Chris Gray
I help manufacturing companies who are frustrated with their manufacturing and customer service performance - who want to get better on-time delivery performance with less inventory, who want to improve teamwork and communication across their organization, who want to lower their costs and their cost structure by managing their resources more effectively, who want to make more money today but not at the expense of the future - and who want to implement changes so that the improvement is institutionalized, not a one-time event!
I'm proud to say that I've been helping companies make their manufacturing operations leaner and better coordinated for the better part of three decades.
I help companies implement and operate more effective demand driven supply networks using resource planning (better sales forecasting and demand management, improved planning, capacity management, and financial projections) and lean manufacturing techniques (flow and pull in the plant and with suppliers). In many cases, the improvements that my clients are able to make require no new software at all.
The Best Performance Requires Both Resource Planning and Lean Execution
I believe that resource planning and lean manufacturing systems work best when they work together. They do different - and very necessary - things, and you need them both.
Resource planning is a set of forward planning tools to help people balance future demand and supply, to predict capacity problems with enough time to do something about them, to create a load leveled master schedule, and to project supplier requirements well in advance. Some of these planning tools - aggregate sales and operations planning, rough cut capacity planning, supplier scheduling logic - do this better than any alternative.
Lean manufacturing's objective is to create the physical environment that will allow material to flow - from raw material to finished product to the customer. In doing this, Lean eliminates waste and wasteful practices, reduces costs and cuts lead times - while synchronizing all production and purchasing activities. Its primary components are standard work, visual management, heijunka (leveling), takt time, one-piece flow, EPE I, and the pull (kanban) system.
Lean is strong on workplace management; resource planning is strong on decision-making for the future. Lean requires workplace and value-stream transformation; resource planning can deal with the status quo. Lean scheduling and pull systems cannot work unless certain important prerequisites are met; resource planning will help you deal with nearly any kind of manufacturing environment - one of a kind handcrafted production, traditional mass or batch production, or one-piece lean flow - as you make the physical transformation necessary to achieve maximum flow and maximum results.
Click here for a summary of how to use S&OP and Lean together.
Getting the results you want from your planning and scheduling systems
I can help you understand whether your existing systems can give you the results you want. You may know of me from some of the work I've done in the area of manufacturing software - it's no exaggeration to say that I've helped more people resolve manufacturing software issues than any other individual in the field. Along with Darryl Landvater, I defined the standards for resource planning software: The MRPII Standard System. I continue to consult and do workshops for management teams trying to understand what kinds of software functionality is required to support both planning and lean execution. If your organization needs help in understanding what functions are key in planning and execution software and which are not important at all, you may need my help.
I've also rolled up my sleeves and worked with hundreds of management teams over the last 3 decades - helping them improve communications between manufacturing, marketing, and finance; create teamwork across the entire organization; drive down inventory and increase customer service; improve supplier delivery performance; and slash lead-times across the value-stream - by helping them implement new system solutions.
I'm an authority on sales and operations planning and resource planning; on rough cut capacity planning, master scheduling and sales forecasting; on the management challenges of integrating effective planning processes with pull systems for execution; as well as the software requirements for both resource planning and lean manufacturing (kanban/demand pull/Toyota Production System).
I do sales and operations planning (S&OP) workshops and seminars; resource planning and lean manufacturing education seminars and workshops; sales and operations planning consulting; consulting on resource planning (S&OP, forecasting and demand management, master scheduling) and lean manufacturing (lean execution systems like the kanban component of the Toyota Production System); performance assessment and Class A Certification; sales and operations planning software; and software selection services to companies trying to create a lean enterprise.
If you are interested in improved performance and making more money, and you want maximum performance from your enterprise and plant level execution systems, I'd like to work with you.