Customer enquiry management: Part of a hierarchical system to control lead times in make-to-order companies

The authors are currently developing a hierarchical production planning system specifically designed for the ‘make-to-order’ sector of industry. Its aim is to control the delivery and manufacturing lead times of all orders processed by a firm. Two major decision levels are identified-the customer enquiry stage and the order release stage. Input/output control is exercised at both stages. This paper is concerned with the control mechanisms used at the customer enquiry stage. Two important backlogs of work, along with their associated backlog lengths, are identified. The system aims to maintain these backlogs between predetermined minimum and maximum lengths in order to process all orders within an acceptable length of time. It is shown that the two backlogs are linked in a manner that enables them to be controlled simultaneously. Hence, a procedure for dealing with incoming customer orders is presented.