ABSTRACT
Before wheel operation can begin, all formal scheduling processes must be examined and modified as appropriate to accommodate product wheel scheduling. This includes the scheduling processes executed within plant and corporate computer systems, and any visual scheduling tools being used in the production area.
Once the wheel design has been finalized and approved, any computer systems used for production planning and scheduling must be reconfigured to accommodate wheel scheduling. This may include an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, such as SAP, Microsoft Dynamics, Infor, NetSuite, or JD Edwards, or one of the other systems available from Oracle, used at the plant level or at the corporate level. Most of these systems can be set up for product wheel methods, but the ERP training material can make this challenging. These systems tend to be designed around a material requirements planning (MRP) strategy, where production tends to be scheduled by due dates for end items and lead times and bill of material breakdowns for dependent demand items (component parts or materials for the end item). The documentation and training for most ERP systems emphasize an MRP mode of operation.
