An on-time delivery improvement model for manufacturing organisations

The purpose of this research was to develop an on-time delivery (OTD) improvement model for make-to-order (MTO) manufacturing organisations, based on: (i) a business process model combining product development and customer order management processes; and (ii) an integrated database with basic data, transaction data and functional applications, for broader planning within manufacturing organisations. The business process model, as part of the overall model, was designed using event-driven process chain (EPC) methodology and incorporated both capacity and material requirements planning functionalities for estimating on-time delivery dates and times. The database associated with the model defines all the data including both basic and transaction data; and links with required functions from sales to service and field return. These functions integrate through the database, using basic data and generate various transaction data including sales orders with an accurate promised date, based not only on the available stock but also on procurement and distribution times of any raw materials from external sources. The proposed model was then implemented in a selected manufacturing organisation. A systematic investigation was carried out to find the major causes of OTD problems of that manufacturer, with a view to implementing and validating the proposed model. After implementing the model average OTD was increased from 10% to 65% in about 12 months of operation.