Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) Tools

Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) refers to the management of processes involved in the optimization of raw materials and resource capacity within a production facility. Creating a precise production schedule that optimizes the use of all resources in the production facility can be challenging.

Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) softwares such as PlanetTogether APS use a variety of tools that make it easy to plan, schedule, increase bottleneck visibility, manage inventory levels, and allocate materials for production.

ERP and MRP systems are often used as planning tools although they are very general and are used to manage production at a macro level. APS softwares can be easily integrated with an ERP/MRP system and will import data to create more detailed production schedules that will help boost efficiency, increase profits, cut costs, and reduce waste.

PlanetTogether’s Advanced Planning and Scheduling software offers tools that can be utilized to ensure that your production schedule is efficient and that production orders are being completed on time. These tools include What-If scenarios, Gantt drag-and-drop, inventory planning, finite capacity planning, and multi-plant planning.

PlanetTogether APS Tools:

• What-If Scenario - PlanetTogether's What-If Scenarios feature allows you to see the effects of any changes made to the production schedule before they are implemented to allow you to make better business decisions. This tool allows manufacturers to adjust their schedule to evaluate the best production schedule, plan for the future, and build contingency plans. You can have as many What-If scenarios as you wish while keeping the Live schedule unchanged to prevent shop-floor disruptions. Then, you can quickly implement schedule changes by converting the What-If scenario to a live scenario.
• Gantt Drag and Drop - Another standout feature of PlanetTogether’s advanced planning and scheduling software is the Gantt drag-and-drop feature. Typically, production schedules are automatically generated based on scheduling constraints so the Gantt drag-and-drop feature provides planners and schedulers the control they need to easily make schedule adjustments. This feature allows users to quickly make changes to the schedule to ensure a steady flow of production, allow them to deliver goods on time, and reduce costs. In addition, Gantt labels and alerts provide the visibility you need into the status of production so that you can see whether orders will be late or if you need to purchase additional material to complete the jobs.
• Inventory Planning - The inventory plan feature of PlanetTogether showcases how much inventory is available within a certain time period. As jobs are consuming materials, the inventory levels will slowly diminish and will require manufacturers to either purchase more material or produce the required components. This feature allows manufacturers to set warnings that will alert planners if the inventory levels are experiencing a shortage, below the safety stock, adequate, or above the maximum inventory allowed. Proper inventory management allows you to cut costs by only purchasing the number of materials or parts that you need for production and that the quality of goods is not declining by sitting too long in inventory.
• Finite Capacity Planning - Finite capacity planning is crucial for anyone involved in scheduling as there exists an upper limit for how many products can be produced for any manufacturing facility. When creating a production schedule, it is important to know your finite capacity limit as this will ensure that your production plans and schedules are feasible and realistic. This will then help you with lead time prediction, improving material constraints, understand labor capacity, fulfilling on-time delivery, and monitoring the production process.
• Multi-Plant Collaboration - PlanetTogether APS is designed to accommodate manufacturers with multiple production plants whose processes are interconnected with one another. This system allows you to synchronize production plans and schedules across your departments, plants, and warehouses by allowing multiple planners to be logged on at the same time. Multi-plant scheduling provides visibility into your resource capacity, inventory levels, and overall operational performance across all of your plants.

With two breweries, we need PlanetTogether’s analytics tools for visibility between plants. If something happens in Fort Collins, we now understand the capacity in Asheville and vice versa. Having PlanetTogether for communication is imperative.

BRIAN GOODWIN, MASTER SCHEDULER, NEW BELGIUM BREWING

These are just some of the tools and features offered by PlanetTogether’s Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) system. This advanced planning and your operations are running efficiently. PlanetTogether APS generates production schedules that provide visibility and highlight areas and operations that are in need of optimization. You will be able to find solutions to any problems pertaining to inefficiency, bottlenecks, and waste so that you can reduce costs and increase revenues.

Advanced Planning and Scheduling Software

Advanced Planning and Scheduling Softwares have become a must for modern-day manufacturing operations as customer demand for increased product assortment, fast delivery, and downward cost pressures become prevalent. These systems help planners save time while providing greater agility in updating ever-changing priorities, production schedules, and inventory plans. APS Systems can be quickly integrated with an ERP/MRP software to fill the gaps where these systems lack planning and scheduling flexibility, accuracy, and efficiency.

With PlanetTogether APS you can:

• Create optimized schedules that balance production efficiency and delivery performance
• Maximize throughput on bottleneck resources to increase revenue
• Synchronize supply with demand to reduce inventories
• Provide company-wide visibility to resource capacity
• Enable scenario data-driven decision making

The implementation of an Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) Software will take your manufacturing operations to the next level of production efficiency by taking advantage of the operational data you already possess in your ERP system. APS is a step in the right direction of efficiency and lean manufacturing production enhancement. Try out a free trial or demo!