Managing materials

Material synchronization and material links

The Material synchronization component allows creating the links between supplies and demands that identify which orders are linked. Simulation respects material links. Thereby material shortages are removed, but end-item orders can be delayed. Alternatively, material links can be marked as shortage checked. In this case, delays of the end-item order due to material issues are removed, but material shortage can occur.

Managing materials is part of the overall planning concept for a company. You can use one method for purchased item and another method for internal produced item. You can also consider whether there is a fixed supply lead time or if the supply lead-time depends on the marked situation. Depending on the planning concept for the company, the system must be set up to plan items accordingly.

Workflow and planning concept

For some companies, the best approach is to focus on critical capacity first and take the appropriate decisions and simulating consequences before focusing on material status. Other companies have critical components as the most critical constraint. In these cases the best approach is to focus on critical materials first.

Materials can be supplying a specific type of end-items. The causes and effects from critical purchased materials to end-items orders are direct. An alternative situation is where end-items orders use many components that are supplying many end-item orders. If an end-item order has almost all the components on time, but a time shortage occurs on a single component, then the automatic delay of end-item order might not be the best approach. Instead a drill-down on component level to identify competing demands enables the user to consider if another end-item order could be effected by the time-shortage instead.

Managing materials must be based on the planning concept for the company where it is decided how the company should be run and how production should be planned. Based on this approach, the managing materials setup must include workflow processes and define how material is synchronized and controlled.