Continuing the series on what makes a GOOD manufacturing organisation we come to:
Manufacturing Effectiveness 14 of 15 – Utopia for Sales, Planning & Finance
Experience indicates that the usual pattern for Sales & Marketing – particularly when the Sales Director, or a Sales orientated General Manager, has been the driving force behind the company since its inception – is to get ‘the deal‘ at any cost, without regards to whether it can be built in the promised time or whether the sale price covers the full costs of manufacture. The negative effect on the organisation of the terms of the sale are often overlooked.
That utopian state for Financial Accounting is one where products are ‘made to order‘ with minimal work-in-progress (WIP).
In comparison the utopian state for the Logistics and Production functions is that of smoothed-out, steady production. As a result when they receive an order that is unachievable w.r.t. delivery performance (Sales & Marketing) or unachievable w.r.t. Quality and Efficiency (Design), experience has shown that the staff in these functions lose motivation.
WHEREAS to optimise manufacturing all the functions making up the organisation need to be aligned.