Dealing with stock codes - outsource etc

unknown

I have a question about how to handle parts going through our plant. This is the scenario:

- We use an outsource vendor to break weld and form a deck.
- We then receive the part and send it to a paint shop to be painted.

Right now the drawings that we use to control this process are coded with a part code say 0010-1101.

Operations would like to add a suffix to the stock code say 0010-1101-P to allow them to receive a painted part and not request another drawing be created from the design group.

Is there a better way. Operations believes that if they don't do this they will loose visability to the part demand inside MRP.

unknown

You need to think this through. You can receive a part in, then stock it as another part# like xxxx-xxxx-1 or whatever.

But this begins to create layers in your MRP. Maybe you want layers. But if you have the -P part on the top-level BOM, do you want the extra layer of planned order for the unpainted part? Or will you have the operation for painting as a leg on your top-level BOM, and it would make more sense to just use the unpainted part #?

Will all colors be a -P, or will there be -PB (black), -PW (white), -PR (red), etc? Will you stock the painted parts?

Do you have an overall plan for MRP that would help determine whether the 2-part system will work well for you (exhaustive BOM's vs layers of Engineering Masters;?--classic MRP vs DDMRP?)

Do you have a strategy for optimizing your inventory vs leadtimes, using safety stock, buffers, etc that will help determine whether this tactic will help inventory optimization?

What part demand does Operations think they will lose track of? The unpainted or painted stage?

0712131256598360.doc