World-class materiel flexibility: One plant's victory over materiel-related downtime

Abstract

It is not uncommon for the materiel managers in a manufacturing company to be blamed for downtime and the consequent failure to meet production targets. To avoid downtime, materiel managers need to look at their role in solving materiel-related downtime and to address the problems that cause downtime in the same way they would address other process quality problems. Materiel requirements planning at Motorola Automotive and Industrial Electronics Group in Northbrook, Illinois, is described.