Running a manufacturing business has never been challenging now that we are struggling to meet with the problems arising from the covid-19 outbreak. With many countries still enforcing a level of restriction on the movement of people and goods, it’s paramount that the manufacturer streamlines the manufacturing procedures.
While you surely will have to keep your factory running 24/7 or at different hours of the day, you need to have the workforce to meet your production needs. This is where an APS system could prove useful for making things run smoothly. Need to learn more about advanced planning and scheduling and how it can help your manufacturing business? The following sections do justice to the topic. But first, let’s find out what APS is and why it is of great importance in today’s engineering processes.
What is Advanced Planning and Scheduling?
There is no denying that engineering processes rely on a lot of planning and scheduling. This is part of the daily routine in any manufacturing facility as there are quotas that need to be met to fulfill client orders and market needs. While you surely won’t be able to go above your machine production capacity, you will have to make sure that you meet your daily quota.
The raw materials will need to be made available if you will be able to meet the production demands of the finished goods. And you will also need to make sure that there are available hands to attend to the routine daily tasks at the facility.
APS is required in environments where simple methods of planning and execution cannot work in the manufacturing management process. Imagine you have a large amount and size of orders to produce daily, you surely will need an effective system that can ensure that you avoid errors. In this case, ancient methods of using a wall chart or the more recent spreadsheet system won’t be ideal.
So what must the production manager and team do? Your guess is as good as mine. They have to come up with a simpler process to optimize and control manufacturing workload, which will help their ability to optimize inventory levels, meet deadlines and keep the customers satisfied with their service delivery. This link has tips on how to keep up with production deadlines.
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How does an APS Software Work?
Remember that working with an easy application like a spreadsheet could turn out to become obsolete when it comes to meeting high-volume production responsibilities. And for this reason, you want to consider software development that is best suited for your manufacturing process. This way, you don’t have to rely on manual entries like in the case of the spreadsheet. You get a fully functional system that is designed to make certain that you keep your promise to the client to deliver not just on time, but according to product specifications.
One of the upsides to an APS is that it is designed from the ground up with your manufacturing operations in mind. Some of the options like that from Logicdata give you the leverage to decide on whether you have them hosted on the cloud, installed on the facility, or both.
Ways your Manufacturing Business Can Benefit from an APS System
There are many reasons why you want to make the switch to an advanced planning and scheduling system if you are not already using one for your business. And some of the reasons include.
Stay Ahead of the Competition
You will agree that there is a lot of competition in the manufacturing business, and you will be losing out on good opportunities if you are not meeting orders and keeping your current clientele satisfied. It will surely affect your monthly turnout if you don’t meet your daily quota or if customers have to cancel their partnership due to poor service delivery. All this can be avoided if you invest in quality advanced planning and scheduling software designed for your specific business operations.
Avoid Delays in Delivery Times
There is also the added advantage of meeting all your manufacturing delivery times as you get constant reminders about orders that are due for manufacturing and delivery. This automated process will ensure you keep your promise to clients in meeting their delivery times. You get to plan ahead based on delivery deadlines and ensure that everything is ready and shipped to the clients as at when due. No more delays or having to make excuses about not meeting their needs.
Work According to your Capacity
With an inbuilt user-defined planning algorithm embedded in the latest models, you can ensure that you won’t be taking on projects that you can’t deliver. You can create complex processes and analyze scenarios on how to execute them all on one software. So you know the strength of your manufacturing capacity and how much you can deliver before the set deadlines.
Know the State of your Equipment
Stay on top of your functional devices and equipment and know which ones are idle. So you won’t be wasting time running production across a line that has machines that need fixing. This will surely reduce disruption on the production floor and damage to materials in the course of production. You will be avoiding a lot of shortage and waste if you can stay updated on the state of your machines during the course of production.
Save Cost of Production and Achieve Investment Returns
You will be making more profit if you can achieve a manufacturing process that runs smoothly and can meet client demands and deadlines. This will mean that you get to spend less on more raw materials due to wastage or delays in payment when you don’t meet the right order fulfillment. This page has more on how to save production costs and maximize profits.
Final Note
There are a lot of features that come with an APS system that allows you to stay on top of the daily, weekly, and monthly activities in your production facility. You get to perform scenario analysis and create complex processes with the user interface and more. And the good part of all this is that there is no special programming required. You can easily do this via remote access via browser to the production schedule anywhere you are.