Xdata
White Papers
"Xdata solutions’
Rules-Based Product Configurator is designed with both ease of order
entry, accuracy in product selection and timeliness of manufacture.
From the beginning we felt Customer Order-Entry must be an
easy-to-use system. It is designed for clerical level data-entry
that is inherently coupled with intricate Engineering considerations
(rules)."
- see
White Paper #3 below:
1. Distributed Manufacturing
By
Charles L. Gaby, CPIM
2. Understanding Manufacturing Cost
Accounting
3. Custom Made Furniture
By Charles L.
Gaby, CPIM
4. Understanding Rules-based
Configuration
5. Paperless Office Automation - eDistribute
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Custom Made Furniture:
Focus on Upholstered Furniture Industry.
By
Charles L. Gaby, CPIM
About
the Author
Problem:
Un-complicating Order Processing while increasing accuracy, control,
scheduling and delivery thru-put for Make to Order Upholstered Home
Furnishings .
Among the most chal-
lenging “To-Order”
manufacturing environ-
ments is upholstered
furniture
…especially in
the Home Furnishings
Industry. Upholstered fur-
niture is an easy product
to visualize because we
all have some combination
of upholstered chairs, sofas,
love seats, with matching pillows and perhaps an ottoman or two.
Picture for a minute how you would manufacture these pieces to
customer selected specifications, including milling the raw hard-
wood to make the Frames …and picture a two week end-item de-
livery time.
There may be more
than a one-and-a-half billion com-
binations to manage
when plan-
the frames, fabrics, components
and accessory choices across
product lines.
Rules Based Product Configurator
with Manufacturing Control
The normal concerns of departmental production scheduling and
reporting of a multi-level non-stock build-to-order product are just
the beginning. The Upholstered Furniture Industry adds the
complexity of a multitude of fabric offerings: grades of fabric,
combinations, various colors for the body, back, welt, or seat
cushions plus sleeper/non-sleeper considerations. Toss in accessory
features and options, such as button choices, matching pillows,
footings, pattern centerline considerations and mutually exclusive
offerings.
Only with a high-tech
solution can we cut into the lead-time and “build accuracy” factors
required …remember the two
week total lead time.
At this point of the order-process we knew what the customer
wanted and when they wanted it. First we needed to price and
cost the product. Next we needed to coordinate the shop schedule
with the delivery requirements, plan and control the labor and
material, plus of course, schedule the delivery truck routes.
The “old way” would include engineering and costing “hard”
bills-of-material for each piece before the order was entered.
Custom parts would have to be created. This in itself was an
unmanageable task …a compromise at best. Next, a product routing
would need to have been established to cost the end-item and
document the labor and processing instructions. By this time we
would have probably invested more than a week, leaving less than one
week for production, and on a weekly basis we were “reckoning” with
the problems associated with a “new” product.
Of course, we hadn’t yet considered material availability nor shop
capacity.. with one week to deliver the product… it was time to call
the customer, apologize, and to hope they would accept a reschedule
…we often lost the order …and sometimes the customer!
If this is the way we were still doing things we would have had to
extend lead times*, and rethought the future of our business.(*note
that as lead time increases, requirements are compounded causing
more planning and more problems …another subject for “Focus”.)
Sad to say, the above is true for most
short lead-time “To-Order” manufacturers that do not use a
Rules-Based Product Configurator.
Click Here
to see the
Solution
Anyway you look at
it, it’s a
Win/Win/Win
for your company,
your employees, and your customers.
Interested?
- for more information contact: sales@xdata.com
