Quick Response Manufacturing
QRM & 24FLOW
The markets are changing. These days, customers expect a wide variety of choice and customized products delivered within days. This evolution puts a high pressure on manufacturing: it needs to cope with smaller order sizes for a variety of products that need to be delivered faster. This is so-called high-complexity, high-mix low-volume production.
Classical methodologies that focus mainly or exclusively on cost-based thinking (e.g. based on OEE and productivity at the machine level) result in planning problems, long lead times, frequent replanning and a suboptimal delivery reliability.
Quick Response Manufacturing (QRM) introduces time-based thinking and a production methodology specifically designed for High-Mix Low-Volume manufacturers. QRM addresses planning & lead time issues faced by HMLV manufacturing by a.o. applying system dynamics. 24Flow is inspired by principles of lean and Quick Response Manufacturing.
Lean or QRM?
Lean and QRM have a lot in common.
Both focus on reducing waste, creating flow by pull mechanisms in the production process, reducing WIP and optimizing lead times. That’s why 24Flow adopt principles from both QRM and lean. Whereas lean is often deployed in low-mix high volume line production environments, QRM is specifically designed for a high-mix low-volume cell-based production environment.
24Flow and QRM
QRM creates value by decreasing overhead costs, increasing the flow of production and reducing lead times.
24Flow offers digital tools that will make your QRM implementation efforts easier, faster and more successful: before you release to production; after you have released for production and when measuring the benefits QRM brings for customers.
24Flow focuses on human-centered technology
24Flow is human-centered and creates a framework that fosters ownership on the shopfloor.
24Flow support operators with digital tools that provide in-context information at the right moment. With its no/low-code platform, it allows for fast improvements based on operator suggestions, in-line with the continuous improvement philosophy.
Manage demand variability
24Flow’s order pool management gives you control over the release schedule to the shopfloor.
Via auto-sequencing of production orders and release lateness metrics, you can optimally meet delivery timelines while avoiding an overload of production orders (and associated WIP) on the shopfloor.
Plan ahead with 24Planning
Via a digital planning board, you can visualize and show the impact of alternative planning decisions (even for future, yet unconfirmed orders), and plan at 80% capacity, to keep lead times short and reliable.
Pull-production with POLCA
24Flow supports pull-based production to ensure a smooth production process and minimize the WIP on the shopfloor.
POLCA is a QRM-based WIP control mechanism, ideally suited when you have many product types with different routing steps. In addition to POLCA, 24Flow also supports other WIP control mechanisms such as Kanban and CONWIP.
MCT maps
MCT (manufacturing critical path time) provides intuitive visual insights of production touch time versus buffer time.
24Flow’s MCT analyzes the buffer versus touch time in your production process and indicate where you should focus your improvement efforts.
Build a resilient team
QRM puts a lot of emphasis on investment in people as training people in multiple competencies is of utmost importance in cell-based production.
24Flow’s Competence Matrix allows you to track employee skills and skill levels, request and approve training for new skills or periodically refresh existing skills. 24Flow facilitates team collaboration on and beyond the shopfloor.
Digitalizing your operations and shop floor is the first step towards implementing Industry 4.0.
Talk to our experts and find out how to get started.
ABOUT US
24Flow is a modular manufacturing platform that empowers make-to-order manufacturers to reduce lead times and increase visibility & traceability. Inspired by lean and QRM, 24Flow controls the flow of production orders which increases visibility and results in shorter lead times, improved delivery reliability and a reduction of work-in-progress and inventory.