Simplify, Simplify By Dave Turbide

Written by Dave Turbide

Manufacturing systems have been with us for several decades, progressing from simple inventory accounting through increasingly complex and comprehensive product suites: MRP, MRPII, ERP, finite scheduling, supply chain, advanced planning and optimization, inclusion of CRM in the suite, and so on.

One defining characteristic of this progression is increasing complexity. The market demands that each new release, each new version, is 'better' than its predecessor and, more importantly, better than what the competition is offering. Perhaps the easiest and most sure-fire way to demonstrate 'better' is with new functions and capabilities. Thus, manufacturing systems keep getting broader, deeper, and more difficult to learn and use.

Anyone who has been around this business for any length of time can tell you that most of this functionality is not used at most user companies. In the 1980s, software developers were touting the virtues of MRPII and its broad, integrated functionality but, more often than not, what the buying company implemented was little more than the basic financial applications, inventory, and customer order handling. Most vendors would be reluctant to tell you this, but the usage rate for such 'advanced' manufacturing applications as shop floor scheduling and material/resource planning is something less than ten percent of the installed base. So, advanced function sells but very few buyers are up to the challenge of putting it to effective use.

Why do developers keep adding features and functions? I've already said it – the customers and the competitors demand it. Why don't the buyers put it to use? Because it's not easy. Most of these functions require some level of data and transactional integrity and discipline. Most require some level of understanding on the part of the user such that they can operate the function and gain the benefits. The sheer breadth and depth of the product tends to overwhelm the prospective user company and most never get far enough in their implementation efforts to use these so-called advanced functions.

One attractive aspect of Lean manufacturing is that it emphasizes simple and straightforward solutions. Physical signals (kanban), mistake-proofed processes (poka-yoke) and the like are easy to understand, simple to implement, and obvious in their impact. Flow manufacturing, however, can be complicated with line design and balancing, takt time calculations, computing the proper number of kanbans, etc.

While traditional manufacturing systems (ERP, supply chain) continue to grow and incorporate more capabilities, there are some alternative approaches emerging that greatly simplify parts of the process while retaining the integration and breadth that gives enterprise systems their power. Among these is Drum-Buffer-Rope (DBR), the plant floor incarnation of Eli Goldratt's Theory of Constraints, which, in earlier times, was considered incompatible with traditional ERP-type systems. Today we understand that DBR software can truly multiply the benefits and the effectiveness of DBR. There are software application suites available now that offer DBR support as a simpler substitute for traditional plant scheduling and control. A similar approach, Simplified Market Pull (SMP) offers the same kind of Lean benefits for companies without an internal constraint (plants operating at less than 100% of capacity). Either way, substituting a simpler function within the enterprise suite should go a long way toward increased acceptance and use of 'advanced' functionality.

For more than twenty-five years, Dave Turbide has been a consultant specializing in manufacturing technologies, consulting, and education. He has extensive first-hand knowledge of manufacturing functions and management practices, automated information systems, and vendor manufacturing software offerings. He also has experience in industry analysis, writing, engineering, project management, technical analysis, and management. He has exceptional analytical and communication skills as demonstrated by his published books, articles, papers, and speeches.