The Access Group announces new preferred Advance Planning and Scheduling supplier

It comes as no surprise to learn that The Access Group is listed as one of the top five, fastest-growing UK software developers by the Sunday Times. With more than 10,000 UK organisations using their solutions, they provide an integrated platform that spans everything from finance to ERP, HR, payroll, business intelligence, professional service automation, manufacturing and warehousing. Of course, even the most comprehensive platforms need to include best-of-breed specialist solutions for highly complex functions, such as advanced planning and scheduling. That’s why Access has teamed with Production Modelling to incorporate their Orchestrate suite of planning and scheduling solutions within Access SupplyChain.

“We have always provided advanced planning and scheduling within our supply chain offering,” explains Neil Rushby, Supply Chain Divisional Manager at Access Group, “and because of the very specialised nature of the planning process we have been using one of the best known proprietary solutions in the market. Nevertheless, we were always looking to see if we could improve our offering, particularly in terms of the ease and speed with which planning and scheduling can be tailored to each client’s specific needs and mode of operation. “So, when we learned of Production Modelling’s Orchestrate - and its many blue chip users - from a newly recruited Account Manager, we decided to evaluate the product.”

The Access team admits to being bowled over at the first meeting and demonstration, particularly by the product’s tailor-ability and ease of use. So much so that they asked one of their own experts to spend a day with the Production Modelling team to tease out any hidden complications. “There weren’t any,” says Neil, “so we decided to test it in a customised demonstration to a food manufacturing prospect. They signed up after that single demonstration. It really does have rich functionality.”

“Orchestrate has been written for ease of integration as well as ease of use. Our initial cut at database-level integration took just one day, then just a couple of days to enhance.”

“After that first day, though, the level of integration was more extensive than with our former solution. With core integration complete, we are now able to get Orchestrate up and running with a client within an hour. Another real strength of Orchestrate is the way it allows users to determine how they wish to input information, which gives them so much more confidence. Previously that would have required programmer intervention. Unlike our previous solution, which was sold through resellers, we can now work directly with the developers at Production Modelling, who have extensive experience in planning and scheduling. They are always very willing to solve non-standard requirements, extending functionality to allow complex or unique scenarios to be delivered.”

Access has implemented the solution within two clients already, a food company and an engineering company with a number of prospects in the pipeline. Although Orchestrate is initially being focused within Access’s Supply Chain market, the company has a strategy to roll the solution out to other customers who are using their finance product. Orchestrate can offer these customers all the power and benefits of advanced planning and scheduling, and material management, even in the absence of a full ERP system.

Last word goes to Mike Straiton, Director at Production Modelling: “We've always known that Orchestrate is a very functionally rich and flexible product but it’s heartening to have it endorsed by Access Group, who have many years' experience and deep expertise in planning and scheduling. Our combined knowledge will help us to forge even stronger solutions for customers.”

Lufthansa Technik Landing Gear Services adopts Orchestrate production scheudling software to deliver improved throughput and profitability

Lufthansa Technik Landing Gear Services (LTLGS) UK is a leader in the repair and overhaul of aircraft landing gear, flap tracks and carriages and related components. Based near London’s Heathrow airport, LTLGS’s purpose built facility is one of the most modern landing gear shops in the world. In January 2013, the company implemented the Orchestrate production scheduling software, with almost immediate benefits in productivity and profitability.

The Company

Although part of the Lufthansa group of companies, LTLGS UK serves a high proportion of the world’s airline fleets as an independent, international maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) service provider. Customers include names like Virgin, BA, Air France and Ryanair. With an annual throughput of 300+ overhauls, the company is one of the leading landing gear specialists in Europe.
The business has expanded rapidly since it was established in 1998, steadily increasing its product range and creating a very broad global customer base. In addition to its UK facility, LTLGS has landing gear MRO operations in Hamburg, Los Angeles and China.

