip if You Watched the Video) Contract manufacturing has grown tremendously in many areas, from electronics to food and pharmaceuticals. Subcontracting allows companies with no interest in participating in manufacturing or companies…
Executive Summary There are four major supply planning threads which are distinct from planning runs. We also cover how a rough schedule or rough plan differs from a detailed schedule and S&OP, as well as the deployment plan, redeployment plan, and the timing of various supply planning threads as well as the differences between the…
Setting Up the Supply Network in SAP APO What The Book Covers Never before has a supply planning book concentrated solely on setting up the Supply Network Planning (SNP) model in SAP APO, the most fully-featured supply chain planning suite on the market. This book is the only book on supply planning to focus entirely…
Superplant: Creating a Nimble Manufacturing Enterprise with Adaptive Planning Software Screenshots and examples from PlanetTogether and SAP APO. What The Book Covers In an environment of increasingly globalized manufacturing, a very long production line that spans the globe is more common than ever. For an increasing number of corporations, multi-plant planning is a reality. “Superplant”…
Executive Summary The SNP optimizer parallelization functionality has never worked. We cover the OSS notes on the fake parallelization functionality. It is important never to commingle the concepts of parallelization with decomposition. Introduction to Problem Decomposition On a recent project, I was reading through documentation that stated that the SNP optimizer’s parallelization functionality did not…
Executive Summary Knowledge transfer is typically managed very poorly with SAP contracts. A major problem is the declining quality of SAP documentation. Introduction to SAP Documentation I was recently asked how a company performing an SAP implementation can improve its understanding of SAP. This was within the company’s context, noting that some of its resources…
Executive Summary We cover the history of MRP and DRP and how these methods were developed and why MRP is the basis of DRP, and how both became absorbed into ERP. Video Introduction: How to Understand The History of MRP and DRP Text Introduction (Skip if You Watched the Video) This is a comprehensive article on…
Executive Summary A Planned Order or a Planned Production Order is different from a Purchase Requisition. How Purchase Requisitions sent to outlier locations, and how can one determine if Purchased Requisitions should be in APO? Video Introduction: Understanding Planned Orders Text Introduction (Skip if You Watched the Video) There is confusing terminology used in SAP…
Executive Summary KANBAN is one method for triggering stock movements and is a functionality within SAP ERP. KANBAN does not fit within the context of MRP as they control different areas of the supply chain. Introduction In this article, we will dive into and explain one of the more particular areas of functionality in SAP…
Executive Summary The background of continuous flow management between facilities. The implications for supply and production planning for continuous flow. Deciding upon what should set the control signal for movements between integrated factories in a continuous flow environment (the truck’s schedule or the supply planning system). Continuous Flow Manufacturing and Integrated Factories The flow of…