They felt more confident about selling the product. Now customers are more hesitant to risk making the commitment to buy that far out. At Oxford Lasers Ltd. in Abingdon, UK, that unevenness is an unavoidable part of business. Still, she said, many things can go wrong. Human resources might stretch too thinly, or unexpected supplier problems could wrench production into low gear.
Manufacturers also look to the process to identify and eliminate the root causes of bottlenecks.
That job may be easier when companies gather manufacturing data at important points in the process. Such a monitoring system takes a problem-solving approach to analyzing what causes bottlenecks. Regardless of whether the problem is a glitch in the machinery or an inefficient process, the aim is to take action to reflow activity and prevent a recurrence. Having the information on hand can also yield insight into things like downtime or the cost of a rejected item. In some cases, adding capacity is the only answer.