Lead time adjustment through scrap management

In a discrete parts manufacturing environment, it is necessary to compensate for the decreasing planned batch size resulting from production of scrap (defectives) in the production line, by increasing the planned production volume. This calls for a revision in the initially computed manufacturing lead time (MLT). A survey of the literature reveals that although issues related to product quantity regeneration have been studied in detail, little has been done to assess the impact on manufacturing lead times. This paper discusses the impact of scrap on manufacturing lead time in a shop with an intermittent-flow, bath-oriented, discrete-parts manufacturing environment, producing make-to-stock items.