Flashy Flashers

Flashy Flashers is a medium-sized firm that produces a line of automotive electrical components. It employs about 900 people and was founded by Johnny Bennett, who started in his garage producing cable assemblies. It supplies Moonbird Silverstreak car dealers in the region, as well as, about 95 auto parts stores. The company’s two most profitable products are the automotive front sidelamp and the headlamp. Recently they had implemented a new MRP system, which has helped the business and seems to be working fairly well. I wanted to see if there was any room for improvement for the company. The recurring problem I found after speaking with several managers was that the MRP system did not include priority and capacity reports that would show updates on due dates for scheduled receipts. The production and inventory control manager suggested that this be included. The shop supervisor complained that the work was not level by any means, stating that some weeks his workers are struggling to find work to do, and others they have to work overtime because of all that is required. The purchase manager said that the buyers had no time for creative buying because they are spending so much time on orders that are needed almost immediately and are sometimes even late. He also stated that the planned lead times are realistic, but one week they are fine, and the next there is a rush order that needs to be placed.

Analysis

After speaking with these managers, I completed a manual MRP explosion of the HL200E headlamp and the SL100E sidelamp to help with the analysis. It is very clear that in some weeks there are many items that are required and in other weeks, there is nothing. This is without any updates on planned order releases. There is possible indication that some items may have shortages and orders may need to be expedited in the following weeks to keep