Multilevel hierarchical production planning architecture for engineer-to-order enterprises

The critical materials and critical parts are keys to the production at Engineer to Order (ETO) enterprises implies that the control of plans for critical materials and critical parts is essential to the control of all plans at ETO enterprises. A mixed mode of hierarchical network planning/MRP (NP/MRP) is proposed to generate network plans for critical materials or critical parts from project networks and the plans for non critical parts produced by MRP are constrained by the related project networks. The multilevel hierarchical network planning/MRP mixed planning (MHNM) architecture proposed is the extension of the hierarchical NP/MRP to the supply chain based on the temporal constraints of multilevel project networks for critical materials or critical parts. A general model is formulated for scheduling tasks on machines at work centers as well.

Designing a performance measurement system to support materials management in engineer-to-order:a case study

There are many different production situations that can be employed to meet demand. In the engineer-to- order （ETO） production situation, products are manufac- tured to meet specific customer needs by unique engineering or significant customization. In such an environment, failing to supply the required materials in the right quantities and at the right time increases the risk of breaching due date agreements and thereby losing customer satisfaction. As such, materials management is one of the most important and critical processes within production planning and control in ETO. To bring attention and improvement to this area, ETO companies may benefit from a performance measurement system （PMS） that systematically monitors how well mate- rials management is carried out. The design of a company＇s PMS varies with its production situation. Within the large body of literature on performance management and mea- surement, limited literature specifically addressing perfor- mance measurement in ETO has been identified. After being approached by a Norwegian ETO company requesting a PMS for materials management, the authors therefore set out to design the PMS from scratch, using literature on ETO, materials management and performance management and measurement as a starting point. The paper presents the proposed PMS. It provides a basis for further studies on the topic, and could be used by managers in ETO companies to assess and improve their materials management practice.

Implications of automation in engineer-to-order production:a case study

In order to retain a certain level of production in Norway,suppliers to the Norwegian maritime industry need to lower their production costs.Automation is generally an effective way of achieving this in standardized high-volume,low variety production.However,manufacturing companies in the Norwegian maritime industry typically supply capital-intensive,advanced and customized products in low volumes.In this engineer-to-order production situation,manual labor is traditionally preferred over automation.Nonetheless,such companies increasingly automate parts of their production.This paper presents a case of a supplier that has chosen to automate its welding operations,the implications and determinants of this decision.

Lean System Design for Engineer-to-Order Manufacturing

A five-step method framework is proposed by combing improved value stream mapping with simulation and design of experiment(DOE) to design the lean system for engineer-to-order(ETO) manufacturing,and lean practice implementation path is decided.Meanwhile,a real company case like HAVC is taken to display the application of the framework.The results indicate that compared to supermarket Kanban,constant work in process(Conwip) has the broader applicability in ETO manufacturing and the critical business process,like purchasing of key parts,and has more significant effects on value stream performance.Therefore,it should have priority in lean practice implementation.