The Challenge

An aircraft’s landing gear is a complex assembly of anything between 1,000 and 3,000 components and can account for between four to five per cent of an aircraft’s take-off weight. A scheduled overhaul can take anything between 30 to 45 days, involving strip down, inspection, repair, refurbishing and replacement and build.
“The complexity comes from having to work to constantly changing customer maintenance schedules, which are further compounded by unscheduled repairs to Aircraft On Ground (AOG),” explains Brett Lambourne, Planning & Scheduling Manager. “Even though we provide ‘exchange assets’, scheduling can be a nightmare. Until the initial stripping and inspection loop has been completed it’s not possible to accurately schedule repairs, machining, manufacturing, plating, testing, fitting, rebuild and so on. And, of course, different elements compete for limited resources.”
Until the introduction of Orchestrate production scheduling software, planning was performed using multiple spreadsheets, created and maintained by different people in different departments. Getting the right mix of work going through production can have an enormous impact on cash flow and profitability, none of the spreads sheets were linked and the commercial or financial aspects were not part of the planning process.

The Solution

The company recognized the scale of the challenge and recruited Brett because of his experience in planning and scheduling, gained in the (construction) Manufacturing industry. He joined the company in December 2012 and, as part of a systems evaluation, downloaded a free version of Orchestrate from the web. “It was an ideal test of the system’s capabilities as well as ease of use,” says Brett. “In no time at all, I had developed a fully functional personalized demonstration, using our own data - without any need to contact Production Modelling, the software authors. This was sufficient to convince me that the system would easily accommodate our reporting and planning needs. Because the demo was built using our own processes and data, it was also an ideal tool to convince others within the company.”
“We went live in my fourth month with the company, including integration with our SQL-based systems used produce works orders. Integration with legacy and ERP systems is another of Orchestrate’s strengths and, in practice, took us just a matter of hours.”
Introduction of new systems have, of course, meant a culture change from independent list-driven processes to coordinated, ‘visual’ plans and schedules. Brett believes that the ease of use and the graphic output from Orchestrate have helped speed up the process of culture change.

The Benefits

“Orchestrate production scheduling software has dramatically cut the time taken in planning and has given us an accurate end-to-end planning view for the first time, helping us to improve productivity. By June, we had cut the time devoted to planning by 20-30% and I can confidently predict that improvement to increase to a total of 60%. As to throughput in build-to-schedule, that has improved from a historic performance of 70-80% to a current achievement of 95%.”
Marrying the commercial aspects into planning will help us achieve a much more cost-effective mix of work going through the production and finishing loops. Meanwhile, systems integration has speeded up the process, eliminated manual data entry and transcription errors.”
Brett also reports an improvement in customer communications. “As a recent example, we were able to accommodate a rush request by re-scheduling another customer’s work, with each customer confident of delivery because we were able to show them how completion would be achieved. Again, this is a very ‘visual’ approach.”

The Future

Currently, LTLGS uses a projector in their morning planning meetings and printed output for use in the works. Once everyone is fully used to the new format, they intend to have displays around the production bays, an approach successfully adopted by a number of Orchestrate customers.
Finally, the systems will be rolled out to other facilities around the world. Brett Lambourne: “The company plans common systems in each of our facilities and our next project is to start in August at the Landing Factory in Hamburg Germany. Next in line will be a visit to Sun Valley, LA, for review of adopting orchestrate later in the year. Orchestrate production scheduling software already has big name users in North America. Last of all, I believe we will have a opportunity to review the potential of implementing the system at our plant in Beijing, China – probably a first for Orchestrate in the People’s Republic.

Setting Up Database Permissions on an Orchestrate Server

Setting Up Database Permissions on an Orchestrate production scheduling software Server

In a multi-user environment, the Orchestrate production scheduling software database needs to be set up to allow access for multiple users.  This document details how to grant access to these users on the Orchestrate Server.

