Manufacturing Software
The purpose of scheduling in manufacturing is to decrease production time and costs, by communicating to a production facility what to make, when, which equipment to operate and with what staff. The goal of production scheduling is to maximize efficiency of operation and reduce expenses. The benefits of a production scheduling software are vast. Manufacturers can expect inventory reduction, reduced scheduling efforts, higher production performance, labor load leveling, accurate delivery date quotes, real time information and process change-over reduction.
These systems help manufacturers create the most optimal schedules, while meeting a number of important priorities.
There are many Production Scheduling systems out there and although a canned system may be more cost efficient now, it will cost your company a lot of time and money in the long run. Why purchase software that won’t work for you and not have any option for configuration? Concerned with cost? Find a company that offers SaaS or ASP!
Tuppas offers agile, browser based software. Browser based means that the software is not installed on each user machine. It is hosted from a single server, either on site, or hosted by Tuppas for a small monthly fee. This is called Thin Client Technology. Thin Client is very beneficial due to the fact that you can access the system from anywhere you can connect to the internet! This also enables the system to run on just about everything. As well as being able to run on a variety of PC’s, you can access the information you need from your PDA’s and Smartphones.
SaaS Scheduling System
Scheduling Software offers value to organizations struggling to optimize and organize their scheduling process. But valuable Scheduling Systems are generally expensive. Smaller companies often opt to schedule production or employees with Excel spreadsheets or dry erase boards. But the cost-benefit of an advanced system are undeniable.
Fortunately, an alternative for businesses with smaller budgets exists. SaaS allow companies to subscribe to software for monthly/quarterly fee. Generally, a variety of options are available so that one can choose the best plan for their needs. Advanced SaaS Scheduling systems are tailored for each business and can include AI (Artificial Intelligence), What If scenarios, Capacity Planning, Backwards Scheduling, Employee Scheduling and more.
SaaS empowers companies by offering a choice apart from buying an expensive system. By subscribing to the software, one comprehends its capabilities and ease of use before investing in it. This fact alone gives SaaS Scheduling software value, but finding a SaaS Scheduling system that is flexible, such as the software that Tuppas offers: http://www.tuppas.com/Production%20Scheduling.htm offers an even greater cost benefit. Tuppas Software is an agile software company that specializes in advanced systems and configuration of those system for optimal use. This flexibility is priceless when working with complex functionality in order to ensure a user-friendly interface.
Open Source Production Scheduling
Open source software has many pros and cons. Based on your company’s requirements the scale can greatly differentiate whether or not you would benefit from an open source production scheduling system. The pros of an open source production scheduling system are very simple. Your ability to change and innovate your software provides better use of your time, which in turn helps you outperform your competition. By purchasing open source production scheduling software, you are avoiding many potential internal costs that would occur during the creation and implementation process.
Some downfalls of open source production scheduling software are as follows. The development cycle is longer than if you had purchased a canned software system however, you are able to make your production scheduling software work for you. Every few years if you have a canned software system you will be forced to upgrade your software. If you have open source software, when technology changes take occur, your software will need to be rewritten; unless you have an open source production scheduling system with a company like Tuppas Software, who uses MDA (Model Driven Architecture).
Tuppas Software offers the best of both worlds, cost effective yet configurable production scheduling software. With MDA, Tuppas offers separation of your custom business logic from the user interface. This allows you to upgrade every 7-10 years without rewriting custom business procedures. This can be a huge financial relief as well as preventing many hours of unnecessary work. Tuppas can create the software you want, the way you want it.
Manufacturing Execution System Design
Choosing the right design for your manufacturing execution system is one of the most important decisions you can make for your plant. Your MES system will be one of the deciding factors in your failure or success. The best course of action is to look at vendos that offer extremely flexable architecture. There are a lot of companies in the business that promote a boxed or canned approach. This type of system is the easiest to setup but in the long run you won't be able to innovate and take advantage of new business opportunities as they arrise.
