Supply Chain Sync with Schedule

With any schedule, you’re putting a stake in the ground; a D-Day, a date for the completion of a project. Several elements inevitably feed into that schedule. As you go back through the strands of your supply chain, there will be key milestones. Labor, materials, and processes need to align. You’ll possibly be working with third-party suppliers. Targets need to be met. When is, say, design sign-off? When does manufacturing start – and finish? When does shipping start? What are your stage gates for shipping? Are materials arriving on-site on time? Have you confirmed the shut-down of a machine that needs to be upgraded?

If any of your links break – e.g. in your transport chain – there will be no point in, say, having labor on-site for your D-Day. Everything is contingent. You need good oversight. You need to know that you can move forward – or accelerate – other factors in your production line, if necessary. Materials, processes, and people all need to converge in your supply chain – to ensure a successful D-Day operation.