Why are shortage reports not available?
DBA is a demand-driven, just in time manufacturing system that uses Time to Shipment MRP for item planning and job and PO generation. DBA does not include any shortage reports because manual planning from static shortage reports is incompatible with DBA's demand-driven, just in time architecture.
Manual planning from shortage reports is counter-productive
Manual planning from static shortage reports is counter-productive because it fails to account for the time-phased nature of demand, which means that items are often made or purchased far earlier than needed. It also fails to account for the progressive nature of lowest-level BOM demand creation whereby demand at one level generates demand for subassemblies and materials at subsequent levels. Manually created jobs and purchase orders lack proper date alignment and don’t reflect the correct order of assembly for job release or coherent required dates for prioritized production. Manual planning is highly vulnerable to human error and prone to shortages and over-stocking.
Time to Shipment MRP cannot be replaced with alternative planning methods
Time to Shipment MRP is the core element in DBA's demand-driven, just in time manufacturing architecture and can't be replaced with alternate planning methods.
Just in time manufacturing requires a standard Lead Days for procurement time against all P items, a standard Job Days for production time against all M items,, and a consistent To Order or Stocking order policy for lead time contribution against all items. Stocking order policy items require supply pipeline settings to replenish stock at demand-driven intervals. Demand-driven jobs and purchase orders are generated by MRP on a daily basis to assure that materials are on hand by job planned start dates.
This demand-driven, just in time architecture is not compatible with alternative planning methods. Use the item planning settings as designed and you will get good results, whether you make to order or to stock or have standard or customized products. On the other hand, if you bypass or co-opt item settings or bypass MRP generation with manual planning, you will get very poor results.
