Postponement
The term postponement (English to postpone - Move) or postponement strategy is in supply chain management uses and is generally for the postponement of a decision to use better information due to a shorter forecast period. Postponement typically relates to decisions in the logistics or production network .
Postponement strategy in production
In production, the postponement strategy is understood as the late possible, customer-specific differentiation of a standard product into different variants ( assembly postponement ). This variant of the postponement strategy is also called production postponement.
This differentiation only takes place after receipt of the order. Until the order is received, standardized products (components or modules) are manufactured anonymously based on future sales forecasts ( push control ). After receipt of the order, the standardized products are individually assembled in different variants ( pull control ). The decoupling point ( decoupling point , order-penetration-point , variant determination point or freeze point ) represents the transition of customer-independent to customer-related production.
Postponement strategy in logistics / distribution
With the logistic postponement strategy ( geographic postponement ), differentiated products are stored in central warehouses for as long as possible. The transport should take place as late as possible, only after receipt of customer orders. This type of postponement strategy is also known as geographical postponement. In the future, postponement strategies will play a decisive role in improving the supply chain, especially in retail.
Product-related postponement is an urgent requirement for efficient, individualized mass production ( mass customization ). The aim of individualized mass production is to produce customer-specific products, but at a cost that is not higher or only slightly higher than standard products produced in mass production.
Areas of application
Often this strategy is the need for synchronous production (just-in-time production; JIT) or the sequence-synchronous production (just-in-sequence production; JIS) material supply application. In the automotive industry, a special customer specification z. B. the installation of high quality leather seats conceivable.
For special components, goods and products whose storage is very cost-intensive, the point of decoupling is often at the beginning of the value chain. This means that there is no forecast-controlled production, but the products are only manufactured after receipt of customer orders and individual specifications.
Another example with a decoupling point at production level is e.g. B. the individual composition of PCs according to customer requirements. Standard parts can be produced here and kept in stock. Only when the customer order arrives is the final assembly of the end product carried out according to the customer's specifications.
In the spare parts supply for the automotive industry, there are decoupling points at warehouse level. This means that the production runs in series in stock and the final variant formation only takes place in the specific case of need, e.g. B. the painting of a hood in the corresponding color of an accident vehicle.
Web links
literature
- Swaminathan, JM, & Lee, HL (2003): Design for Postponement . Handbooks in Operations Research and Management Science, 11 (Supply Chain Management: Design, Coordination and Operation), 199–226 doi : 10.1016 / S0927-0507 (03) 11005-5