Articles by Nancy Phillippi, Custom Information Services
I have worked with
mid-sized manufacturing companies for over a decade
and have looked at several APS or Advanced Planning
and Scheduling Systems that integrate to ERP
software like
Microsoft Dynamics GP. Especially a
graphical tool with a Gantt chart that production
planner can change the schedule by dragging and
dropping! Most
manufacturing companies don’t think they
have a huge need for scheduling since they use a
spreadsheet or the production manager’s head as the
tool of choice. I think they are wrong… a 100GB
spreadsheet is not the answer! Over the years my
search for an affordable yet robust scheduling tool
has come up empty. I could only find expensive
tools that did not integrate with our mid-market ERP
packages which has kept most of client base from
making the investment.
The lack of a good scheduling
tool is costing manufacturers money due to poor
staff scheduling, missed production time, delivery
time promises wrong, the time just to come up with
the schedule, and what if it changes? What if your
number one customer calls in and request you move up
a delivery date? The question is this; what is all
this time worth to you? I know the term Return on
Investment can get eyes rolling, but this ROI is
hard to pass up…
Many ERP packages do have a
schedule that is inherent to the software but it may
be limited to constraints such as finite capacity
planning (no limit to my plant resources). This has
been an issue for some of our clients and the
workaround has been to size all batches to the
maximum allowed for the equipment being used. For
example I have demand for 1,000 gallons, I have a
200 gallon mixer that is used for this formula, so I
ensure all formulas that need this mixer don’t
exceed 200 gallons. I may have to split 5 work
orders up to get to my 1,000 gallon demand.
Regardless I do have to make 1,000 gallons to fill
an order or forecast for stock. Maybe I have
clean-up after each batch or worst case; the mixer
goes down. Perhaps your company manufactures
products with allergens. You know how difficult it
can be to schedule. These are scenarios that could
occur every day in the life of a manufacturer.
I am very pleased that there is
an affordable
graphical scheduling system from PlanetTogether
for Dynamics GP, Vicinity Manufacturing
(formula/recipe) and Horizons (mixed mode) that can
address these real day to day issues. Affordable
is a key word! In the past only the big boys could
implement such a time and resource saving tool.
I am listing just a few of the
PlanetTogether features:
- Product Specific Resource Assignment
- Physical Properties Constraints (could be
allergens)
- Quantity, Quality or Other Assignment
Limitations (perhaps packaging size or
quantities like the 1,000 gallon example I gave
above)
- Schedule by Inventory Constraints
- Customer Priorities – Ranking
- Clean-up/Sanitation or Maintenance Time
- Batch Processes (time varies by equipment
size)
- Create and Share Information in Real Time
I am also listing a few ROI benefits!
Revenue
Increases
- More orders due to increased on-time,
reliable delivery and higher resource
utilizations
- Win rush orders by quoting shorter dynamic
(not fixed) lead times
- Sell planned idle capacity before it’s lost
Cost
Reductions
- Cut labor costs by increasing resource
utilization and tracking
- Cut expediting costs by increasing
predictability
- Cut material carrying costs by synchronizing
purchasing & production
- Cut finished goods carrying costs by
producing more just-in-time
- Cut overtime costs by level-loading
resources
- Cut capacity expansion costs due to
reduction in setup frequency
- Cut production costs by optimizing product
changeovers.
As you can see from this
information a production scheduling tool would be of
great benefit to your manufacturing planning. If
you are using a spreadsheet or a scheduling tool
that does not integrate to your production software,
then I would recommend that you and your team take a
peek at PlanetTogether.
If you care to comment on the information above
or have any questions please feel free to contact me
at 817-640-0016 x 109 or by emailing me at nphillippi@customis.com.
Custom Information Services is a
Dynamics reseller
in Dallas, Fort Worth Texas. |