A member of domain administrators is required to perform the following operations

Process Summary:

This is an overview of the steps required to set up permissions for your Orchestrate production scheduling software users

1) Create a Windows Group on the domain

2) Allocate domain users into this group

3) Add this Windows Group into the specified SQL Server instance as a login

4) Map this login to all required Orchestrate databases as a user;

Detailed Steps:

Follow the steps below on the Windows Primary Domain Controller (PDC).  Note that the following screenshots were performed on Windows Server 2008:

1) Create a Windows Group called “Orchestrate Users” on the domain on the PDC;

2) Allocate necessary domain users into the “Orchestrate Users” domain group on the PDC; 

Follow the steps below on the Orchestrate production scheduling software database server:

3) Log into the database server containing the Orchestrate database with a domain administrator account;

4) Start Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio and sign into a SQL Server instance where Orchestrate databases are hosted with “Windows Authentication”;

5) Expand “Security” folder in the tree structure in the Object Explorer;  right click “Logins” folder and select “New Login …” from the context menu;

  

6) Type “[Your Domain Name]\Orchestrate Users” into the text box;

7) Click “User Mapping” page from “Select a page” from the left side of the “Login – New” window;

8)  Tick all Orchestrate databases from the list and click “OK” button. 

Walker Precision Benefit from Rapid Production Planning Solution

Walker Precision Engineering (WPE Ltd) has grown into a cutting-edge contract manufacturing company serving a number of industry leading market sectors. The company has adopted Orchestrate production planning software from Production Modelling that replaces multiple spread sheets and flowcharts with much more intuitive, real-time displays and ‘what if’ scenarios. Early results, using large screen displays and a Windows 8 wireless tablet device used for plant live updates,  have begun the momentum for change – although early days yet, as the system is being fully integrated into more of the business on-time delivery performance is steadily improving.

Walker Precision Engineering Ltd (WPE Ltd)

Walker Precision Engineering are a forward looking technology led contract manufacturing company.

Established in 1979 the company has risen to the challenges of changing market conditions. From small beginnings the company now employs over 150 skilled personnel over three sites.

The company services markets Worldwide, covering a diverse customer base in engineering cutting edge sectors.

 Stuart Glen updating Orchestrate within the shop floor using on a Windows 8 Tablet 

The Challenge

WPE Ltd is a highly successful business that has forged a strong presence as a contract manufacturing company in a number of high-tech industry sectors. Their success has been built around innovation and the ability to provide quality products and services in a  competitive market. With rapid growth, the challenge has been to meet customer expectations. The directors recognised a major potential issue with on-time delivery, customer communications and supply chain transparency.

The scheduling process is complex, involving three very different business units, an assembly area, painting and plating, off site clean room facilities and a production plant in Poland.

• Business Unit One specialises in large, often complex projects offering high quality product to customers in a variety of energy markets including valve bearing and compressor manufacturer. Some parts may progress through as many as eight differing machines/processes and elapsed process time can be measured in weeks.
• Business Unit Two is dedicated mainly to Aero & Defence – low volume, high integrity work, typically involving a single machine process on 5-Axis machine centres.
• Business Unit Three is dedicated to support a leading Aero engine manufacturer. This business process includes repair & design work as well as manufacturing for the aero industry, involving exotic materials with rapid turnaround to support Aircraft On Ground (AOG) situations.

Having invested heavily in advanced numerical control equipment and the latest twin & 5-Axis pallet multi-access machining centres, many machines run for the full 168 hours a week. Monday to Friday, most of BU2 operates a night shift and overtime working is necessary every weekend. The company is focussed to meet demand, but until now this has been very much at the cost of on-time delivery. Credible information was not evident hence customer satisfaction was deteriorating.

Orchestrate installed within production offices on wall mounted large screens

The Solution

Management recognised the need to do something and recruited a Master Production Scheduler, who takes up the story:

 “We looked at more than one potential solution, but very quickly came to the conclusion that Orchestrate production planning software offered a modern interface, was easy to use and provided flexibility within the planning process. The whole approach from Production Modelling was reassuring. First, the demo. They took the time and trouble to make the demonstration meaningful.  After completing a simple questionnaire, they gave us a model to play with for a week. It contained our machines. It looked familiar. Next, they took one of our Microsoft Project spread sheets and within a couple of hours we were working with real-live data. Rather than a dummy company, we were looking at our own jobs running on our own machines.”

