Jim Tompkins is CEO of Tompkins International, a global supply chain and consulting firm founded in 1975.  In a recent article in Material Handling & Logistics (published about one month prior to this edition of Update) he provides timely advice on what needs to happen to get the economy’s supply chains started again.  We’d like to share some of his comments here with you today.

In a newly released playbook entitled “Restarting the Economy: Guidance for Public and Private Leaders” Tompkins lays out his prescription consisting of six key points which we’ll reprise below.

1.   Governments, with the guidance of health experts, closed the economy by issuing stay-at-home orders. But governments, with the guidance of health experts, lifting their stay-at-home orders does not open the economy nor return business to “normal.”

To reopen the economy:
a. Business supply chains must restore the synchronization of supply and demand
b. Consumers must be willing to dismiss their personal stay-at-home orders.
c. The economy must adapt to what will evolve over time as the “next normal.”
d. The reality of the next normal as per the award-winning Japanese author Haruki Murakami: “And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain: when you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm is all about.”

2. For the last three years, disruptions to business via digital innovations have occurred at an ever-increasing rapid rate. For the last two months, the black swan disruption to business from the coronavirus has resulted in the momentous slowing of the U.S. $22 trillion economy.

3. The reality of business leadership today is best explained by the 1987 U.S. Army War College coined term VUCA. VUCA was created to help the government deal with the heightened levels of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity resulting from the end of the Cold War.

4. March and April 2020 have exhibited an unprecedented level of VUCA for the U.S. and global economy. Reopening the U.S. economy must be done business by business.

a. The first step requires disciplined triage to determine which businesses should be saved, paused, or closed.

b. Once it is decided a company should be saved, VUCA 2.0 (Vision, Understanding, Courage and Adaptability) must be pursued.

c. VUCA 2.0 will be different for each firm and must be deployed rapidly.

5. Confusing the governments’ lifting of their stay-at-home orders with the reopening of the economy will result in further VUCA and damage to the U.S. economy. As Vice President Pence said on Sunday, April 19, “The administration wants to be sure that the coronavirus cure isn’t worse than the disease.”

 6. We all need to focus our attention on restarting the economy to place the evil of COVID-19 in our rear-view mirror.

Do you need help with your processes or managing your supply chains?  We’re here, we’re local, we know the territory… and we’re here to help!  We invite you to contact PSSI directly at 877.273.2444.

PSSI has been implementing ALERE accounting and manufacturing software for over 25 years, and we still think it’s one of the best-priced, best-functioning manufacturing software products you can buy anywhere.  Users appreciate ALERE’s flexibility over many other systems. 

Did you know?… that ALERE Software was named for the components of the balance sheet and income statement?  As in… Assets, Liabilities, Equity, Revenues & Expenses?  Well, you do now!

This month TIW Technology President, Rod Hatcher explains how a bit about routes and material lists, and how ALERE uniquely implements not just bucketed, but bucketless MRP as well.

“Routes, which contain the instructions to manufacture products, are inexorably linked with materials that are required by individual operation steps in the production process. For some manufacturers the answer is to simply have all the materials on hand before starting the job and have it accompany the job as it moves through the shop floor. In essence, that may be viewed as having the components required on the first step of the route.

Manufacturers with jobs that have large material lists, extensive routes using material throughout the build process, and with a longer duration timeline to completion have a somewhat more complex challenge. In their case it is impractical for the material to be moved from operation to operation. Instead, it needs to be delivered to the operation where and when it will be consumed. They are also more sensitive to JIT, or Just In Time, and their supply chain must be timed to coincide with when operation steps will need the material.

In the first example, MRP bucketed techniques will suffice. In the second case, MRP bucketless techniques are required.

The software ERP industry is replete with solutions that handle bucketed requirements. However, there is a dearth of offerings to meet the requirements of a bucketless manufacturer. The number drops to basically none looking for a software package to handle both when both MRP techniques are used together, except for ALERE.

ALERE permits a relationship to be defined between a route and a BOM on the Assign Material screen.

“Here, the components and choices can be assigned to the route steps where they will be used. The schedule determines when each operation will be performed, and by extension, exactly when the material will be required. MRP can then include the production schedule into its planning, closing the loop. This is called Synchronous Manufacturing and completely meets the requirements of a bucketless system.”

Want to Learn More About ALERE?  

TIW has a 7 minute “Manufacturing Overview Video“ on YouTube that gives a concise summary of what manufacturing software can do for you.  Click the link below to see why ALERE may be a great fit for your manufacturing operations.

• Interested in a trial version for your organization?

PSSI can work with you to understand better what a manufacturing software system can do for you.  For information on obtaining a trial version, contact Larry Lukasik at the number below.

To learn more, call us any time at 877.273.2444, or visit us on the web.