Modern TOC Distribution Solution
or
Everything you wanted to know about TOC Distribution, but
were afraid to ask
Longer abstract
From the basic logic of the TOC Distribution solution we analyze what is
necessary to implement it, what more than one decade of implementations have
gathered as the most effective ways to implement it and to fine tune it.
Initially the Distribution cloud is reanalyzed and a deeper connection between
the 3 logistical applications (operations, projects and distribution) is presented.
The design (current and future) of the supply chain is then analyzed so that the
cause and effect of the decisions are well understood.
Then the supply practices and injections are evaluated and the role of buffers,
together with techniques for setting initial values (including how to select which
part of the Mix to affect) and the importance of balancing stocks is evaluated. The
impacts of frequency and lead time are contrasted and evaluated against usual
practices of asset utilization (loading nearly full trucks, routes, dock bays
limitations, frequency of picking etc.)
The Dynamic Buffer Management injections are then evaluated and the
requirements to have it implemented are made explicit. The limits of the classic
DBM are evaluated and challenged as we analyze and deal with the exceptions to
automatic DBM, very small buffers, fast movers and also how to deal with grids.
Seasonalities are very important in the vast majority of supply chains and they
are here analyzed in depth and the 3 major types are defined and their
boundaries defined: the “in the noise” seasonality; normal seasonality and the
super-seasonality (where there are several active CCRs in the supply chain
emerging simultaneously due to the seasonality). How to apply seasonalities, to
what products and by how much (against different curves of demand) how to get
the proper quantities to support them distributed into the supply chain in the
proper time are analyzed here.
Mix management and Category Buffer management are then introduced as a very
recent advance in managing the mix according to demand and how can it be
deployed in accordance to the TOC Distribution logic and specifically how it
impacts retail operations.
In each part participants are invited to explore, challenge and distill the proper
cause and effect in the full TOC Distribution Solution using the 3 layers of logic
(causality, magnitude and timing).