A similar, pragmatic approach was taken to training, when the MPS visited Production Modelling’s offices. Using ‘out-of-the-box’ software, without any customisation, the MPS was able to populate the database himself over just two days, adding new orders, materials and so on. This methodology ensured that the MPS gained confidence very quickly, with a sense of ownership over the data and the assumptions in the database. In his own words, “We were able to walk away with something that we could use straight away off the shop floor.” It was also very cost effective, eliminating the need for consultants to spend time at the plant in Glasgow.

Orchestrate production planning software updated by shift supervisor on the shop floor

The Outcomes

The decision to go ahead was in December 2012, and initial configuration and training was completed mid-December, with further testing the system over Christmas. The system went live with Business Unit One 1^st January, including two more days advanced training and data setup during the live run.

“The whole planning process has been transformed. We now have true visibility, with worktop access for account managers tracking customer orders, plus large screen displays in the Planning room and at Business Unit One, where the production manager can clearly see any potential materials shortages or capacity bottlenecks. Everything is so visible, with colour coding for, say, special projects, the ability to zoom into detail and then out again for a factory-wide view. Information without overload.

“We also use a wireless tablet on the shop floor. It’s great having it to hand, entering data or making enquires in real-time, right there at the machines. Updates are instant, so by the time we get back to the office, everything is already up to date. In real life, engineers may schedule work differently to the plan, so that amendments can be captured there and then, with ‘What if’ scenarios if necessary.”

Last word: “We are making consistent progress as we integrate the scheduling detail within more of the business. Some jobs take an elapsed period of weeks, so it will be some time before we can state definitively what the improvements will be, but we now have momentum and are well on track for achieving high on-time delivery rates even for complex orders and the ever-changing demands of our customers.

Siemens Production Planning Case Study

Siemens augments ERP systems with Orchestrate production scheduling software to simplify production planning and cut costs.

Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics manufactures world-leading laboratory equipment, ranging from automated haematology to immuno diagnostics. The process involves complex planning and scheduling activities around the production of minute multi-coated beads. Like so many large organisations, the group has invested in a comprehensive ERP solution to manage their extensive corporate-wide activities. And, like so many large companies, has discovered that certain niche activities are better managed using stand-alone dedicated systems. The Healthcare Diagnostics company in Llanberis, Wales is using Orchestrate production planning software very successfully to manage the complex planning required to schedule bead manufacturing.

The challenge

Although the concept is simple, planning and scheduling the manufacture of diagnostic beads can be likened to working on a three dimensional jigsaw. There are two related processes – first coating the beads with organic and non-organic substances and then drying them. The complications arise from competing demands for production and drying equipment, where timing is essential. Batches are unable to wait between process steps or the batch will not meet its strict quality margins. To complicate the issue, coating time is measured in days, specific machines are validated for only certain coatings, and organic coatings have a limited life, sometimes involving critical incubation times for enzymes. Scheduling the batches in the most efficient routing leaves no room for failure, or the batch could be lost.

Before implementing Orchestrate, schedulers were spending between 20 and 30 hours a week compiling schedules for beads and their buffer stocks of coatings. The complexities involved imposed a week-and-a-half scheduling horizon, an obvious restriction on flexibility.

On a continuous shift system, as many as 50 different people working in separate rooms needed access to the schedules, and these were communicated by email and displayed on a large central whiteboard. Inevitably, this led to the possibility of multiple version of the schedule on the shop floor, deviations to the schedule, missed tasks and considerable scope for human error.

The Solution

In  January 2012 the company implemented Orchestrate production scheduling software, linked to a giant touch-screen planning board that displays the current schedule in real time. Planned times are automatically replaced by actual times, critical tasks highlighted and automated alerts identify potentially missed operations.

Orchestrate sits comfortably beside the company’s SAP  system, which provides input in the form of MRP requirements. It has not been necessary to integrate the systems.

Since implementation the time taken in scheduling has been cut by 66%, representing a saving of £20,000 a year. More importantly, it has relieved key staff from a demanding but mechanical task, allowing them to devote more time to other key operations.

Multiple versions of the schedule have been eliminated, with a single version of Orchestrate production planning software displayed on an interactive SMART board. It displays a rolling Gantt chart in real-time, automatically scrolling as time progresses, which means it can be left running on-screen without any operator intervention.

