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Rating: 
Summary: No thanks, I'll keep my MRP...
Review: .
And now we have a new "Silver Bullet," or at least that was what the authors would have you believe! But is 3C the greatest thing since sliced bread? To be sure, it does have something to offer. Unfortunately, a reading of this book will not answer all your questions because:"Although not complicated, because of space and time constraints, we will leave all detailed explanations pertaining to implementation to future separate publications." (p 62) The technique that "3C" is to replace is called Material Requirements Planning (MRP). It is a technique for determining what supplies you will need in order to build what you have decided to build. It was NEVER meant to determine what you are capable of building, that was left to Capacity Requirements Planning (CRP). It was NEVER intended to predict what you should build, that was left to Master Scheduling (MPS). It was only designed to simplify the ordering / reordering process, by flagging the parts which must be given special consideration. 3C doesn't eliminate forecasting, it doesn't address the complexity of accounting for new product startup, and it doesn't work when each product has its own unique bottleneck. For example, assume that two products use aluminum sheet. Product A uses a shear to cut the aluminum into rectangles and product B uses a punch press to cut the aluminum into circles. These two cutting techniques are the respective bottlenecks for these two products. 3C would suggest that you stock enough aluminum sheet to provide for the product that consumes the most aluminum sheet, and ignore the other. The authors unfairly criticize MRP by saying: "The lack of success before 3C was due to the unfortunate fact that MRP methodologies are completely blind to commonality and consequently are unable to exploit it in any way." (p 63) But MPS, which drives MRP has powerful tools to "aggregate" demand. This means that common parts (say, lug-nuts) are ordered against a forecast for vehicles, long before the forecast is refined to include cars, trucks and SUVs. When an order for a red SUV is processed, 20 lug-nuts are available. One piece of fancy footwork, is 3C's technique of setting a "Maximum Sales Rate" (MSR), and not "allowing" sales beyond that. I wonder if the customer who is refused would agree that represents "100% customer service!" And last but not least, the website listed in the book has been closed and there currently are no "subsequent publications" available to fill the gaps left by this incomplete work.
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Rating: 
Summary: VALUE WORTH OF YOUR MONEY
Review: AS WE HAVE PASSED TO THE NEW MILLENNIUM AND OUR WOLRD IS TOO COMPLEX WE HAVE ALREADY FORGOT SIMPLY THINGS. THE OLD GOOD DRAND MAM RECEIPY CAN BE A GOOD EXAMPLE. THE SOLUTION WAS IN FRONT OF US SIMPLY WE COULD NOT SEE IT. 3C CAN BE OUR SOLUTION TO THE MATERIALS MANAGEMENT VANGLEIS RODOPOULOS LOGISTICS PRACTITIONER , EDUCATOR
Rating: 
Summary: Great book!
Review: Having experienced some of 3C first hand, I can testify that the approach is valid and useful. However, like most new things, it takes time to digest and to translate the theory to practice. One size does not fit all. The good thing is that you don't need a lot of expensive "experts" to implement. You do need people with basic factory functional competence, common sense, open minds, and management willing to "stay the course." The 3C method is a fresh and intersting approach to age-old problems. Its initial success lies in the opportunity (excuse) to challenge the old ways and assumptions, with both suppliers and customers, using common sense approaches. This usually results in resetting customer expectations (a good thing!), to which 3C provides some ready answers. However, one should be careful in not getting too wrapped up in the belief 3C is a "silver bullet" that will solve all their operting problems. In this regard, 3C is no different than the rest. Applied to a factory, without careful thought and involvement of all functional departments, 3C could be ruinous. However, this is just as if you gave a new teenage driver a book on driving, the keys to the family car, and wishing him well! 3C is powerful stuff!
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Summary: 3C: a good aproach to complement MRP
Review: I find the book interesting and in fact I have to say that it summarizes concepts and strategies that are fequentry used in the chemical industry in combination with MRP. In spite of that, I find that mathematical explanation and background is not fully explained: The first assumption that has not been talking into account is the instantaneous capacity vs. instantaneous demand. If demand has for example a season, where during the peak demand is higher than production capacity (this a the most common scenario in chemical, health, food, beverage, some electronic and textil industry), and you use 3C as it is mentioned in the book, you will be fired and your company will have a serious stock out. You have to built up an inventory to support the sales, during part of the low season, and you have to use a sales forecast to perform the builtup. An other issue that has not been considerated is the raw material leadtimes vs. instantaneous consumption. If the instantaneous consuption is high and your storage capacity is lower that procurement leadtime, using 3C you will have a material shortage and will also be fired. Unfortunatelly this is the most common case in the industry, where we procure raw materials from other continents with 60 - 80 days leadtime. In most cases it is not convenient to have so large storage capacity due to financial cost and high investment needs, I am talking about millon of u$s of increased working capital.
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Summary: Straight to the point
Review: I strongly recommend this reading. This book proves wrong the idea of many industries and businesses that only with great amounts of money can the problem of shortages be solved. I like the simplicity of the 3C theory and will try to practice it in our business as much as we can. We certainly don't have the money to buy one of those highly expensive ERP solutions. This makes perfect sense for small businesses, like ours, that just want to have better customer service while keeping operating expenses low. Finally a solution that anyone can use to save money. I also like the easy going style of the book. It was fun to read.
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Summary: The answer is in front of us !
Review: In these days, companies struggle through costly software implementations: APS, decision support tools...The search for the "Holy Grail" in Supply Chain Management drives operations management decisions. Yet, the bottom line not always improves. This book tells you: "Keep It Simple". Use your money wisely and don't waste one more minute. The answer is right in front of your nose. Its stile reminds you of Goldratt. It is aggressive, to the point, and easy to read. But most of all it tells you how.
Rating:
Summary: The answer is in front of us !
Review: In these days, companies struggle through costly software implementations: APS, decision support tools...The search for the "Holy Grail" in Supply Chain Management drives operations management decisions. Yet, the bottom line not always improves. This book tells you: "Keep It Simple". Use your money wisely and don't waste one more minute. The answer is right in front of your nose. Its stile reminds you of Goldratt. It is aggressive, to the point, and easy to read. But most of all it tells you how.
Rating:
Summary: Contemporary MRP alternative for supply chain optimisation
Review: This slim volume is suitable for a wide audience including manufacturing/industrial students, MBAs as well as industrialists and consultants. The basic problem is that MRP2 at the heart of ERP implementations cannot cope with inaccurate forecasts, is unecessarily complex, does not deliver promised benefits, leaving high caliber manufacturing schedulers manually cancelling reams of wrong computer purchase orders. The solution 3C (inspired partly by kitchen operations) focusses on capacity as a constraint, commonality of BOMS, and consumption of stocks for re-order to achieve impressively supported results of doubled stockturns, slashed costs, 100% customer delivery performance and reduced WIP and inventory levels. This is despite there being a requirement for stocks for 100% production of all products. The theory, analyses, case studies, data and independent support from Stanford University lead to the conclusion that there is merit in the 3C approach to optimising supply quality charts and figures, tighter support of anecdotal arguments, more contemporary business context (e.g. the web and e-commerce, postponement and mass-customisation, globalisation, cyber manufacturing, strategic dimensions etc..), and more on how to actually implement the approach. Overall the book is topical, approachable in style, with good content likely to trigger critical thought on manufacturing operations and supply chains.
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