Chronic shortages are a symptom. Expediting harder treats the symptom; the causes are usually four or five specific data and process defects.
Diagnose before you act
- Take the last 90 days of shortages and classify each by root cause.
- Typical categories: record inaccuracy, BOM error, lead time too short, order policy, demand change inside lead time, supplier miss.
- One or two categories will account for most of the volume.
Inventory record accuracy
If the system says you have it and you do not, every downstream fix is wasted. Control the stockroom boundary, close the transaction gaps, and cycle count the shortage-prone parts weekly until accuracy holds.
Lead times and time fences
Compare planned lead time to actual receipt lead time by part and supplier. Then establish a demand time fence so changes inside the material lead time are managed as exceptions rather than absorbed silently.
Order policy and buffers
Set safety stock where variability actually exists — high-usage parts with unreliable supply — rather than uniformly. Uniform safety stock creates excess and still allows shortages.
Make the exception list the job
A daily fifteen-minute review of MRP exception messages by the buyer and planner prevents most escalations. It only works if the underlying data is trusted.