Communications have been streamlined and the potential for errors, shop floor staff working with outdated information, missed tasks and lost product removed. Lost product due to unavailability of critical manufacturing resources has been cut, saving £40,000 a year.

Incubation times can now be monitored in real time, improving the quality of information displayed. Where previously, batches had to be planned a week ahead and changes simply not feasible because of the complexity of working with spreadsheets, now changes can be implemented within 24 .

Within Orchestrate, actual times are tracked and should a task status not be updated to ‘started’ or ‘finished’, the resource will automatically be highlighted in red as an alarm signal to the operator that the task should have started or completed.

The raw coatings, or buffers, are manufactured in different batch sizes to the production coating process, making the planning of buffer solutions very complex. Orchestrate production planning software provides a standard report that details which buffers are required and when to meet demand from the production batches.

 “The system is so demonstrably better than our previous approach and was cost justified in just six months,” says Ian Owen, Production Scheduler. “The systems specialists at Production Modelling very quickly understood our requirements and had a working prototype live within about one week. The real message is that the system has made life so much simpler, as well as making the whole planning process more effective.”

“We have been working with Production Modelling now for more than four years and we have a number of new projects in the pipeline, expanding the use of Orchestrate to different areas within the organisation. It’s a great partnership”

Key Benefits

• £60K minimum costs saving per annum
• 15 hours a week saving in scheduling time
• 5 day reduction to a 1 day scheduling to production lead time
• One live version of Orchestrate displayed on interactive SMART board
• Built in incubation time allowances
• Built in alarm to indicate possibility of missed tasks
• Automatic intermediate buffer solution report

Sourcing and Selecting Production Scheduling Software

The Internet Enabled Partnership Approach to Sourcing and Selecting Production Scheduling Software

Most of us appreciate the “Try before you buy” option that the Internet provides when it comes to evaluating personal or even light business use software. The reason is clear - it allows us to evaluate the software’s suitability, in our own time, convenience and situation, before having to part with any actual money. Production Modelling, a UK specialist supplier of production scheduling software, recently took the innovative step of bringing this model into the more complex world of production scheduling software. Not only does the company make available its production planning and scheduling solution, Orchestrate, on a free trial basis, a number of customers have gone on to successfully implement the system.

Mike Straiton, Sales and Marketing Director for Production Modelling, explains the rationale behind this. “Time is money for every business which is why companies have long since used the Internet for research-based activities such as identifying potential solutions and drawing up supplier shortlists. We have simply extended the logic of this by using the Internet to build partnerships with potential customers to further reduce the time and cost involved in the sales and implementation cycle of this type of software. This can extend to days if not weeks of key personnel being subjected to endless sales presentations instead of fulfilling their primary role in the business. We have always recognised that many of these companies want a partnership approach which is based on trust, understanding and working with each company to help them see for themselves how they will get the best from their investment. By allowing customers to use Orchestrate production scheduling software with their own data, they can quickly see for themselves how configurable it is, how easy it is to use, and to evaluate the potential benefits it will deliver to their business.”

But while it’s one thing to download and use a trial version of, for example, a file conversion or data sharing program, it’s another to do the same with a complex production scheduling solution on which an entire company relies. Making a mistake with the former can undoubtedly cause some inconvenience whereas in the case of the latter it could be the last mistake a company ever makes. You might therefore expect the type of companies which have taken advantage of this to be limited to small, simple engineering/production facilities. But you’d be wrong. Recent Production Modelling customers who have sourced, trialled and successfully implemented Orchestrate via the Internet include Pankl Engine Systems, a leading designer and manufacturer of motorsport high-end crankshafts and BE Aerospace (B/E) Super First Class Division, the world’s leading provider of interior products and solutions for the commercial, business jet and military markets. The latter implementing Orchestrate this way to create an integrated scheduling and capacity plan across 3 sites in 2 countries.

For Straiton, this comes down to three key reasons.

(1)    The ability to try the system how you would use it – with your own data.

