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If you want to improve Flow in the Supply Chain, decide when not to produce.
One of the main reasons for poor product flow in the supply chain is overproduction or early production. If a machine or a production plant is idle, managers often resort to loading it with the next production batch. The output has to wait for a long time before it is processed by the next machine. In case of finished goods, the batch may have to wait for several days before it is distributed.
Such an early production not only disrupts the smooth flow, but it also results in higher inventory and lower freshness of the product.
In case of a Demand Driven Supply Chain, production requirements are generated by depletion of the strategic inventory buffers. Producing beforehand would result in overflow of buffers and a possible crunch on storage capacity, which might delay the production of another item where buffers are already depleted.
The timing of production batches controls both the stockouts as well as the inventory pile ups.
Supply Chains with a practical mechanism to release production orders have a smooth flow, with higher levels of availability and freshness for their entire portfolio.