RESULTS | MEDICAL DEVICES
Eliminating backorders in a high-SKU medical device manufacturing environment
A global medical device manufacturer was struggling with inventory imbalance, production scheduling friction, and significant global backorders across a portfolio of more than 5,000 SKUs. Eighty Four Group Consulting helped redesign execution around real-time demand, clearer production priorities, and stronger control on the shop floor.
Executive summary
The business was carrying excess stock in slow-moving items while still missing demand on fast-moving products. Backorders were damaging service levels, customer experience, and commercial performance. At the core was a planning and execution model that could not respond quickly enough to changing demand across a complex 14-stage production process.
The solution was a real-time, demand-driven manufacturing execution model that included a new MES capability, a dynamic scheduling algorithm, and replacement of the paper-based scheduling process with touchscreen execution. The result was complete elimination of backorder losses, improved product availability, and more stable production flow.
The challenge
Managing a high-mix medical device environment requires close alignment between demand, inventory, and production sequencing. In this case, that alignment had broken down.
The business was dealing with:
-
overstocks in slow-moving SKUs
-
stockouts in fast-moving SKUs
-
significant global backorders
-
ongoing firefighting and manual re-planning
-
customer service and product availability issues across the network
This was not simply an inventory issue. It was a decision and execution issue. Demand was moving faster than the production schedule, and the system in place could not adjust priorities with the speed or precision required.
Where control was breaking down
The production scheduling model relied heavily on paper-based processes and manual priority updates. In a 14-stage production environment, that created too much lag between demand changes and execution response.
The pattern was predictable:
fast movers lost priority, backorders grew, expediting increased, slow movers accumulated, and overall inventory quality worsened. The business had inventory, but not enough control over how production decisions responded to actual demand conditions.
The solution
Eighty Four Group Consulting designed and implemented a more disciplined, demand-driven execution model built around three changes.
-
Real-time demand-driven MES
A manufacturing execution capability was introduced to connect live demand, inventory signals, and execution status more directly to production priorities. This improved visibility and reduced dependence on manual workarounds.
What improved
Business outcomes
-
complete elimination of backorder losses
-
improved global customer service
-
improved product availability
-
reduced escalation linked to delayed fulfillment
Operating outcomes
-
fewer planning and scheduling breakdowns
-
less disconnect between demand and execution
-
more stable production flow
-
stronger confidence in production priorities
Why this matters in medical device supply chains
In regulated, high-mix environments, service instability carries a commercial cost and a reputational cost. When production priorities do not reflect actual demand conditions, inventory can look adequate on paper while availability fails in practice.
This case shows the value of connecting execution more directly to demand, especially where SKU counts are high, routing is complex, and service expectations are unforgiving.
Capabilities demonstrated
-
high-SKU inventory discipline
-
demand-driven manufacturing execution
-
real-time production scheduling
-
shop-floor scheduling digitization
-
service and availability improvement in complex manufacturing environments
Similar decision problems often look like this
If your business is carrying too much of the wrong inventory, struggling with backorders, or repeatedly re-planning to manage service issues, the underlying problem may be decision latency between demand, inventory, and execution.
EIGHTY FOUR GROUP CONSULTING
AI for supply chain management grounded in business reality.
Ready to Talk?