Every software solution looks like the best in its own, controlled environment, with its own test data. Trying it in your own situation with your own data can be a very different experience, which is why not everyone is keen for you to ‘try before you buy’. B/E found this to be very much the case with many systems appearing to deliver what was required. But all was not what it seemed. The company looked at 8-10 systems and saw many presentations but when it started asking to see whether the system could work the way we needed it to, none of the suppliers could provide the company with a scenario that showed this. The partnership approach of Production Modelling provided a completely different response. Not only did it provide B/E with a demo-version of the software to fully evaluate, it also built a bespoke demo based on B/E’s own data which essentially replicated the company’s production at a high level. This gave B/E a huge amount of confidence – essential given that the company was looking to implement the system across 3 sites in 2 countries.

(2)    The intuitive, easy to learn and use nature of the system.

The best piece of software in the world is of little use if it’s overly complicated to use. Because Orchestrate had been developed with ease of use in mind, despite its underlying complexity, it appealed to both B/E and Pankl. This combined with the partnership approach of Production Modelling providing a bespoke demo gave B/E the confidence required to self-implement. This was complemented by expert tuition in the use of the software, delivered via a number of web demos, and access to what B/E describes as an excellent support network and help files. It’s a very similar situation with Pankl where the team’s ability to work closely with Production Modelling to generate and fine tune the required data for Orchestrate production scheduling software combined with the system being so easy to pick up meant that the team largely self-taught itself how to use it. Production Modelling was always there to provide assistance and because everyone worked closely together every step of the way, Production Modelling was able to input and check everything that was being done.

(3)    Orchestrate production scheduling software results speak for themselves

The most intuitive piece of software is of little use if it doesn’t actually deliver. Arguably the fact that both B/E and Pankl successfully selected and implemented the system is the most ringing endorsement of this approach. Thanks to Orchestrate, B/E has much greater visibility across all 3 sites, improved scheduling efficiency and can now introduce new orders without interrupting existing business. What’s more, it achieved all this in a matter of months while avoiding installation costs. A spokesperson for B/E commented, “From the outset, Production Modelling’s partnership approach combined with the intuitive, flexible nature of Orchestrate has enabled us to get the best from our investment. Not only are we now able to schedule more efficiently across all sites, we can take on new business with increased confidence which is essential to our ongoing growth and success.”

At Pankl, the team can now see the bigger picture of what is happening and where, as well as 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 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 Pankl Production Team concludes, “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.’”

Straiton is the first to acknowledge that this approach won’t be right for every business. “There will”, he says, “always be companies that need to or might prefer to select and implement software in a more traditional way. For such companies, we will continue to use our years of experience to meet these needs. We anticipate that our Internet enabled partnership approach is one that will increasingly be of interest to companies that are actively looking for a leaner, more cost-effective method of selecting and implementing complex production scheduling solution. We are delighted that a number of them are already enjoying the benefits of such an approach.”

Why Schedule?

“Why schedule?” might seem a facile question in a manufacturing environment. After all, every manufacturer, to a greater or lesser degree, has to plan and schedule production. In fact, most simply scratch the surface.

For most, their MRP or production systems simply do not provide the level of detail they need to manage right down to their own process complexities. No account is taken of current available capacity or constraints. That’s why most companies end up ‘cooking their own soup’.  Over-stressed planners end up spending too much time working with Excel spreadsheets, flowcharts and manual work-arounds.
Even the simplest finished product can go through complex stages that compete for resources, stages that are time and sequence dependent. And every planner has to cope with the unexpected - machine breakdowns, bottlenecks, rework, rush orders, and key personnel not being available.

That’s why smart production scheduling software – used for day-to-day scheduling, capacity planning and ‘what if’ analysis – can deliver such remarkable results.

The short answer to “Why schedule” is that rather than having to invest in new plant, modern scheduling software helps manufacturers get more out of existing facilities.

Longer term it helps companies rationalise manufacturing. And as a bonus, it also reduces errors and increases the productivity of planning staff.

Let’s see how…

Production scheduling in the real world

Intelligent scheduling systems reflect the real world. Real world constraints such as machine availability, people, their skills, tool changes, technical support, colour sequencing and sterile hold times.
They recognise how batches mesh together, how products can take alternative routes in the production process and how multiple products can use the same facility. Here are some examples:

Sequencing

We will start with the batch footprint. At its simplest, a batch footprint is little more than a list of consecutive processes, often portrayed on planning charts as ‘floating chimneys’.



