In the repetitive manufacturing environment, the following sub processes are typical:
In addition, several support processes are required, e.g. Quality Management, Kanban and Financials.
The repetitive manufacturing solution is aimed at high volume manufacturing companies that:
These companies are high volume suppliers, often working with a few large customers with whom great cooperation and integration are highly important. These companies work as suppliers somewhere down the supply chain, e.g., Tier 1, Tier 2, or Tier 3 suppliers. These can also, to some extent, be found internally in the OEMs' (Original Equipment Manufacturers') internal supply chains, i.e., internal suppliers to the assembly line at, for example, Ford, GM, VW.
Depending on where the suppliers work in the supply chain, their number of EDI integrations and their number of customers will vary. Most likely the Tier 1 will have fewer customers and more EDI integrations while the Tier 3 will supply a larger number of customers not necessarily working with EDI, and perhaps supplying more than one industry. The product offerings will also vary depending on their place in the supply chain. For example, the Tier 1 suppliers produce and assemble larger subsystems for their customers, while the Tier 3 suppliers produce and assemble components for their customers. This implies the business processes differ some between Tier 1 and lower level tiers, which implies that IFS solutions will also vary for these companies.
Automotive industry, Appliances industry, Telecom/electronics, Furniture....
IFS Targeted Market Segments/Industries
For more information regarding typical needs for functional support, manufacturing principles, etc., for these Repetitive Manufacturing companies please read last section, Sample Stories, in this document.
The process flow can be described differently depending on the company's relationships with their customers and suppliers. Customer schedules and supplier schedules are normally received and sent to only a few of the largest business partners. The process flow can also be described differently depending on the specific part. Only the most transaction-intensive parts are handled by customer schedules, supplier schedules, and production schedules.
Communication between the parties in the supply chain is normally through EDI. Smaller suppliers can use other approaches, such as through the Internet, using Portals.
Many companies working in repetitive manufacturing use Kanban for certain parts, as an alternative to MRP, for both internal and external requirements.
Customer schedules are normally received from customers by using EDI. When the customer schedule is received, the following operations can be handled manually or automatically:
When a customer schedule containing real demands is released, customer order lines normally are created or existing order lines are altered. If the customer schedule contains forecasted demands these lines will not create order lines. Forecasted demand lines will still become input to the Repetitive planning (MRP).
Repetitive planning is used to calculate the net requirements for manufactured parts and for purchased parts. Output from the calculation of net requirements are in this flow, in Production Schedules (alternatively Shop Orders), and Supplier Schedules (alternatively Purchase Orders).
Supplier schedules are normally created from the Repetitive Planning process (MRP). When the supplier schedule is created, the following operations can be handled manually or automatically:
When a supplier schedule containing real demands is released, purchase order lines normally are created or existing order lines are altered. If the supplier schedule contains forecasted demands, these lines will not create purchase order lines.
The supplier schedule will be transferred to the supplier, normally by using EDI.
When the supplier receives the transferred supplier schedule, the supplier will ship goods according to the content of the supplier schedule.
When the goods arrive, purchase order arrival and receipt is entered in the system. In cases where dispatch advice is received from the supplier, the purchase order arrival and receipt could be handled automatically.
Based on the deliveries made, the supplier will send a supplier invoice. This supplier invoice should be matched against the received purchase order lines.
An alternative to regular invoicing is to use self billing or retrospective invoicing for your supplier.
When the repetitive planning process is performed, production schedules will be created. The Production Schedules functionality is normally used, as an alternative to shop orders, when the company manufactures high volumes in a repetitive flow. These production schedules will also reduce internal administration, e.g., the elimination of printed documents to process, and simplified reporting of produced quantities.
When the goods are manufactured, the production will be reported and the manufactured parts are received into a predefined inventory location. The inventory balance of the components will also be updated.
When it is time to prepare the shipment, the following actions for the goods are performed:
These steps can be handled either manually or automatically.
Based on the deliveries made, customer invoices will be created and printed or sent to the customer.
The customer pays according to the customer invoice.
Based on the deliveries made, the supplier will send a supplier invoice electronically or manually. This supplier invoice should be matched against the received purchase order lines.
An alternative to regular invoicing is to use self billing or retrospective invoicing for your supplier.
The Order to Delivery processes in these companies are well defined and most often designed according to industry organization standards, e.g., in the automotive industry using Odette, Edifact, AIAG, VDA, etc. Most often EDI is used to exchange messages. There is also a requirement from customers to certify according to quality standards, e.g., QS9000, VDA 6.1, ISO/TS16949.
Below you find information on important Order to Delivery processes for high volume suppliers in the automotive industry. Processes differs somewhat, depending on the company position in the supply chain. For example, Tier 1 suppliers more commonly use a build to order process than lower level tiers. Accordingly, we have made two different process descriptions below, one for Tier 1 suppliers and one for lower level tiers.
