Types / Methods of Production planning & Control for Ops

One of the most common things that production facility managers say about production planning software is that they just don’t think their factory is ready for a system like that yet. While a new software program for the entire company can be a major decision, all too often factory managers wait until their facility has serious problems before trying to implement a new program.

Unfortunately, this causes a lot of stress as employees scramble to input data, learn a new system, and implement changes to improve their facility’s efficiency in a reactive mode after expensive mistakes have already been made. Instead, it’s a good idea for managers to implement a new system before small problems turn into big ones. If any of the following statements are true about your company, then you might want to start seriously exploring a new production planning software program.

Orders are shipping late or lead-times are getting longer:

We all know that keeping our customers happy is critical to the success of our business and our own careers. It’s easy to continue the status quo and hope that your customers won’t go elsewhere for faster, more reliable service. But instead of hoping, you can take action to use a planning and control system to ensure that you are the best choice for your customers, not your competitor.

Routine maintenance, cleaning, safety, and quality control inspections are being missed:

While most factories have delays in these areas during peak operational times, regularly missing or delaying inspections from these departments can quickly become a disastrous problem. If your facility can't seem to keep up with routine factory functions like these, you need a better way to get your schedule under control.

You don't know where your facility is leaking money or losing productivity:

Ideally, every piece of equipment and employee in your company would work at maximum efficiency on the right orders, giving you an easy-to-predict production rate and maximum profitability. In the real world, however, each employee has their own pace and issues, and every machine has its own quirks. If you don’t know what issues are causing your production rates and profit to plummet, you need to do something. Production planning software can track every production line, product, and employee in order to find patterns and solutions that humans just can’t spot. Plus, an APS system go beyond tracking to actually automate work assignments and production sequencing to maximize on-time output of the factory automatically.

Your facility is planning to expand:

While managers often implement new software after an expansion, it’s a lot easier to get the production software up and running before new lines and employees are added. Not only does this give the prediction portion of the program more data to work with, but it also gives you time to adjust the program to your facility before implementing more changes. As an added bonus, the software can help facilitate the expansion by generating what-if scenarios for various factory floor configurations, staff rotations, and even equipment swaps so you know what your investment will do for your business and your customers—before you make the investment.

Your labor costs are climbing:

Increased production doesn’t always mean you have to hire more staff. Likewise, decreased production doesn’t mean you have to lay-off staff. Advanced production planning software can find the most efficient way to use the people you have and identify training or marketing opportunities. That means you’ll have a more efficient workforce and increase your profit without painful employee changes. By enabling your planning team with better tools, you will also reduce their stress level, save them time, and make them even more productive than they already are.

If your company is showing any of these signs, you may need to implement an advanced production planning software program.