Modern production scheduling software goes much further. It can recognise that, for a single batch, the tasks have to occur on the same equipment. This is important because in a scheduling problem we need to view more than a single batch. We need to see how the batches mesh together.

What’s more, modern systems can manage multiple products in the same facility - different products, with a different batch footprint and a different choice of alternatives for routing. Real world.
And they can schedule all resources at the same time. Unlike most project management tools, intelligent production scheduling systems tell us what resources we need for each task and when they are needed. No conflicts.

Being able to manage complex sequencing, reducing the number of setups and making changes as circumstances dictate, all adds up to a significant improvement in plant and resource utilization.

Improved visibility

Effective production scheduling software can provide real visibility, across any number of planners and managers. Some systems can also integrate easily with existing ERP and planning systems, which means that planners are able to pick up feedback from execution systems with a live view of the production.
Such feedback alone can be sufficient justification for moving from Excel-type models to production scheduling systems. And KPIs can be built-in to ensure that whenever live decisions are made, any adverse ramifications are flagged up.

By defining views that are user-specific, smart scheduling systems can highlight different areas of the plan to different people. Views that automatically, when integrated with execution systems, keep pace with real time and highlight tasks that have been started, completed and so on.
Visibility of customer orders is a major tool that allows planners to improve on-time-in-full deliveries. And once companies feel more confident with the reliability of their planning data, it quickly becomes possible to improve lead times and cut WIP.

As an example, Cope Allman Jaycare users of our own Orchestrate production scheduling software have reported a reduction in WIP of 25% and a reduction in lead times of around 30%. Wastage has been cut significantly, simply because they now have fewer tool changes.

Taking the long view

Production scheduling systems can often be used to enhance longer term Capacity Planning, or Sales & Operations Planning – an area traditionally plagued with unrealistic and over confident plans.

The level of detail and deep understanding of specific production processes possible within smart scheduling systems makes ‘What if?’ scenario planning a reality.

Boosting planner productivity

Finally, breaking free from time consuming, inflexible and error-prone Excel-type scheduling, boosts planner productivity.

In the words of one of our own customers, Steve Brownlee, IT Director, Verna Group: “What used to take a whole day for a planner can now be accomplished in twenty minutes. That doesn’t just mean eliminating the hassle; it means we can afford to run alternative scenarios, knowing that built-in KPI alerts will keep us on track. All that from a system that cost one third the cost of competitive systems. A system implemented in just six weeks and getting absolute benefits.” 

Conclusion

ERP and production execution systems offer very real advantages to manufacturing companies. However, when it comes to complex scheduling – and even simple finished products can involve complex interactions, routings and resource constraints - they are too generic.

They cannot take cognizance of the each company’s very specialized interactions between operations and resource constraints. And they often fall at the first hurdle, unable to cope with infinite capacity planning.
In the real world, there is no finite capacity of machines, tooling, materials, labour or other resources. And in the real world, change is the only constant.

Advanced planning and scheduling software eliminates most of the hassle associated with semi-manual planning systems. It is responsive to change and is nimble enough to provide alternatives whenever unplanned constrains occur – always with a close eye on KPIs. That is why it is so valuable, squeezing the most out of existing resources. Improving operational performance as well as planner performance.
Visibility of customer orders allows planners to improve OTIF deliveries. And once companies feel more confident with the reliability of their scheduling, it quickly becomes possible to improve lead times and cut WIP.

Orchestrate boosts efficiencies and drives down WIP at Cope Allman Jaycare

Simple products often have to go through complicated manufacturing sequences. This is particularly true for Cope Allman Jaycare, Europe’s largest injection blow moulding experts.

When the company decided to adopt Orchestrate, from Production Modelling, to automate their production scheduling, they set themselves some ambitious objectives – all of which have been met. In the system’s first twelve months, Work in Progress has been cut by 25 per cent, On-Time-In-Full (OTIF) delivery performance improved, the number of tool changes has been reduced and materials wastage cut. All this with a smaller planning headcount that has managed to significantly improve customer lead-times.

