Planning ahead

Who would have thought that in 2013, in the midst of a double-dip recession and with manufacturing management software now very mature, there might still be a potential to make massive inroads into OTIF metrics? But that's what Walker Precision Engineering (WPE), which serves the defence and associated high-tech sectors, is reporting. And the catalyst was its Orchestrate APS (advanced planning and scheduling) system, from Production Modelling. How? According to Stuart Glen, master production scheduler at this Glasgow-based precision contract manufacturer, its new system replaced multiple spreadsheets and flowcharts, providing an intuitive planning environment with all-important 'what if' functionality. However, it also went one further – taking live Gantt charts into the offices and factory floor locations on large screens for all to see. He concedes that it's early days, but says the displays, as well as a wireless Windows 8 tablet device for data entry on plant walk-arounds, are together driving a transformation in production efficiency and predictability. Just as important, they're delivering a new customer confidence. Impressive stuff, and more in a moment. But it's worth just breaking off to note that, while WPE's story may be exceptional, there are also tales of significant improvements everywhere from make-to-stock discrete manufacturers to continuous process industry producers. Recent revelations have come from companies as far afield as Canadian wire manufacturer Sivaco, Alstom Turbine Blades in Croatia, Italian paint producer Lechler (all Preactor APS users) and UK contract manufacturer Berck (a Syspro APS and ERP house), all of which turned their production efficiency and capacity around primarily using APS software. It seems that manufacturers of all stripes are still realising that, while spreadsheets can go some way to making sense out of shopfloor complexity, they do so at a cost. That cost includes a lot of blood, sweat and tears – mostly on keeping them up-to-date and synchronised in a real-world environment – as well as expensive planners. And, in the end, they deliver suboptimal operations and hence less than happy customers. What's more, operations directors are hearing from their peers that not only can APS systems quickly handle rescheduling in the face of real-world events, but they can also help to guide CI (continuous improvement). In part, that's because they necessarily focus attention on primary and secondary constraints – shared resources, tool availability, material handling rates, etc, at one level, and operators, skills, certifications, etc, at another. However, it's also due to their ability to drive shopfloor behaviour, by revealing requirements and consequences in real time. Lechler, for example – which has paint production plants in Como and Foligno – went for APS, because, as site manager Luigi Malinverno explains, multiple departments needed to plan around resources and workload, while also maintaining links between production orders, according to rules relating to the BoM structure and order type. Other constraints included the capacity of its fixed and mobile process vessels. And, at the top level, machine sequencing needed to maximise productivity and minimise delays due to set-up. This firm chose Preactor 500 APS software and followed a phased implementation process, which, since 2011 has resulted in a 20% reduction in lead times, reliable delivery dates and full visibility of work in progress throughout production. "Preactor has proved to be suitable for chemical companies' manufacturing operating processes, where problems and constraints can be modelled beyond the pure capacity utilisation of resources," comments Malinverno. Taming diversity Back at WPE, and Glen says the firm's scheduling was always going to be complicated, because of its scale. He explains that it involves three very different business units, an assembly area, painting and plating, off-site clean room facilities and a production plant in Poland. The first business unit specialises in large, often complex projects, offering high quality product, including valve bearings for the energy industries. Some parts may progress through as many as eight processes, and timeframes can be measured in weeks. Unit two is dedicated mainly to aerospace and defence work, typically involving low-volume, high-integrity production, generally using a single process on five-axis machining centres. Then the third business unit is all about supporting an unnamed aero engine manufacturer, with repair and design work, as well as manufacturing for the general aero industry, using exotic materials and delivering rapid turnaround in AOG (aircraft on ground) situations. Glen states that the organisation had already invested heavily in advanced NC (numerical control) equipment and the latest twin and five-axis pallet multi-access machining centres. He also says that many machines were being run for the full 168 hours per week. Furthermore, most of business unit two was operating a night shift from Monday to Friday, along with overtime working every weekend. So the company, he says, was very focused on meeting demand and, like many others, probably thought of itself as working to full capacity. However, in the absence of credible information around either workable schedules or the inevitably changing reality across its shopfloors, on-time delivery was suffering. Hence WPE's move to APS. "We looked at more than one solution, but very quickly came to the conclusion that Orchestrate offered a modern interface, was easy to use and provided flexibility in planning," states Glen. He also praises Production Modelling's engagement process, all the way from its system demonstration – which was meaningful, in terms of the company's operations – to providing a working model for the steering group to play with for a week. "That contained our machines and looked familiar," comments Glen. "Next, they took one of our Microsoft Project sheets and, within a couple of hours, we were working with live data. Rather than a dummy company, we were looking at our own jobs running on our own machines." And he says that the software company used a similar, pragmatic approach to training. Using 'out-of-the-box' software, he found himself comfortably able to populate the database within two days – adding new orders, materials, etc. Glen says the method quickly instilled confidence and a sense of ownership, not only around the manufacturing data but also production assumptions in the database – and all without engaging consultants. "We were able to walk away with something that we could use straight away on the shopfloor." So much for the preparation. Glen says that, with the go-ahead decision made in December last year, initial configuration and training done in a fortnight and system testing completed over Christmas, the system went live on the first business unit on 1 January this year. And the result: "The whole planning process has been transformed," he enthuses. "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 see any 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. It's information without overload." Referring to the wireless tablet, he also confirms that updates at machine side are fast. "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 amendments can be captured there and then, with 'what if' scenarios, if necessary," he says, explaining that sequence changes are automatically updated to the large screens. Glen says that WPE is making consistent progress as it integrates the scheduling rules and vision systems across 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," he asserts.