PULL TYPE CONTROL MECHANISMS AND ADVANCE INFORMATION ON CUSTOMER ORDERS

We propose a mechanism for production coordination and control that has characteristics of a pull system but which also incorporates information on future customer orders. We start from the classical base stock system and propose an extension which schedules part release using lead time parameters. The proposed mechanism thus comprises push and pull aspects at the same time. Regardless of a precise push/pull distinction, the mechanism and the framework suggest that there is a strong motivation to design and study a new family of production control mechanisms that use advance order information.