Structuring the bills of material for a complex make-to-order product (a case study)

Manufacturers of complex make-to-order products are finding the current market environment very difficult. These industries are typified by long throughput time, high work-in-progress and finished goods inventories, frequent and lengthy set up changes, complex production planning and control procedures, which also require a high degree of expediting. These problems are paralleled in the design area where unnecessary design proliferation and inadequate data retrieval mechanisms result in the design system becoming a liability rather than an asset to the organisation. Therefore, in order to survive in the market place, significant improvements in operations must be carried out in order to provide the organisation with a competitive advantage. An advantage could be obtained by installing new machines and technologies or perhaps more effectively by the use of better management techniques. Before any improvements or changes can take place in an organisation identification of the target areas must first be made. This paper describes how such a target area was defined in an organisation and the methodology that was used. The solution is presented, showing how benefits can be obtained by restructuring existing data within an organisation.