Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1275152
54 SMT007 MAGAZINE I AUGUST 2020 We've all heard of "just in time" as applied to the supply chain, but with ongoing disrup- tion due to COVID-19, increasing risk moti- vates us to return to the bad habit of hoard- ing excess inventory. Based on the public's initial response to COVID-19—namely hoard- ing toilet paper—we can only imagine what is filling our manufacturing warehouses right now. Such practices usually just make matters worse. Knowing is everything, yet what we see in ERP in terms of material quantities cannot be trusted. If you fundamentally cannot trust that you have all materials available when you need them, manufacturing will fail. This is happening right now. Trust in Time Trust in Time This is simply the knowledge that you phys- ically have, or will have, all of the required materials available to complete an intended production job at the planned time. Don't bother Googling this phrase; you are hearing it here for the first time. Trust, in this case, is based on knowledge and control. Knowledge includes information about exactly what mate- rials are on site, in what quantities, the sup- ply forms, locations, as well as full account- ability of actual consumption, spoilage, and any other dispersion. Control extends through warehouse storage, logistics, as well as the management of part-used materials that are on Smart Factory Insights Feature Column by Michael Ford, AEGIS SOFTWARE