Chapter 16 Meeting the Challenges What does the Future Hold

The process for improvement Communication Information Sharing Technical Advancement

Evolution of Manufacturing Gain control over individual stores and manufacturers (through master scheduling & MRP for example) Include finished warehouse stock to the manufacturing control process (from materials management activity) Add distribution costs into the cost balance (identify skus) Form partnerships with suppliers to avoid duplicating their stocks with raw material stockholding Work on flow through the supply pipeline to eliminate finished warehouse or distributor stocks Integrate the distributed regional stores into the inventory management system (DDMRP approach) Integrate SKU records along the supply chain Co-ordinate supply chain management to minimise supply chain costs (“integrated business planning”) Continuous development of product flow.

Information Structures Customer Focus Additive Manufacturing Understanding Finance Enterprise Resource Planning ERP Big Data Supply chain activities Single warehouse inventory levels Forecasting

Recipe for success Develop Strategy Focus on Key requirements Plan Actions View from customers’ perspective Be reliable

Key Messages Embrace new ideas Apply the techniques from this book Inventory management is simple in practice if you apply the basic ideas The problem is that many people do not understand the basic techniques of inventory managemt Embrace new ideas Apply the techniques from this book Use these controls within the supply chain Communication is key Develop new technology Focus on the basic objectives