• Inventory control in place.
o Sustained Operations.
• Sustained product manufacturing.
• Process refinement.
• Plan for obsolescence.
Removal.
• Manufacturing taper.
• Loss control.
• Materials management.
• Resource transition.
The span of time varies depending on the planned life of the product. Some product lifecycles are measured in months "others years. The activities that support each phase also differ in duration. Products that have long lifecycles will require warranty, technical documentation, and extended human resource involvement. The experience that your product development, sales and marketing staff have concerning printer acceptance; are key intelligence puzzle pieces to laying out a lifecycle for a product. .
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Art and Science of Forecasting .
Many Remanufacturers are just beginning to discover the need for accurate forecasts to base their production lifecycle planning. The pace of forecasting technology innovation, and the economies this innovation affords, particularly with collaborative planning and mining the possibilities of the eCommerce. .
Some proponents of computer-aided manufacturing methodologies are declaring sales and demand forecasts to be obsolete. Untrue: The customer's input is absolutely crucial to developing your product lifecycle model. We must remember that every forecast contains some degree of uncertainty, but our recognition of the market and current data will allow quick response to change. The lean manufacturing philosophy is to tie production levels to actual customer demand. Please recognize that the demand data is gathered and is historical. The future demand is still uncertain, we are guessing. The risk is our responsibility to minimize. The company and our suppliers must keep inventory levels sufficient to handle all possibilities. These are costs that will come back to the company.