Optimizing the sequenced production schedule by managing the internal supply chain

Many manufacturing companies wrestle with managing in-house manufactured inventories especially in the climate of Just-in-Time (JIT) manufacturing and with constant pressure to reduce inventory levels. One popular self-managing approach to controlling inventory levels while being responsive to customer demand is implementing a 'Pull' system. A Pull system is one that takes production signals from the downstream process and is based on true customer demand. This is in contrast to a 'Push' system that takes the production signal from the upstream schedule. This thesis will explore inventory management strategies at 3WA Powertrain Operation (PTO) as they approach plant wide implementation of 'Pull-to-Assembly'. 3WA PTO is working to completely link each of their in-house component (parts) production processes to the scheduled Assembly process such that component production signals will each 'pull' from the following process step and ultimately from the Powertrain Assembly schedule. The tested hypotheses include: 1) For 'Pull-to-Assembly' to be successful, a highly synchronized and visible in-house inventory management structure must first be in-place.

Department dc:contributor.department

Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Vessell, Aimee L

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Christopher L. Magee and Thomas A. Kochan.

• Sloan School of Management.
• Civil and Environmental Engineering.
• Leaders for Manufacturing Program.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/37236

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/37236