What is RPM?
Reality-based Priority Management (RPM) is the latest improvement in manufacturing information management that works with the existing MRP/ERP system to:
• Provide unprecedented access to the information needed to make decisions, execute the plan and deliver on time.
• Reveal the wealth of vital information that's contained inside the planning system's files.
• Anticipate delays that could affect customer shipments.
• Provide decision support to execute despite delays, disruptions or changes.
And the best news is RPM doesn't replace or change the current system. It works quickly to present the critical information. RPM data warehouses information about customer orders, planned and released manufacturing and purchases orders, and then, presents it in format that makes it easy to work with.
MRP and ERP have proven themselves over many years and tens of thousands of implementations. But it's not always easy to find, organize and present the information (although it undeniably exists within MRP/ERP) that plant operations and purchasing need for effective and efficient management
RPM is the one enhancement to MRP/ERP that unlocks the benefits of critical information - without modifying the existing code or interfering with the normal operation of the MRP/ERP system.
A SHORT HISTORY
Today, manufacturers are under constant pressure to reduce delivery lead-times. The pace of business is accelerating and the length of time required to locate, analyze and respond has become the critical issue! For too many manufacturers the result has been too much expediting and production disruption.
The MRP/ERP planning logic was supposed to be the suite of tools to reduce lead-times, eliminate expediting, and bring order to the chaos that ruled the factory floor. And, for a time, it was successful and was certainly a great improvement over order point/reorder quantity or launch and expedite methods of managing procurement and order initiation. However, these gains proved to be fleeting. Before long, chaos and expediting once again ruled the factory floor.
WHAT HAPPENED?
First, planning systems use a critical path, sequential approach that depends on feedback from both internal and external suppliers to confirm due dates. Second, information systems are a mechanism to facilitate communication throughout an enterprise. Systems were designed around a departmental organizational structure where, as tasks were completed, the system was updated and responsibility was passed to another department. Planners could react to any "past due" conditions and maintain the schedule by expediting because sufficient slack time existed to allow catch-up.
Achieving shortened lead-times eliminated any “slack time”. The priority new orders and priority changes to existing orders resulted in a customer order backlog being frequently reshuffled The real challenge facing materials management personnel isn't promising a single order for some fixed point in the future but attempting to quickly understand what entire customer order backlog looks like "now" so resources can be correctly deployed to meet these customer commitments.
VELOCITY AND THE TIME TO RESPOND
Users spend far too much time digging information out of the system with far too little time left for analysis. When change occurs there's the real possibility that plant operations is working on the wrong things while the planning and materials group is "working the plan" to realign priorities. It's a matter of velocity! If the changes come at people faster than their ability to understand, absorb, analyze and react, there is a constant state of disruption. And, the longer the time expended to realignment priorities, the more delivery dates are jeopardized. This results in users frustrated - drowning in data but starved for information!
NEW REALITY
This is a new reality in manufacturing and new tools are required. Planning is more important than ever but planning by itself simply isn't sufficient to meet shortened delivery lead-times and the shortened response time. The real problem, as it's always been, is visibility of priorities where there's competition for limited resources. The difference is time itself is now one of those limited resources so we can no longer afford to hesitate. Action must be taken quickly and correctly. With OTTO RPM software, it can!
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