Kanban System: Stryker Howmedica Osteonics - Allendale, NJ:Demand Pull Planning System

From the Office of Naval Research's Best Manufacturing Practices (BMP) Program ...

... "Howmedica Osteonics developed the Demand Pull Planning System which is based on the philosophy of placing just enough material on the production floor to satisfy the rate of customer demand. The company developed its new philosophy by exploring concepts from other reliable systems (e.g., lean manufacturing, just-in-time, KanBan, finite loading, levelized scheduling, one-piece flow), and blending the best processes from these systems to best fit its situation. In the past, Howmedica Osteonics used a traditional push system which employed Material Resource Planning (MRP) techniques to control and track everything. Push systems tend to place an overabundance of parts on the factory floor, which leads to large volumes of work in process (WIP), excessive inventories, significant overhead for tracking parts, large queue areas consuming valuable floor space, and high cycle times. This approach also typically results in higher costs and low customer service. In 1992, Howmedica Osteonics developed the Demand Pull Planning System which is based on the philosophy of placing just enough material on the production floor to satisfy the rate of customer demand." ...