A flexable system will allow you to take advantage of best practices while still being able to create screens, reports, graphs etc... that make sense in your situation. We recomend a browser based interface because it is the easiest type of system to impplement on the floor. With a browser based system your vendor can make changes to your system that are available to your users without the need to reinstall software on their machines. The changes are made and can be rolled out instantly.
Something else you should consider is that your vendor may not support their product forever. All to often software vendors are sold or they simply don't support the products that they once sold. Be sure that you check out their track record with their past customers. It's also a good idea to look at systems that offer customizable interfaces that your internal IT department can modifiy if the need arrises. Be sure that when choosing a manufacturing execution system you really do your homework there are a lot of choices out there.
APS Software
APS software can be a pivotal system within the manufacturing environment. A good advanced planning system can improve efficiency decrease changeover times and reduce energy demands while a bad system will aggrevate your team and cost you money. Choosing the right system will be one of the major factors in your success.
There are very large differences between APS Software vendors and systems. There are a collection of canned systems which can be worth taking a look at they can be easy to implement on the front end because you don't need to get involved with the design of the system. These systems are a lot like prefabbed houses. A canned system will be functional but they are generally not what you're hoping for in the long run. There are also a collection of companies that have existing structures that can alter their systems to meet the specific needs required by most plants. A flexable system is often a better choice because it will be tailored to the needs of the plant making it much more likely to produce a nice return on investment and making it easier for employees to use.
Some of the constraints that an APS software system can address include but are not limited to:
- Change over efficiency increases
- Finished goods inventory reductions
- Material Requirements Integration
- Overtime labor reduction
- Labor leveling
- Shipping optimization
- Energy optimization
Scheduling for the Aerospace Industry
Suppliers for the aerospace industry often need a production scheduling solution that is linked to data residing in separate systems, can do what-if planning, can trace component parts, can plan for inspection stages and assist with regulatory compliance requirements.
In most cases, the manufacturing process for aerospace parts manufacturers is unique and requires a production scheduling software solution that can be configured to their specific needs. Vendors which are able to provide these agile, configurable systems to suppliers are helping them become leaner and more competitive.
Tuppas Software's production scheduling software is a superior choice for aerospace manufacturing providers due to the ease and speed with which it can be configured.
Implemention of scheduling software within the aerospace industry has reduced project cycle time by more than 75 percent. That translates into increased productivity in production, sales and other profit centers which affect the bottom line.
Planning and Scheduling for Modern Manufacturing
Planning and scheduling systems, also known as advanced planning software or systems, are more encompassing than straight forward production scheduling software. These planning and scheduling applications consider not just production capacity constraints, but also inventory and bill of material constraints, inventory stocking and replenishment levels. The software helps users predict when a forecast can be executed, which plant to run which production in and make accurate promise dates to customers.
Old planning and scheduling systems (such as MRP, or manufacturing resource planning) use a linear, step by step method to allocate material and production capacity. This approach is basic and cumbersome, does not easily adapt to changes in demand, resource capacity or material availability. Materials and capacity are considered separately, and many applications do not even take into account limited material availability or capacity constraints. Of course, this approachcan result in plans which can not even be executed in the real world.
More modern planning scheduling systems simultaneously plan and schedule plant production based on both available materials and capacity. This creates a more realistic production plan. To come up with a realistic production plan requires real-time access to data, total asset visibility, performance metrics and automated decision-support tools in the form of planning and scheduling software.
Ensure Quality with a High-Tech System
How do you ensure high product quality? Even plants producing the exact same products will have different quality issues. One big problem is that many of companies utilize outdated methods to attempt to monitor quality. Tracking the conformity of your products with paper forms or Excel spreadsheets to standardize your quality give you an inaccurate view of your operation. This will ultimately cost your clients and thus result in income loss.
How do you determine the root causes of low product quality? Some software companies think they can help manufacturers monitor quality with a generic, off-the-shelf system. But since procedures are different at each facility, an out-of-the-box software can not provide the best overview. Completely custom systems is expensive and usually takes years to develop. A configurable software is the best solution.
