A new software suite, designed to act as a catalyst and facilitate the uptake of lean manufacturing by linking it to enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, has been launched by supply chain management solutions vendor, Fourth Shift. DemandStream, claims the company, is the world's first such product to be available off the shelf and able to work with Fourth Shift and most other ERP systems. It is a relatively low-cost product that delivers significant value for money and will enable manufacturers to make better use of their investment in ERP.
Fourth Shift's new product suite integrates lean manufacturing control methods with ERP by automating Kanban or demand signal management, incorporates pull event messaging, optimises collaborative communications across the supply chain, and provides several other key functions. "The new product addresses the issue of moving to the next phase of the lean journey by gaining better results from lean manufacturing and ERP," says Mike Knight, Fourth Shift's EMEA managing director. The product consists of five modules and can be used with Fourth Shift and many other mainstream ERP systems, running on open platforms and operating systems. Built on Microsoft industry standard technology, the software is open to integration and configuration.