Lower In-Process Inventories and Better On-Time Performance at Tanner Companies, Inc

• Published in: Interfaces (Providence) Vol. 25; no. 4; pp. 30 - 43
• Main Authors: Bowers, Melissa R, Agarwal, Anurag
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Linthicum INFORMS 01.07.1995; The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS); Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences
• Subjects: Budget deficits; Case studies; Clothing industry; Consumer goods industries; Finished goods; Heuristics; industries: textiles/apparel; Information systems; Inventories; Production management; Production planning; Production scheduling; Scheduling; Sewing; Tanneries; Work in process; Workloads; United States > US
• ISSN: 0092-2102; 2644-0865; 1526-551X; 2644-0873
• DOI: 10.1287/inte.25.4.30

In the early 1990s, Tanner Companies had a 74 percent on-time delivery rate and high levels of work in process. To increase on-time deliveries and raise customer service levels, the company focused on production planning and scheduling for the first time. In developing a short-term planning system, we began by designing a garment information system which provided the basis for an analytical heuristic-based scheduling model. During the development process, we actively involved users and managers at all levels to ensure employee support and smooth installation. As a result, the scheduling model was a big success. In one year, it decreased WIP levels by $200,000 and increased on-time deliveries to over 90 percent. The garment information and scheduling system has been well received and has become an integral part of daily operations at Tanner Companies.