User:ChadJSmith

Actively Synchronized Replenishment (ASR)
References:

APICS (American Production and Inventory Control Society) Magazine July/August 2008 Issue. ASR is featured as the cover story of the magazine. Article title, "Managing Capacity and Materials, Actively synchronized replenishment can make a big difference with scheduling," Carol Ptak, CFPIM and Chad Smith APICS Resources Page

Beyond MRP - Meeting the Current Materials Synchronization Challenge, Carol Ptak and Chad Smith. This white paper is available for download at: ASR Whitepaper

Quick Description: Actively Synchronized Replenishment was developed as an answer to MRP related challenges faced by manufacturers and supply chains in the 21st Century. It is a pull-based inventory and materials management system (both planning and execution) that can be applied throughout an enterprise or supply chain (fulfillment, manufacturing and purchasing). It is particularly effective in enterprises that have complex bills of material, complex material synchronization issues or that are trying to implement pull-based manufacturing scheduling and execution methodologies like Lean or Drum-Buffer-Rope.

Links to Lean and DBR

The Problem ASR is Trying to Address: The variability and volatility that manufacturers are facing in the 21st Century is on the rise. Factors like: increased outsourcing, overseas suppliers, shorter product life-cycles, highly competitive and visible global markets, price pressure, lower customer tolerance time, the demand for leaner inventories, the demand for vendor managed inventories and inaccurate forecasts have significantly increased the potential for disruption to manufacturing and supply chain operations due to material related issues.

Links to sources describing MRP challenges:

The Four Components of ASR ASR is comprised of four components. These components are implemented sequentially.

Component 1: Strategic Inventory Positioning

Actively Synchronized Replenishment places a heavy emphasis on the proper positioning of inventory based multiple factors including: customer/consumer tolerance time, variability of demand and supply, inventory flexibility, product/BoM structure and the protection of highly critical operational areas from variability. These inventory positions are designed to strategically protect the flow through a system by decreasing or dampening the variability that is transferred between resources, areas or components of the system and properly leverage inventory investments for maximum coverage for the least amount of stored capacity or cash. These inventory positions are called "buffers."

Component 2: Dynamic Buffer Level Profiling and Maintenance

After the initial inventory positions (part/sku#) are identified, buffer profiles and levels are determined. Buffer profiles refer to the shared characteristics or behaviors of parts. These shared characteristics are called group traits. Once a part is assigned to a specific buffer profile (with group traits defined), its individual traits are then factored in. The combination of the group traits combined with the part's individual traits creates a unique buffer profile for every part that is picked for strategic buffering.

This buffer is then divided into "zones" that stratify the buffer in proportions that are a factor of the group traits in the buffer it is assigned to. Each zone has a color associated with it. Color denotes status. There are three zones within the buffer (green, yellow, red). Green is to indicate that the buffer does not require attention. Yellow indicates that the buffer is in its rebuild zone. Red indicates that the buffer is in danger. Additionally, there are commonly two zones outside the buffer with colors assigned to them. One zone indicates that the buffer is over the top of green, meaning that it is currently overstocked relative to the part's unique buffer profile. The external zone indicates that the buffer is currently stocked out.

These buffer levels are dynamically adjusted as group or part traits change over time.

Component 3: Pull-Based Demand Generation

Demand creation (meaning buffer replenishment) is tied directly to actual consumption from the buffers. All buffered parts/skus get assigned a due date based on cumulative lead time (longest un-buffered sequence in the Bill of Material). ASR decouples the Bill of Material (BoM) or stops the BoM explosion at any buffered child part as the explosion works its way down the BoM. This means that there are independently planned and managed material horizons within a BoM of material and across multiple BoMs that share child components that are buffered. Finally, an "order spike horizon" looks one cumulative lead time into the future for each buffered part to look for anomalous Sales Orders that might compromise buffer integrity. These spikes are then proactively compensated for when planning demand.

Component 4: Highly Visible and Collaborative Execution

ASR is intended to be a planning and execution methodology. Its execution side is intended to end the "priority by due date" mode that many manufacturers and supply chains operate in. Buffer status can be used to convey current inventory priorities for action over an "execution horizon." The execution horizon is the time that a Purchase Order, Manufacturing Order or transfer are open. Over this horizon (particularly longer horizons) priorities can shift regardless of the due of a respective order. The color of the status provides a quick reference for fulfillment, manufacturing and purchasing personnel. A more discreet status reference is provided by displaying the actual percentage remaining in the buffer. Additionally, these statuses can be conveyed to suppliers to show immediate priorities.

ASR and KanBans and Electronic KanBans

Links to KanBan and Electronic KanBan

ASR and JIT

Links to JIT