At its simplest, labor scheduling is determining which people (and which skills) you should have at which sites at which work centers at what time (shift) to ensure the right products can be delivered to the right customer at the right time.
Lisa Anderson facilitated a panel discussion at the New England Supply Chain Conference and Exposition on managing capacity in complex and volatile environments with Shari Ruelas General Manager of Commercial Products Chevron, Alejandro Bustamante Senior Advisor to CEO & Board of Directors of Poly/HP, and Dan Raatjes SVP & COO King's Hawaiian Holding Co.
Managing capacity during these turbulent times in a complex, volatile, long-lead time environment has proven quite the challenge. During the pandemic, sales volumes either dropped like a rock or skyrocketed with no middle ground. Most manufacturers have not been able to keep up with demand in the last year [...]
Capacity planning is the structured process of determining whether your organization has the resources required to meet your demand plan and support your revenue growth goals. Capacity plans analyze machinery and equipment, labor and skills, facilities and space, and suppliers and supply chain partner capabilities to ensure you can [...]
Clients are growing quickly. No matter the industry and company size, clients and colleagues are seeing growth. The only question is how quickly and whether they can keep up. Capacity constraints are popping up everywhere. On the logistics front, Southern California has no available space; the ports are backlogged, prices are rising [...]
Inventory has emerged as a hot topic lately. In today’s Amazon-impacted business environment, customers expect rapid, customized deliveries, the ability to change their mind anytime and easy interactions.
As we toured several e-commerce facilities such as UPS and Amazon, it became obvious that the sheer volume during peak season presents a huge dilemma. For example, UPS goes from 250-300 containers per night to 450 during peak season. Now that is quite a surge! Amazon has similar surges and stated facts such as 68 million orders on Cyber Monday.
In thinking about the answer to the question, "What if you sell more?", most sales people would cheer. Most accountants would add up the additional revenue and profit. And, often, the Operations resources would be glad the leaders are in a good mood. But does anyone know if we are set up to successfully handle the increased sales if they occur?
Although evaluating your supply chain readiness is paramount to support growth, there is no reason to wait for your customers to request an audit.
Businesses with growth ambitions have to gauge the current capacity of every facet of their facility to plan future productivity
