A Study on the Strategies for Production Affected by Seasonal Demand

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  • 需要に季節変動がある場合の生産システムに関する研究
  • ジュヨウ ニ キセツ ヘンドウ ガ アル バアイ ノ セイサン システム ニ カンスル ケンキュウ

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Abstract

There are few companies that are capable of balancing out supply and demand. Some companies have seasonal variations in the demand for products; for example, home appliances such as air-conditioners, leisure goods and apparel. Other companies have seasonal variations in raw materials; for example, food processors. It has been a critical and typical production problem to equalize the imbalance between supply and demand. Many companies have not yet worked out a solution for this problem. One of major reasons is that the balance itself can be easily influenced by environmental changes. In other words, the company must review standards for inventory levels, and innovate manufacturing system technologies with the measures devised to deal with the expected influence of these changes. It may even lead to restructuring production systems. This paper discusses a production system strategy created to manage seasonal variation in demand. A simulation-based investigation is conducted to analyze the impact of three methods in the production system. This paper first clarifies how the imbalance between demand and supply is equalized in the short term. There arises uncertainty when companies make to stock for smooth production. Therefore, an appropriate inventory level has to be decided. Second, how manufacturing flexibility affects a production system in the long term is clarified. One way of enhancing manufacturing flexibilities is to improve volume flexibility, which is the ability to operate profitably at a different output level. Also clarified is the way to improve the standardization/commonality for components and parts. There are some companies that have already implemented these improvements recently. The results provide manufacturers with better insight and guidelines for determining strategies for seasonal adjustments in production systems.

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