Meet deadlines, improve throughputÂ
and reduce costs through intelligent scheduling
The modern factory is a tightly integrated ecosystem where each process usually has numerous and complex contraints. Time and again, the failure to meet these constraints in scheduling shop floor operations has led to a plethora of well known issues:
Contention Issues
Two jobs contend for the same resource at overlapping times.
Provisioning Issues
A job fails to provide resources to
another parent job.
Ordering Issues
Sub-optimal scheduling prevents batching of material orders
increasing costs and non-delivery risks.
Limited Skilled Resource Issues
Scheduling jobs failing to correctly distribute limited resources leading to idle work centers and late deliveries.
...
How intelligent scheduling can help
By integrating data sources from ERPs, MRPs to logistics & sensors and leveraging state of the art operational research methods, an intelligent scheduling solution leaves no stone unturned and
allows for:
Maximizing Equipment Utilization
Production Scheduling Optimization ensures that manufacturing equipment is utilized to its fullest capacity by minimizing idle time and downtime between production runs. This maximizes the efficiency of the manufacturing process and helps in getting the most out of capital investments in machinery.
Balancing Workloads
Production Scheduling Optimization ensures a balanced workload across different production lines, workstations, and shifts. This helps in avoiding bottlenecks and overloading of resources, leading to smoother production flows and higher overall productivity.
Improving Planning and Control
Advanced production scheduling techniques enable manufacturers to better plan and control their operations by providing real-time visibility into production schedules, resource availability, and order status. This helps in making informed decisions and quickly responding to changes in demand or production conditions.
Reducing Setup and Changeover Time
By optimizing production schedules, manufacturers can minimize setup and changeover times between different products or production runs. This is particularly beneficial for manufacturers dealing with high-mix, low-volume production, as it reduces downtime and allows for more frequent production changeovers.
Meeting Customer Demand
By accurately forecasting demand and optimizing production schedules accordingly, manufacturers can ensure that they have the right amount of inventory to meet customer demand without overproducing or carrying excess inventory. This helps in reducing inventory carrying costs and minimizing the risk of stockouts.
Minimizing Lead Times
Efficient production scheduling helps in reducing lead times for manufacturing products. By sequencing production orders and tasks in an optimal manner, manufacturers can fulfill customer orders more quickly, leading to improved customer satisfaction and retention.
Optimizing Inventory Levels
Production Scheduling Optimization helps in optimizing inventory levels by synchronizing production with demand. By avoiding excess inventory and minimizing stockouts, manufacturers can reduce inventory holding costs while ensuring that they have sufficient inventory on hand to fulfill customer orders.
Take your shop floor
to the next level
Performing shop-wide optimizations through intelligent scheduling is only the beginning.
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The transformations required for implementing an optimal scheduling solution also open the door to a whole new stage of improvements:
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Simulations to forecast the impact of a change in your processes
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Bottleneck identification through unified analytics
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Readily available KPIs to measure the real impact of change