New pdf case studies available for download

Production Modelling have now created pdf download versions of their simulation and scheduling case studies. Please view the case studies through the folling link

production scheduling case studies

Pankl Racing Systems tunes its production planning

Pankl Racing Systems is a leading designer and manufacturer of high-end crankshafts used in a diverse range of performance motorsport racing in the EU and USA. Formerly Superior Crankshaft LP before its acquisition by Pankl Racing Systems AG, the California based company has 40 highly skilled personnel with many years’ experience working with a number of premium motorsport and high performance road car manufacturers. There can be no more demanding customer deadline than the starting grid of an international motor race so accurate production planning and scheduling is critical to ensuring that the right goods are delivered on time, every time. When a decision was taken to invest in a state-of-the-art planning and scheduling solution, Pankl innovatively harnessed the power of the Internet to partner with UK specialist Production Modelling.

Each of Pankl’s customers’ demands the highest possible standards from each bespoke order. Order sizes range between 2 – 12 items and can be either manufactured, or designed and manufactured, to a supplied customer specification. Depending on the complexity of the final product and the degree of engineering and design involved, lead times can vary between 10-15 weeks with the average being 10-12. Actual manufacturing involves in excess of 50 different process steps which can either be undertaken in Pankl’s specialist production facilities or sub-contracted as and when required. Given the exotic nature of the raw materials used, these are often supplied by the customer but Pankl still needs to retain working buffer stocks to ensure that the all-important delivery date is met.

The production challenges are many and varied beginning with the need to manage multiple products via different production routes through a set of resources with finite capacity. As each product tends to have only one possible route, balancing these is essential. Not only does this necessitate having complete visibility across the entire production facility but also knowing what job is where, and how far through any given process it may be. Knowing the capacity constraints of each individual resource as well as the combined capacity of the plant is also essential. And while set-up and changeover times may not be directly critical, because a product may have to visit any given resource many times during the overall production process, this creates significant potential for bottlenecks.

Pankl’s manufacturing team was formed in 2006 and faces a range of planning and scheduling challenges on a daily basis. To begin with, the company has a production planning horizon which extends over 16 weeks but which also needs to be able to quickly and accurately react to any changes. Whether a problem with a supplier, a resource requiring planned or unplanned maintenance or even a customer requiring a product sooner than initially planned, the customer always has to get their product on time. It’s no good having a car on the grid and saying ‘come back next week’. This means being able to create different production scenarios based on re-prioritizing products and to clearly see the impact on every other order, all the way up to and beyond the working planning horizon. If the change happens at the design and engineering stage, this includes every other order here as well as the knock-on effects to production.

Prior to investing in Orchestrate from Production Modelling, addressing these challenges was a matter of “moving coloured boxes around in Excel.” Not only was this time consuming in and of itself, it also diverted highly skilled human resource away from their primary role within the company. For example, if just one change was required, someone would then have to manually calculate the impact on every other order extending forward up to and beyond 16 weeks. While they were doing what in essence is an administrative task, their main skills were not being best used within the company. The situation became even more time consuming and complex when the team was tasked with generating a range of different ’what-if?’ scenarios to show the impact of different planning responses. In reality this was practically impossible, which when combined with the inability to give reliable data to the sales team, created a general lack of confidence throughout the company in the accuracy of the plan.

The company’s acquisition in 2011 and the increased growth resulting from consolidation of business put even greater strain on the existing way of working and led to a decision being taken in mid-2011 to investigate alternatives. Like most companies, this search began by harnessing the power of the Internet to identify potential solutions. Unlike most companies, Pankl then used the Internet to source, purchase and implement a system that best met its aims and objectives. The team knew it wanted a solution that wasn’t too complex to use but had the background power and functionality that it could make use of when needed. It also recognised that a solution visually similar to Excel but which provided the real time visibility and control of its entire engineering and production facilities would be helpful to ease the transition and not frighten new users.

As part of its research, the team discovered Orchestrate from Production Modelling. After viewing a number of online videos it was clear that Orchestrate not only looked the best, it also provided the closest fit to the company’s requirements. The fact that Orchestrate was developed and owned by Production Modelling was reassuring because Pankl knew that if there was any bespoke work needed, it could be done quickly. It was also clear Production Modelling had experience with working with similar companies. This led to several positive conversations with the Managing Director of Production Modelling, and after a number of very accessible product demonstrations, a decision was taken to invest in Orchestrate.

The system was purchased and downloaded on a 14 day, free trial basis over the Internet during which the team worked closely with Production Modelling to generate and fine tune the required data for Orchestrate. What might seem daunting to some was far from the case because the system was very easy to pick up and the team largely self-taught itself how to use it. The team at Production Modelling, was always there to provide assistance and because everyone worked closely every step of the way, Production Modelling was able to input and check everything that was being done. The time difference between the UK and the US also proved to be highly advantageous because any work the team required would be turned around overnight with the solution waiting the next morning.

Because of the success of the trial, Pankl decided to invest in the top of the range solution, Orchestrate Professional, and less than 2 months later, had moved away from spreadsheets completely. Pankl also invested in a series of online training sessions which have also proved to be highly effective. The team decided on a format of having an hour of straight training followed by an hour of Q&A and has only actually needed one so far but will use the others as it begins to take more advantage of what Orchestrate can do.

While still early days, the benefits have already been pronounced with the team identifying the ability to always provide the correct sequence of jobs as, “a massive help.” Not only can the team now see the bigger picture of what is happening and where, it can accurately pick what job to do and when. The levels of scenario planning that were impossible before are now available in real time and this makes decision making much quicker and more accurate. In fact, the increased accuracy and visibility that this brings have enabled Pankl to confidently increase its production planning horizon by a further 25%. In terms of actual time saved, this represents at least 20 hours per week which over a year equals 1040 hours, or 43 days.

The importance of the role of production planning and scheduling within a company like Pankl can be seen by the fact that the company as a whole now benefits from using Orchestrate. For example, it is now possible for the first time ever to integrate engineering and production into a coherent and interlinked plan meaning that engineering can now be given an accurate required completion date for a job so that production can start on time. More importantly, the impact of changes in one department can be seen in the other which now makes strategic business level planning much more accurate.

Pankl also credits Orchestrate with facilitating better decision making between Sales and Production where there can at times be conflicting priorities. For example, now the Production Manager can demonstrate quickly and clearly what the effects of decisions taken by Sales are going to be. And by both sitting down and looking at a range of ‘what-if?’ scenarios, they can make smarter decisions that are best for the customer and for the business as a whole. This ‘what-if?’ scenario capability is also being used at a top-tier level to determine the potential benefits of investing in new plant equipment by looking at different sales and capacity scenarios.

As for the future, Pankl knows it is only beginning to scratch the surface of what Orchestrate can do. Areas that are highlighted for development centre on making more use of the information that Orchestrate already generates. For example, Output Reports will provide more accurate forecasting for suppliers while greater Work in Progress (WIP) analysis will help smooth workflow and help to further reduce bottlenecks. And the production team’s final word? “We’ve got loads of things to try but we’re taking it one step at a time and getting each step right. We have a saying and we are proving it at each stage: ‘Do what Orchestrate says and everything will be good.’”