Addressing the Challenges of Variable Demand
High mix, low volume (HMLV), variable demand production is one of the largest challenges for PCB assemblers. At Milwaukee Electronics, we consider it all in a day’s work. Our Program Teams evaluate past history and likely market demand trends help each customer develop a forecast. We use an electronic datashare protocol driven by MRP to support demand side synchronization. Our ERP system supports organization-wide inventory visibility.
Lean Manufacturing Focus
At a production level, we’ve implemented Lean manufacturing philosophy to reduce project transfer time and changeover time in PCB assembly areas. We use point-of-use stocking to support reduced changeover time on our SMT lines. We also combine program, test and pack steps wherever possible to optimize configuration management.
Finished Goods (FG) Kanban
Some projects are difficult to forecast accurately. In those cases, FG Kanban may be an appropriate solution to address demand variations for your project. Depending on your needs, the FG Kanban can be set up at one of our facilities or auto-replenished at your facility.
