Planning production is a complicated task, for which we must take into account priorities, encounters between materials, deadlines and constraints, to which unforeseen events are inevitably added. If we add to this the fact that products are often composed of numerous components or that some productions involve the creation of unique components, the picture becomes even more complicated.
Planning with an APS or spreadsheet?
The more complex the production, the simpler the answer. Excel spreadsheets are a support to planning until it is quite simple or with reduced complexity. As production grows and becomes more complicated and the data and information to be considered multiply, Excel is no longer enough and the support of the Advanced Planning & Scheduling system (APS) becomes essential. In fact, the APS department is able to simplify the work of the planners of the manufacturing companies and the more complex the production in question is, the greater the benefits given by the software. This is because planning a number of objects and/or components, which may also have to respect a certain succession or constraints in production, meeting demand and reducing costs determines a complexity that is taken over by the APS and returned in the form of efficient production plans.
APS makes the planner’s job easier
The benefits of using software for advanced planning and scheduling do not stop at the effects on company KPIs but also affect the daily work of the planner, or production planner. Thelatter certainly benefits from a reduction in the time needed for planning, thanks to the fact that the APS is able to carry out numerous calculations and activities with low added value, leaving staff free to devote themselves to high-value activities, increasing the quality of the planning department’s work. This is all the more true in the case of CyberPlan as it uses the DB in RAM to perform a huge amount of calculations in seconds or minutes, rather than hours as required by spreadsheets.
“It has allowed people to be professionally qualified and to increase knowledge at the level of supply chain management, logic and planning and scheduling systems.” Roberto Manea – Production Planner – Ferplast
Improve communication within the company, towards suppliers and customers
The APS tool brings with it numerous benefits and it is possible that at first glance some of these may escape or go unnoticed, although they often have beneficial repercussions in different departments. Communication between different business functions can in fact benefit from the use of an APS solution. Often, in fact, these software, even if defined as departmental, allow the sharing of production plans and their values, both within the company towards other offices, and externally, towards customers and suppliers.
“Before there was a lot of paper and the interview between departments was missing, today we all see the same thing.” Roberto Minocchi – Logistics Manager – Trevalli Cooperlat
“The communication of the planning department with the sales department has increased and improved thanks to the advanced planning and scheduling software.” Vittorio Bossio – Supply Chain Manager – Faber
The case studies show that CyberPlan allows the production planning departments to provide delivery dates safely and quickly to other departments, such as sales, which can thus communicate them to customers in a timely manner.
Communication also improves with regard to suppliers, as companies can rely on a tool that indicates the materials needed according to the scheduled plan and thus allows them to be communicated to suppliers.
Learn more about CyberPlan
If you want to find out what it means to use Advanced Planning and Scheduling software to plan production, contact us and speak to an industry expert who will be on hand to answer your questions. Click here >