ASR - A new tool and tactic to improve service levels, reduce inventories, and keep frustration down to a low Hum

Actively Synchronized Replenishment (ASR) is a mouthful of a name for a simple but powerful new approach to improving materials, parts, component and finished goods availability while enabling companies to make serious inventory reductions.

It originated with the Replenishment concept embedded in the distribution and supply chain solution of the Theory of Constraints, but ASR has taken it to a whole new level with a strong focus on execution.

The need for such a solution has become pressing as demand forecasts are less accurate than ever, market demand tends to be more volatile than ever, while supply lead times for materials, parts and semi-finished goods have increased by an order of magnitude as off-shoring practices have increased. And of course, supply line variability has also increased with the lead times and the distances involved.

Being caught in the middle of this with the current toolbox isn't a lot of fun. Traditional conflicts between departments can increase, justified investments in ERP systems can be made to look bad, and implementations of "pull" systems (Lean and TOC) can be hamstrung.

Frustrations often run high.

In this PDM we'll introduce the key concepts of Actively Synchronized Replenishment, and explain how this is in some ways a "back to the future" approach where simple Replenishment concepts can have great leverage on modern planning and production approaches. And we'll touch on some of the more complex opportunities, too.

Speaker Bio:

Based in Burnaby, Steve Jackson of Synchronix Technologies Inc. is no stranger to any of the Western APICS Chapters, having been a board member and past President of the Vancouver Chapter 25 years ago, and a regular speaker at APICS conferences and Chapter PDM's ever since.

As a "Jonah" and a "Jonah's Jonah" working on and off with Eli Goldratt & his organizations over 3 separate decades, Steve with his partner Rod Gelhorn has been involved in many Theory of Constraints implementations in Canada and the USA. Prior to his involvement with TOC, Steve was the project leader in more than 20 MRP implementations in Europe, USA and Canada. And before that, he had a real job.