Overseeing quality will give you a competitive edge. A configurable software gives you only the functionality that you need, ensuring a user-friendly interface. Tailored reports that display the most pertinent information based on your goals will ensure that your company receives a return on your software investment. User-friendly software provides easily accessible, relevant data which eliminates unnecessary paperwork and allows for quick implementation.
Advanced Planning Systems Today
Advanced Planning Systems, or APS, are more encompassing than production scheduling software. These applications consider not just shop floor capacity constraints, but also consider inventory and bill of material constraints, inventory stocking and replenishment levels. Advanced planning and scheduling software helps it's users answer questions like, "Will we be able to execute this forecast? In which plant should we run this production? When should we promise this customer’s order?"
Traditional planning and scheduling systems (such as MRP, or manufacturing resource planning) use a step by step procedure to allocate material and production capacity. This approach is simple but cumbersome, and does not easily adapt to changes in demand, resource capacity or material availability. Materials and capacity are planned separately, and many systems do not consider limited material availability or capacity constraints. This approach sometimes results in plans that can not be executed.
Unlike these systems, APS simultaneously plans and schedules production based on available materials and capacity. This usually results in a more realistic production plan. To meet this goal of a realistic production plan requires real-time access to data, total asset visibility, performance metrics and automated decision-support tools.
APS software can operate in time frames which are significantly longer than the sum of all procurement and production lead times.Advanced planning and scheduling software can operation in concert with or independently from MRP/ERP systems. While it can be used to generate plans for one location, the APS software can also consider multiple locations throughout the supply chain. Used in this role, advanced planning software becomes an integral part of a supply chain management software suite.
OEE Systems Improve Profit
Do you know which pieces of your manufacturing equipment are the most efficient? When should you service/replace your machinery? How do you go about monitoring this to maximize your profit margins? The answer is an OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) Software.
What does such a system do? The best OEE software allows you to systematically improve your process by displaying your data in an easy-to-view manner. The system should provide at-a-glance views into your production performance while flagging problem areas.
Most software will give you generic reports that will not directly address your equipment issues. A “custom” solution is one solution, but such a system is usually expensive since it takes hundreds of programming hours to create. A configurable software is a great option. Configurable systems already have a basic structure in place. A systems analyst discovers how to accurately reflect your business processes and a software engineer tailors the software to your needs.
By presenting only relevant information, a system designed to improve your Overall Equipment Effectiveness also improves your profit margin. This approach not only provides a user-friendly interface, it also ensures a high ROI and ultimately, the success of your system.
If you're looking for more information on OEE software you might want to check out OEE Software Today. The site has some nice articles on production performance reporting.
Advanced Planning Software
APS systems or advanced planning software is generally an extension to manufacturing production scheduling systems. The reason they are are called advanced planning systems is that they generally go far beyond the scope of a traditional scheduling solution. An APS is usually a goal oriented system that incorportes the production scheduling task with outside influences. One example is MRP or material requirement planning a good APS might be capable of building a finite or master production plan based on the availability of raw materials and the impending availability of raw material. Other advanced functions could include efficiency functions that study the plan in relationship to operational efficiency within a plant or machine loading efficiency throughout the enterprise. Energy reductions, finished goods inventory reduction, transportation loading and transporttation routing can also be incorporated into many advanced planning software systems.
The routines that are used to create good planning systems vary greatly as you look hard at different vendors but in general they tend to include linear functions, intelligent networks and genetic routines. Genetic functions and routines are programs that study the arrangement of data within a plan over and over again. The system rearranges the schedule until it runs out of possibilities and then releases a plan that hopefully has value to the customer.
Whatever technology you choose for you planning system vendor choice is of paramount importance. Be sure to look at vendors that offer a lot of flexability and a high level of customer support. Flexability is very important because the rules within planning systems tend to change at about the same rate that business opportunities and practices change. You're going to be asking your vendor to change your system(s) as new business opportunities arrise. So the vendor choice and the capability for the system to adapt to changing business conditions cannot be underestimated.
