Production planning | Supply chain operations
MetricsAn industrial components manufacturer eliminated component shortages from scheduled production
A specialist manufacturer had production plans, inventory records, bills of materials, and purchase orders, but no reliable way to know whether every component required for scheduled work would be ready in time. Aiwah built one production-control system that connects each committed production run to stock, purchasing, supplier confirmations, approvals, and shortages needing action.
Every scheduled run gets a component-readiness check
The system breaks the production schedule into required parts, compares them with available and incoming stock, and shows whether the planned work can proceed.
Purchasing acts before a shortage reaches production
Missing or late components create a clear purchasing or supplier action, with larger orders held for approval and unresolved shortages visible before the schedule is locked.
Component-related stoppages fell to zero
Component-related stoppages fell from 11 to zero, while coverage of required parts before the schedule was locked increased from 72% to 96%.
The production plan did not prove production could happen
Planners combined forecasts, 37 bills of materials, inventory exports, open purchase orders, supplier email, and working knowledge to test whether scheduled products had the components they needed. The weekly calculation took 10.5 hours and could become stale as soon as stock moved or a supplier changed a date.
A low-cost missing part could stop valuable customer work. In the previous period, component shortages caused 11 stoppages and 312 hours of lost scheduled production.
Each production promise gained a live coverage record
The system expands the approved plan into dated component demand, consolidates shared parts, and nets requirements against usable stock and acknowledged incoming supply. Each requirement traces back to the product, bill-of-materials revision, production window, and date that created it.
Shortages become proposed purchasing or supplier actions. Price, quantity, pack size, lead time, approvals, and supplier responses stay attached to the production promise they support. Planners retain authority over substitutions, expediting, spend, and changes to the schedule.
Exceptions became the center of planning work
Late, partial, changed, and unanswered commitments remain visible until someone resolves them. During the first six months, the team resolved 69 of 73 changed supplier acknowledgements before plan freeze. Four remained visible as owned risks; none became an in-scope production stoppage.
Aiwah built the component model, dated-demand calculation, inventory and order netting, purchasing workflow, approval rules, supplier acknowledgement handling, coverage view, and exception queues across the manufacturer’s existing systems.
The factory protected output and planning time
Component-related stoppages fell from 11 to zero. Coverage before plan freeze rose from 72% to 96%, and the weekly calculation and purchasing preparation fell from 10.5 hours to 15 minutes.
The manufacturer owns the production model, supplier rules, approvals, workflow, and operating history. Aiwah continues improving the system as product families, supplier policy, and production requirements evolve.