Heavy Raw Materials Production Framework and Inventory Mgmt Automations
REQUIREMENTS
An international heavy equipment manufacturer/distributor uses steel rods and tubes, purchased in lots of long lengths, which are cut to various sizes as required to manufacture finished goods just-in-time for delivery. After cuts are made, remnant lengths are restocked. Given the heavy weight and other challenges to physical inventory management, it's imperative that warehouse pickers pull the right length the first time for each Work Order - “sticks” just long enough to get the job done with the least waste. Some Work Orders demand a high volume of production.
Adding more complexity, different production saw machines require different end-lengths to grip each piece, leaving different lengths as remnants or waste, which must be accounted for as such in the GL.
ISSUE
NetSuite offered no way to manage this process. The Inventory Lot feature could be leveraged, and Work Orders do offer some flexibility, but significant manual intervention and precious time would be required by both inventory managers and shop floor workers without significant customizations and automations. The concept had to be proved before acquiring NetSuite.
SOLUTION
We designed and built a multi-faceted solution that met all the requirements and would significantly reduce manual labor and human error, increase manufacturing capacity, and more accurately impact the GL. NetSuite was acquired as a result of the successful proof-of-concept.
Custom architecture allows users to define several saws as specific floor Saw Production lines (also custom), with their unique grip requirements, material waste attributes (by material type), and with consideration of each saw blade’s unique width
Customizations and automations within Assembly Build and WO functionality applied to define the respective number of cut lengths required for each tube and rod, based on the selected Saw Production line
Automation calculates and applies WO lines with the best lot “sticks” to pick, based on the end Assembly product and Saw Production Line. This made picking inventory quicker, and reduces waste and unnecessary movement of inventory.
After all cuts are made from each rod or tube, a custom UI allows saw users to accept or override remnant length for return to inventory or discard, including override otherwise useful remnant length as “waste due to damage”.
Another automation creates a Journal Entry to write off each Work Order’s rod and tube “waste”, and creates an Inventory Adjustment for each specific Lotted inventory “stick”, whether waste or usable.
* Image courtesy of Michael Browning
