Postponement Assembly

Abstract

Postponement is a strategy that can be applied to products such as trucks, automobiles, farm tractors, and computers that are offered with a variety of features and options. In the assembly process, the units are built without the variety of features and options. The assembly is like a single model line and the output units are stocked in a warehouse facility. When the customer orders come in with the exact feature and option combination, the final assembly takes place in the warehouse. This way, complicated make-to-order assembly is replaced with the simpler single model assembly. This strategy yields less inventory in the plant and reduces the lead time to customers. For convenience in this chapter, the strategy is called full postponement. Two alternative assembly strategies for this environment are demonstrated in comparison: no postponement and partial postponement.