Facing supplier lead time changes, how can you adjust production schedules effectively?

Evaluate how the lead time changes affect your production schedule. Identify critical components impacted and estimate the delay's effect on overall timelines. Prioritize high-impact items to minimize disruption. I would conduct a quick impact analysis using our ERP system to identify bottlenecks and adjust timelines accordingly.

Keep all stakeholders informed about the lead time changes. Share updated schedules with the production team, suppliers, and customers. Transparent communication always helps to manage expectations and maintain trust, reducing potential conflicts and surprises.

Most common source of long lead times is miscommunication. Both internal and external communication are key to successful lead time forecasting, and when miscommunication occurs frequently it can slow down your production schedules. Therefore, improving communication improves your lead times.

Reorder your production tasks based on the availability of materials and urgency of orders. Focus on jobs that can proceed without the delayed components. By reprioritizing tasks, we keep the production line moving, avoiding idle time and maintaining productivity.

Using domestic suppliers is one of the best ways to quickly reduce your lead time. While there are certainly some items that can only be sourced from international suppliers, there are many raw materials that can come from domestic sources. International suppliers can take as long as two weeks or more to deliver shipments.

Although that’s definitely a solution, I’ve seen companies having a hard time to manage this dual sourcing operations specially when you have a big supplier database. With the addition of suppliers come costs to maintain it. So a good tip is to double check the necessity and focus on what will really bring in results.

Build stronger relationships with suppliers to gain better insights into their production timelines. Collaborate on demand forecasting to minimize surprises. In my experience Regular meetings with suppliers improved our supply chain visibility and helped anticipate and mitigate potential delays.

Identify Bottlenecks, Rework, and Other Inefficiencies In order to reduce lead times, you need to identify areas of inefficiency in your organization and within your internal processes. This helps you reduce lead times by improving accountability and efficiency. Common types of inefficiencies in the workplace you should be on the lookout for include: Bottlenecks Machine breakdown Rework Reorders Scrap Employee turnover Machine changeover