Many project managers run into the same problem - lacking efficiency within their supply chain. Even with all of the correct attributes, such as a substantial ERP and MRP system, production still falls a bit short. As this problem is becoming rampant among production facilities, project managers are finding advanced planning and scheduling (APS) software to be a viable solution to fix these issues. 
As the common misconception of ERP alone being enough for a manufacturing operations is diminishing, advanced planning and scheduling softwares are able to fill in the gaps where ERP lacks. With the diverse features that are available within advanced planning and scheduling software (APS), there are many benefits that can be associated with it.
Benefits within Advanced Planning and Scheduling Software
Some of the benefits associated with advanced planning and scheduling software include the following:
1. Improve ERP
With the right APS system, you are able to easily integrate it with your current ERP system. This will enable you to drastically improve your current ERP system capabilities and allow you operations to take a more detailed approach in planning and scheduling.
When ERP and APS systems work together, the APS system takes into account time and manufacturing limitations simultaneously by using mathematical algorithms to give long and short-term production plans.
Advanced Planning and Scheduling systems are able to fill the gaps found in ERP systems in terms of planning and scheduling flexibility, accuracy, and efficiency.
2. Increased Visibility
Having visibility within your supply chain is key to make strategic decisions and ensure that the organization is running smoothly. Efficient Advanced Planning and Scheduling software allows you to display need-to-know information in a simple manner that is easy to understand.
With PlanetTogether, you have increased visibility into your production processes through color-coding and dialog boxes that increase communication between members of various departments. Impact analysis features will also give planners and scheduling managers the information they need to immediately see the impact of changing the schedule.
Instead of seeking and tracking down information, it is being radiated to our team. Our guys can see if things are received on the line. We can click a button to see how many cases we’ve run, and then monitor that as it goes. PlanetTogether APS aligns us more.
3. "What-If" Analysis
The utilization of “What-If” scenarios allows your planners and schedulers to modify optimization rules and change the orders of jobs in a sand-box environment to locate the best production method. These types of scenarios allow you to evaluate the best production schedule, plan for the future, and quickly implement changes.
With PlanetTogether APS, you can easily and quickly create “What-If” scenarios with the click of a button. This will create an exact copy of your current production schedule and allow you to test out different changes and variations without affecting your current schedule. You can then convert this modified schedule into your actual production schedule.\
4. Lean Manufacturing
Lean Manufacturing pertains to the elimination of waste within the supply chain through value stream mapping. In manufacturing, the goal is to minimize inventory levels through the use of Just-In-Time scheduling in order to produce only what is needed to supply customer orders.
However, these manufacturing strategies can be challenging to implement when using traditional scheduling techniques like spreadsheets as Just-In-Time production requires detailed planning and scheduling to ensure that the supplies are available on time so that production can begin as soon as possible.
Advanced planning and scheduling software (APS) utilizes lean methodology and can reduce waste throughout the whole company, ultimately becoming a much more efficient operation.
The shift to PlanetTogether is saving us about 15% in inventory overhead and about 20% in overtime labor expenses. We're not building equipment to stock any longer, we're building to ship.
5. Agility
PlanetTogether Advanced Planning and Scheduling allow manufacturers to employ agile manufacturing strategies. The goal of agile production is to be able to quickly respond to customer and market demands to take advantage of small windows of opportunity in rapidly changing markets.
When your planning and scheduling processes are done using spreadsheets, it can be very difficult to make the necessary changes to the schedule to keep up with demand changes.
An APS system that takes only a few seconds to automatically generate a production schedule allows planners and schedulers to quickly change strategies, production schedules, accommodate new products, and support fast changeovers.
With all of the benefits associated with advanced planning and scheduling software (APS), PlanetTogether’s APS system is becoming a top choice for manufacturers that wish to take production to the next level. PlanetTogether provides in-depth support for detailed scheduling, sequencing, capacity planning, inventory planning, and predictive analytics for a wide range of industries.
All the functionality your team needs for extreme visibility and productivity are waiting for you. If you have production planning and scheduling challenges, PlanetTogether Advanced Planning and Scheduling is the tool you need.
PlanetTogether’s Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) 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. Try a free trial or demo!
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APS Resources
Topics: Advanced Planning and Scheduling, Implementation, APS, APS, APS benefits, manufacturing scheduling and planning software
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