After joining this company, I truly encountered the role of "integrated material control" for the first time. In addition to the scheduling and production planning that production control normally handles, this position also requires taking on material control responsibilities. When orders come in, it's not just about releasing work orders to see what needs to be produced, but also starting to assess whether current inventory is sufficient, which materials need to be purchased, how much to buy, and even thinking ahead about whether upcoming forecast orders might deplete the stock.
A former production control colleague from my previous company mentioned that he used to do this kind of integrated material control as well. He actually thought it was great because he could keep track of what was in stock and what wasn't, without constantly needing to confirm with others. But for me, this was a completely new experience. Especially since the materials I dealt with in the electronics industry were managed very differently from these traditional materials. I used to think inventory was just a clear number, but later realized things were far from that simple.
For example, with the same material number for pipes or sheets, the length and size of each incoming batch can vary slightly. During production, quantities are manually counted at each stage, which inevitably leads to discrepancies. Additionally, some materials are sent out for subcontracting, where they're not counted piece by piece but weighed in batches for processing and picking. When the items come back, the quantity might be a bit more or less than originally estimated. Therefore, the inventory figure doesn't always match the actual usable quantity.
This was truly another world for someone like me who was encountering traditional material control for the first time.
I used to be accustomed to "what you see is what you get," but now I have to start thinking about how much of this inventory is actually usable, when new stock will arrive, how much might remain after processing, how much current orders will consume, and even factoring in forecast orders. I can't wait until we're actually short on materials to realize there's no time to buy more, because the lead time for some materials is already long. By the time orders arrive and we start acting, it could already be too late.
Coincidentally, we're now facing a surge in orders in the second half of the year, with order volumes stacking up. Managing existing orders alone was already busy enough, but now I also have to look ahead at inventory, forecast future demand, and consider which materials to stock in advance and which not to overbuy, since holding excess inventory is also a cost.
I'm only now slowly understanding why my former colleague felt this integrated material control approach was so clear—because everything is in your own hands, and orders, scheduling, inventory, and purchasing needs can all be viewed together. But for me, it also means I have to build my own judgment logic from scratch. I can no longer just see an order and schedule production; I have to start thinking "After scheduling this order, is the material enough?", "What about the next batch?", and "What about the forecast orders after that?"
And the most troublesome part now isn't just the high volume of orders. It's that, with inventory not being 100% accurate, I still have to figure out how to allocate limited materials to the most suitable orders. The order surge only makes this more difficult.
I can only say that after working in production control, I've discovered that different industries and different materials come with completely different ways of handling even the word "inventory." I thought I already had quite a bit of production control experience, but switching industries still means a lot of things to relearn. Now I can only keep running while being chased by orders, while slowly building my own integrated material control logic, hoping that one day I'll be able to see an order and know exactly how to arrange it, instead of fighting inventory shortages every day.