Is yours a complex operation with thousands of part numbers, synchronising labour and materials with inventory and multiple other factors that needs full cost analysis to justify your customer pricing? Antony Bourne, global industry sales director at software developer IFS, highlights the advantages of advanced planning and scheduling software over traditional MRP and other manufacturing IT solutions.
Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) is a planning tool that can absorb the enormous complexities of the manufacturing environment to produce optimal decisions for the business. In concept, APS was born from materials requirements planning (MRP) and constrained production scheduling processes.
However, unlike previous systems, APS simultaneously plans and schedules production based on available materials, labour and plant capacity.
A report on supply chain management in Advanced Manufacturing Research, March 1998 claimed that APS’s impact on the manufacturing and scheduling process is “more revolutionary than evolutionary.” The author rightly claimed that the key to understanding APS was to remember that it is a new technology, not a rehash of ancient MRP programmes. He compared the impact of APS on the manufacturing world to that of the microwave oven on cooking, or the compact disc on the way we listen to music.
These tools are today a common feature in the manufacturing environment. In the current financial climate where time and cost efficiencies are critical for business success, the slickest, leanest operators are those who thrive. All software developers will tell you that their product can help you compete in this turbulent market, but in times such as these, businesses are taking time to consider the value of investment and asking themselves whether they are spending their money on the right applications and systems for the job at hand.
Synching materials, labour, inventory and more
An APS application takes advantage of the huge technological leaps forward in data analysis and storage capacity over the last decade; it can calculate and analyse a wide range of factors to arrive at the best possible solution for the business bottom line. Factors taken into consideration might include material availability, machine and labour capacity, due dates, inventory stock limits, cost, distribution requirements and many others.
Since its inception in the 1990s, APS has been proven to achieve phenomenal improvements to time and cost efficiencies for manufacturers, particularly those working in the most complex environments.
Despite this, APS is by no means the standalone solution for every manufacturing business. Its true value lies in its capacity to unwind the complexities of an operating environment, effortlessly taking on decisions that would otherwise take planners days or even weeks to reach manually.
At IFS we have a heritage in providing excellent supply chain solutions for manufacturing customers.
Our customers work in a wide range of different industries, from defence to food manufacturing. One of our customers, Coba Plastics, is a good example of how APS can help manufacturers improve their processes and streamline business operations.
APS is most effective in environments where stock and capacity are constantly changing and being updated. This could include make-to-order manufacturing, production of products that require a large number of components or manufacturing tasks and environments where frequent schedule changes are common.
Like many revolutionary software tools, APS is heralded as a miracle cure and criticised as a waste of money in equal measure. But unlike other tools, APS can reap enormous benefits for companies that take the time to consider whether the end fits the means.
Case Study: Coba Plastics
Coba Plastics specialises in manufacturing thermoplastic extrusions in accordance with QS 9000 standards, chiefly for the automotive industry. Other products include a range of standard and bespoke components used for seating, sealing systems, airbags and windscreen wiper mechanisms.
To ensure continued success as a manufacturer of plastic components, Coba Plastics implemented IFS Applications.
The system, which included APS as a module within the IFS Application product suite, helps to drive improvements at all levels, in particular by achieving greater efficiencies in financial, sales and manufacturing management.
Mark Goodwin, IT Manager at Coba Plastics, outlined some of the key benefits of the APS system.
Improving efficiency
“Coba Plastics has been using IFS Constraint Based Scheduling (APS) since 2003. During the pilot stages of implementation, APS was able to identify bottlenecks in our processes. This enabled us to reallocate ancillary equipment to overcome these bottlenecks – so even before the system actually went live it was generating production plans to make our manufacturing facility as efficient as possible.”
Managing change
“APS is used constantly throughout the day to generate a dynamic plan. It enables us to receive new or modified customer requirements and to allocate these requirements to production to see the knock-on effect.
We can then manage these effects days in advance of stumbling across them. With traditional planning methods a plan is developed on a Friday afternoon for the week ahead. By around lunchtime on Monday, that plan is no longer valid as mechanical breakdown and customer requirements have changed things. With IFS APS, minor adjustments can be made within seconds to handle these changes.”
Dealing with complexities
The APS system is used with around 3,000 part numbers each having many characteristics. The characteristics matrix consists of 14 million combinations. “The IFS APS system therefore has to run millions of calculations to determine the best course of action to achieve the most efficient production plan whilst always delivering on time and in full. These calculations happen in the background and in fractions of a second.” Improved quality of information “The system allowed us to put in place a very good costing model with a breakdown showing every element of cost, even down to the amount of electricity consumed in the manufacture of the product. Using this analysis we can assess the true manufacturing cost of any particular product. We now have a clear understanding of our bottom line. And more importantly we have the information needed to justify our pricing to any customer. The improved costing capability means that Coba can now offer competitive pricing while safeguarding its profit margins.”
Shorter lead times and more proactive sales
“The software brings all the management functions together in a single integrated system that enables Coba staff to be more proactive in dealing with availability and supply issues. With real-time production data available the sales team can quote accurate lead times, and customers will be able to track their orders throughout the production process. And the master scheduling component will enable us to reduce our stockholding significantly, while also satisfying a larger proportion of repeat orders ex-stock.”
Conclusion
Leveraging the planner’s knowledge APS makes use of responsive decision-support tools. This is a departure from traditional tools like MRP which use a step-by-step procedure for material allocation and production capacity and require exceptions to many requirements or rules to be inputted manually.
APS is most effective in environments where stock and capacity are constantly changing and being updated. This could include make-to-order manufacturing, production of products that require a large number of components or manufacturing tasks and environments where frequent schedule changes are common.
Like many revolutionary software tools, APS is heralded as a miracle cure and criticised as a waste of money in equal measure. But unlike other tools, APS can reap enormous benefits for companies that take the time to consider whether the end fits the means.
