Roadmap to the E-Factory

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Roadmap to the e-Factory

replace it. Thus, an order for a unit of production “pulls” product through the

production process. The opposite approach is to “push” product through the

production process by building up an inventory based on a forecast of future

sales. In the extreme ideal case, pull manufacturing results in an average

inventory level of one unit. Obviously, communication about what is selling

and what is needed to meet demand (i.e., demand communication) is very

important in pull manufacturing because the fact that a unit was sold or used

must be communicated backward throughout the order fulfillment process

and ultimately the entire supply chain.

Demand communication rarely makes much of a difference in process

performance by itself ...