Where are the anodised brackets?
The machining finished ten days ago. The parts went to the anodiser with a delivery note written on a pad. The customer's delivery is due Thursday. Nobody is sure whether the anodiser said a week or two, whether they have started, or whether the parts are sitting in their goods in waiting for a purchase order number.
Someone phones. The answer is that they are on the line tomorrow. That was also the answer on Monday.
Why parts vanish between processes
Outside processing sits between two internal operations, and it is nobody's operation. Your MRP might show the job as waiting, but not where it is, when it went or when it should be back.
- Parts go out on hand written delivery notes with no link to the job.
- Purchase orders for the processor are raised late, or not at all.
- Expected return dates are not recorded.
- Quantities out and back are not compared.
- Certificates of conformity from the processor arrive by email weeks later.
The cost of losing sight
Late deliveries caused by a process you do not control, found out about too late to do anything. Short returns discovered at packing. Certificate packs that cannot be completed, so invoices are held. And the office time spent on the phone to processors chasing jobs that should have been visible.
The outside processing tracker we build
- When a job reaches an outside operation, the tool raises the purchase order and the delivery note together, with the job number, part number, drawing revision, quantity and the process specification.
- The dispatch is recorded with the date, the processor and the expected return date based on that processor's usual turnaround, which you set.
- A board shows every job away at a processor, sorted by when it is due back and when the customer delivery is due.
- Jobs past their expected return get an automatic chase email to the processor, and a flag for the planner if the customer delivery is at risk.
- At goods in, the returning parts are scanned. The quantity is checked against what went out, and the processor's certificate is attached to the job.
- Processor performance is reported: how often they return on time and how often quantities or certificates are wrong.
| Moment | What gets recorded |
|---|---|
| Dispatch | Job, quantity, process, PO, expected return |
| Waiting | Days away and customer due date |
| Overdue | Chase sent, planner warned |
| Return | Quantity check and processor certificate |
| Monthly | Turnaround and accuracy by processor |
What the office stops doing
Nobody needs to ring round the processors to find out what is where. The planner sees which customer deliveries depend on parts that are still away, early enough to warn the customer or push the processor. Cert packs are complete when the parts return. And you have facts when deciding which processors to keep.
It helps at quoting too. When the estimator prices a part that needs hard anodising or case hardening, the turnaround for each processor is there from real returns, not from what the processor promised on the phone. Lead times you give customers start to include the outside operations properly, instead of assuming they take a few days.
And when a processor changes ownership, moves site or starts slipping, you see it in the returns before it turns into a string of late deliveries.
Is outside processing a black hole for you?
- Delivery notes to processors are hand written.
- Nobody records when parts are due back.
- You find short returns at packing.
- Processor certificates arrive late or get lost.
- You spend time every week phoning processors.