In the cases below, when EDI can be used to exchange messages, the column on the right displays the EDIFACT standard name of the message.
| Order to Delivery Processes | EDI Message (EDIFACT) |
| Receive prognosis and firm orders from customers (IFS Customer Schedules) | DELFOR |
| Receive firm orders/call-off (IFS Customer Schedules) | DELFOR call-off |
| Send prognosis and firm orders to suppliers (IFS Supplier Schedules) | DELFOR |
| Send prognosis to suppliers (IFS Portal Supplier Schedules) | Webbed (supplied by IFS) |
| Send firm orders/call-off (IFS Supplier Schedules) | DELFOR call-off |
| Send firm orders/call-off (IFS Portal Supplier Schedules) | WebEDI (supplied by IFS) |
| Receive delivery information from suppliers (IFS Procurement) | DESADV |
| Send delivery information to customers (IFS Shipment) | DESADV |
| Receive invoice information from suppliers (IFS Financials) | INVOICE |
| Send invoices to customers (IFS Finance) | INVOICE |
| Label Printing | Odette and AIAG |
| Information for print of labels for shipped packages and pallets, with references to orders and content. (IFS Repetitive Shipment, e.g. the Shipment VAP) | ODETTE and AIAG |
| Order to Delivery Processes | EDI Message (EDIFACT) |
| Receive prognosis and firm orders from customers (IFS Customer Schedules) | DELFOR |
| Receive firm orders/call-off (IFS Customer Schedules) | DELFOR call-off |
| Receive JIT (just in time)/syncro(sequential) delivery information. Not in standard IFS | DELJIT |
| Receive Kanban orders from customers (IFS Customer Schedule) | DELJIT |
| Send prognosis and firm orders to suppliers (IFS Supplier Schedules) | DELFOR |
| Send Kanban orders to suppliers (IFS Supplier Schedules) | DELJIT |
| Send prognosis and firm orders to suppliers (IFS Portal Supplier Schedules) | WebEDI (supplied by IFS) |
| Send firm orders/call-off (IFS Supplier Schedules) | DELFOR call-off |
| Send firm orders/call-off/kanban (IFS Portal Supplier Schedules) | WebEDI (supplied by IFS) |
| Receive delivery information from suppliers (IFS Procurement) | DESADV |
| Receive invoice information from suppliers (IFS Financials) | INVOICE |
| Receive self-billing /retrospective invoicing information Not in standard IFS. Self billing has been implemented at several Customer Sites. | PRICAT, STOACT, RECADV, DESADV, INVOIC |
| Receive info on what customer has received and accepted - Receive Advice. Not in standard IFS. Receive info has been implemented at several Customer Sites. | RECADV |
| Label Printing | Odette and AIAG stand |
| Information for print of labels for shipped products including reference no./sequence no. (IFS Repetitive Shipment, e.g. the Shipment VAP) | ODETTE and AIAG |
Other popular sourcing strategies, as alternatives to supplier scheduling, used by these companies include, VMI (Vendor Managed Inventory) and Consignment. In both these cases, companies hold their suppliers responsible for maintaining the stock levels at the customer site at a certain level. The level is defined by a minimum and a maximum level. The difference between the 2 methods is that stock is owned by the company itself in the VMI scenario, while the stock is owned by the supplier until it is consumed in the Consignment case. These methods are popular today because the Internet makes it very easy to collaborate with suppliers. Shared information is readily available, for example: stock levels, latest arrivals, prognosis. The Internet also allows access for entering data into the customers' systems concerning deliveries. The only tool needed to collaborate for suppliers in this case is an internet connection.
Since the time from final order (call-off) to delivery normally is quite short and because changes to quantities, parts, etc., often happen shortly before delivery, the Manufacturing flow must be very flexible and require a minimum of administration. It is also common for OEM customers to demand reduced prices each year which creates pressures for the Manufacturing flow to be processed with a minimum of resources. To support working within cost reduction programs, companies can use the Kaizen Costing functionality, which is included in the Costing component in IFS Applications.
Even if the manufacturing methods for these companies are quite different, portions of the production are normally purely repetitive and can be supported by IFS Repetitive Manufacturing and/or IFS Kanban functionality. Shop order type production is fully supported by IFS/Shop Order.
For the Tier 1 and OEM internal suppliers, Configure To Order approaches are often used. IFS/ CTO can be used to support companies with this manufacturing approach.
The Build to Order strategy is a common strategy at OEM and Tier1 the strategy sometimes is to produce in sequence - syncro production.
IFS/CBS (Constraint Based Scheduling) is useful in environments where detailed planning of production and resources needs to be made, based on production constraints.