MANUFACTURING
The line stopped for a part the system says is on hand.
Raw material, WIP and finished goods that never quite reconcile. Backflushing hides what the floor used and staging areas turn permanent. Before long, the planner stops trusting the numbers MRP runs on.
We fix how material moves from receiving to the line and back, then train the crew to keep it that way.
When the line waits on the stockroom
Shortages the system didn't see coming
MRP says you have enough. The line runs out halfway through the job. Then someone drives to the supplier or pays to expedite.
Backflush adjustments every month-end
Consumption gets posted from the BOM, not from what the floor used. Scrap and substitutions pile up as variances nobody can explain.
Staging areas that became storage
Material pulled for a job sits at the line for weeks. It's off the shelf but not on the job, so nobody planning the next one can see it.
Finished goods with no home
Product comes off the line faster than it gets put away, so shipping hunts for it and the count drifts.
WHY IT BREAKS HERE
The stockroom and the line run on different clocks.
Production cares about keeping the line running. The stockroom cares about accurate counts. When those two collide, the line wins. The transactions that keep inventory right get skipped or posted later from memory.
The fix is a material flow both sides can live with: a clear issue point, kits or line-side supply sized to the job, a way to return unused material, and backflush settings that match how the floor works.
Where stores meets the line
Manufacturing work centers on the handoff between stores and production.
- 01Map how material is received, stored, issued, consumed and returned
- 02Compare backflush and issue settings with what the floor does
- 03Design staging, kitting or line-side supply for your highest-volume jobs
- 04Set up a return-to-stock process for unused and partial material
- 05Fix finished goods putaway so shipping can find what production made
- 06Write SOPs for stores and production leads, then train both
You keep your ERP and MRP. We change how the floor feeds them, so the numbers they plan from are real.
Manufacturing work usually starts with a Flight Check that follows material from the dock to the line, then Ground Crew at the issue points.
Software comes up when the ERP can't track lots or take a scan at the point of use. Then Flight Plan runs a selection built around your material flow.
How an engagement runs →Common questions
Should we stop backflushing?
Not necessarily. Backflush works well for high-volume, low-cost components with stable usage. The problem is usually applying it everywhere. We help you decide which items to backflush and which to issue.
Do you work with production planning?
We work alongside it. We don't run your MRP, but we fix the inventory accuracy it depends on and make sure planners and the floor agree on where material is.
We're make-to-order with lots of one-off jobs. Does this still apply?
Yes. Kitting and staging look different for job shops, but the basics are the same: a clear point where material leaves stock, and a way to get the unused part back.
Stop the line from waiting on parts.
Thirty minutes on the phone. Walk us through how material gets to the line and we'll tell you where we'd start.
Thirty minutes, and no pitch.