A production that uses excellent technologies and cutting-edge operational tools had to be managed properly, which is why Otlav has also decided to evolve production planning. The story of the transition from “manual” planning through Excel to an advance with CyberPlan, from the words of Dario Zanchetta, IT Manager at Otlav.
How did manual planning work?
Before planning with the Advanced Planning and Scheduling CyberPlan software, production planning was done using Excel. The planning was based on the sales of the previous 6 months and being manual it only took into account the most urgent and important customer orders. Every 3 months the basic Excel file was prepared and reviewed in detail for each department at the beginning of the month. We had a MES that at this stage only needed to know when the production order was ending.
With the growth of Otlav and the development of new and more complex products, manual planning was no longer sustainable, in fact it threatened to block the company’s growth.
How do you plan Otlav production?
Every day CyberPlan analyzes a considerable amount of data, consisting of: item master data, bills of materials, cycles, phases, customer orders, purchase orders, work orders, production orders, sales forecasts, customer forecasts for special items, etc.
All this is possible because CyberPlan integrates easily with any MES and ERP system. In our specific case, CyberPlan currently collects data from 4 different sources (ERP and MES on Oracle, Special Forecasts on SQLServer, Normal Forecasts on Access). Send data to both MES (production orders) and ERP (purchase proposals, production orders, work orders, expected delivery dates for customers).
Every morning the manager views the results of CyberPlan’s processes and analyzes and submits proposals. The experience together with the intuitive interface allows you to immediately see the critical issues and problems.
In which departments is CyberPlan used?
CyberPlan is a really useful and effective tool, in fact it is used by different departments, although for different purposes: planning, production, purchasing office and more. The sales department also benefits from using CyberPlan since it allows them to view the progress of orders and accurately communicate a forecast of the delivery date.
What are the results you have achieved?
We went from manual management with Excel to advanced planning thanks to CyberPlan, which is something else entirely. It is even difficult to quantify the improvement and the difference made, precisely because before there were no IT tools and therefore we do not have data, other than Excel files that probably do not even exist anymore. Of course, today we handle a considerable amount of articles compared to before, and we do it in a simple way since with a couple of clicks we have our programming. The goodness of the tool is also given by the fact that in the event of delays in deliveries, it allows you to easily analyse the cause.
In short, CyberPlan is essential to achieve precise and timely planning, it plans really fast, so much so that I have not seen a better one.
The Venetian company leader in the production of hinges and accessories for windows
Otlav manufactures door and window hinges and other fixture accessories. Founded in 1956 by the entrepreneur Angelo Padovan, it has been led since 1990 by his son Fabio Padovan with an innovative and confident impulse. Otlav has produced over 2,200,000,000 hinges since 1956 to date. The Venetian company, with about 100 patents filed and a wide range of products, guarantees high quality standards and a worldwide presence in 80 countries. The current production site in Santa Lucia di Piave has been built with excellent technologies and cutting-edge operating tools, so much so that it represents a jewel in the automation sector and allows the reduction of management and production costs.
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