The Research On Lead Time Curtailment Progam Of ASSAB Company

With the shortening of products development cycle thanks to the technical progress, manufacturers are turning to the quick response of the whole supply chain system for competitive advantage. A shorter lead time has become the major source of core competence apart from quality and cost advantages. Order implementation cycle, which is the most important part of lead time, contributes a lot to the formation of enterprise's competence.The paper begins with an introduction of the daily operation of ASSAB Company, with the process of order implementation cycle analyzed. The problems existing in daily operation, such as Material Select, Equipment Capacity & Deployment and Production Sequencing are also investigated. A systematical analysis and solution is presented based on the theories of Stock Management, Production Sequencing, Cell Manufacturing and Flexibility Improvement methods.In the paper, Queuing Theory, Production Sequencing, The shortest Path Method and Stock Forecast are used to analyze the order implementation cycle of ASSAB Company. By developing and implementing a series of improvement program, ASSAB improved its productivity by 30% within 4 months, with order implementation cycle reduced from 24-36 hours to 12 hours in most cases. The whole Order Implementation Process including the related organizational structure has also been upgraded tremendously.There is still room of improvement for the program, which takes time and may be hindered by some cultural and personal factors. Further research can be carried to further develop and optimize the inventory forecast and production sequencing.