Cope Allman Jaycare are global specialists in the design and manufacturing of rigid plastic packaging and are market leaders in the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare sectors. Their pharmaceutical packaging includes containers for prescription only and over the counter medications while, in the medical sector, products include specialist packaging for infection control, diagnostics, hospital supplies, medical devices and so on. A vast range with very different characteristics, colour ranges and configurations. To complicate the process further, many products have to conform to strict regulatory requirements.

Despite being the supplier of choice for many blue chip companies, Cope Allman Jaycare cannot rest on their laurels. Their customers demand a high quality product, good service and competitive pricing. With these points in mind, Cope Allman Jaycare looked to Orchestrate to help them make improvements to their production scheduling that would drive down the cost of manufacture.

   


The Challenge - Scheduling resources to maximise efficiency and cut wastage

The company employs a J D Edwards ERP solution for their computing needs but, like so many ERP users, found that comprehensive though they may be, they simply cannot cope with highly detailed scheduling requirements. For example, before adopting Orchestrate production scheduling software, planners had used spreadsheets to balance constraints when bringing together resources such as moulding tools, technical support for tool changes and ancillary equipment such as heaters. To reduce clean-down time, they had to accommodate colour sequence, from light to dark, and they had to consolidate different products to minimise tool changes and material wastage. Cap moulding had to be planned in line with the manufacture of containers and subsequent on-body printing, ready for cap mounting and the insertion of wadding.

There had to be a better way to schedule resources, so the company researched the market for a production scheduling software solution that would integrate easily with their other systems.

 

The Solution

“After researching the market and visiting users of different software solutions, we selected Orchestrate because it ticked all the boxes,” says Peter Teague, IT Director. “In particular, Orchestrate was the only solution that would support multiple planners in multiple locations. We have factories and planners in both Newcastle and Portsmouth and we wanted our planners, each looking after their own set of machines, to be able to use the system at the same time. Just as importantly, the people at Production Modelling impressed us with their understanding of how we worked and what we wanted to achieve.

Master data, such as product information, bill of materials, production routes and stock are all maintained within the JDE system. Orchestrate maintains the more detailed information required for scheduling, such as optimal colour sequencing and tooling information. Customer orders are input to JDE and then transferred automatically into Orchestrate for the more complex planning processes, with works orders automatically fed back to JDE. Both systems working seamlessly together eliminates unnecessary data entry and associated transcription errors. Orchestrate production scheduling software makes it a simple process that results in better sequencing and productivity increases.

According to Peter, the first year’s results were remarkable: “Three of our key performance objectives were to reduce work in progress, cut lead times and reduce wastage. Because we have so much more confidence in our scheduling, we don’t have to run so far ahead with production, which has resulted in a 25% reduction in WIP. Customers are delighted because lead times have now been cut from 6-8 week down to 4-6 weeks; much nearer the four week level and still improving. Wastage has been cut significantly simply because we now have fewer tool changes.”

“Other benefits include improved productivity from our packers, something in the order of 5%, which is quite significant. Our OTIF performance has improved from 92% to 97%. The important thing is, these are all quantifiable benefits.”

“We have also gained from less quantifiable improvements. As well as reducing planning headcount, they now have more time to take on extra responsibilities, such as procurement planning. Communications, both internally and externally have improved. The tool room can see schedules for themselves and can contribute directly – online self service. Being able to make changes directly into Orchestrate production scheduling software means fewer meetings. And pegging orders to purchase orders means we have been able to move more suppliers onto a Kanban approach, where they hold stocks for us and we call off on a daily basis. As to customer communications, we can make much better ‘available to promise’ commitments.”

Peter is confidently expecting more benefits from the system over the next twelve months, particularly in budgeting, partly by using ‘what if’ scenarios. Key Performance Indicators will also begin to play a more prominent role in planning and scheduling, which will help planners to recognise immediately the implications of any planning decision.

Last word from Peter: “ A great system and a marvelous group of people to work with. They really do understand our processes and are keen to help us find new ways to squeeze more out of the system.”