We invented a time machine for planners – and it’s changing how root cause analysis works.
GenLots’ new Time Machine feature lets you see exactly what the data looked like when an order was placed. This allows for powerful root cause analysis and enhances accountability.
Problem
Imagine the worst case: You have your expensive production run tomorrow, but a critical ingredient is not on hand.
Potential reasons:
- The Supplier was delayed.
- The demand was under forecasted.
- The safety stock was configured too low.
- A planner made a mistake.
- ….
Now flip the situation: You suddenly realize you must throw away a lot of a high-value material because it expired.
Potential reasons:
- Need was over forecasted, less was needed in reality
- Your ERP configuration sets too high safety levels compared to actual needs
- You had a product change and need a different ingredient
- A planner made a mistake.
- ….
And yet, despite all the data, it’s nearly impossible to find the real reason.
Forecasts have changed. Parameters have been updated. People have moved teams. The historical state of the system is gone. Yes, read again: ERPs don’t save historical forecasts.
The result?
- Blame instead of insights: Planners are held responsible for issues which are the systems fault.
- Accountability disappears: Conversely, it becomes easy to say “the system is wrong, forecasts have a lot of errors”
- Learning stops: Without knowing the root cause, the same mistakes / faulty system configurations repeat.
Solution
From blame to learning. From chaos to resilience.
GenLots now records the full data snapshot for each order placed. When an issue occurs, simply open the order in the Value Tracker and view what the planner saw back then – forecasts, parameters, everything.
With Time Machine, GenLots empowers planners to understand decisions, learn from the past, and strengthen the future of operations — one order at a time.
- Identify true root causes
- Build accountability in your teams
- Learn and adapt system configurations
- Create a culture of continuous improvements
If you have already GenLots, you don’t have to do anything to enable this feature. It is enabled by default when you click on a past order in the value tracker.
