Runners, Repeaters, Strangers
Runners, Repeaters and Strangers is a useful idea for lean scheduling, thought to have originated in Lucas Industries during the late 1980s.
A runner is a product or product family having sufficient volume to justify dedicated facilities or manufacturing cells. This does not mean that such facilities need to be utilised all the time, merely that it is economic or strategically justifiable to operate such facilities on an as-and-when basis, and not to share them with other products.
A repeater is a product or product family with intermediate volume, where dedicated facilities are not justifiable. Repeaters should be scheduled at regular slots. Even though the quantity may vary, the slot time should remain approximately constant. This brings advantages of order and discipline. For instance, maintenance and tooling know that a particular job requiring a particular die is needed each Tuesday morning, Regularity is the key.
Repeaters form the backbone of the schedule and should be slotted in at regular intervals as often as capacity will allow, maximising flow and minimising inventories.
A stranger is a product or family with a low or intermittent volume. Strangers should be fitted into the schedule around the regular repeater slots. Strangers should be scheduled around the repeaters. They have lowest priority.
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