Synthes Case Study

The DePuy Synthes Companies has one of the world's most comprehensive portfolios of orthopedic and neurological products. They offer services for joint reconstruction, trauma, spine and sports medicine among others. With such a diverse product line, inventory management presented a problem. Due to the lack of a production and scheduling software, Synthes continued to build products they didn't need simply to keep the machines running. As a result, they had excessive inventory but didn't possess the inventory customers required.

For Bruce Hays, VP of Operations for DePuy Synthes, this could no longer continue, "We were getting hit with two costs: the cost of the item sitting on the shelf and the cost of the lost customer because we couldn't deliver what people wanted."

In response, Hays saw the need to implement a planning and scheduling software to mitigate future issues.

Identifying the Opportunity

After evaluating several planning and scheduling solutions, Hays decided to contact PlanetTogether. He felt their innovation and strengths fit his need. Almost immediately, Hays could tell he made the right choice, "Planet Together just needed access to a couple pieces of data, and they got the software up and running within a few days with our actual data so we could immediately begin acclimating ourselves to the program," he said.

Getting Started

PlanetTogether offered Hays rapid remote implementation to ease the transition process. "Everyone was excited when we first introduced the software, and it didn't cause any issues. Planners could continue their day-to-day tasks," continued Hays. "It's a planning and scheduling system, but beyond that it provided a communication method." PlanetTogether's goal is not to change the machines or the company's operational structure, but to suggest more efficient procedures.

Improved Customer Service and Communication

PlanetTogether streamlines this process across communication channels to ease the transfer of information between departments. "It communicates everywhere from the sales organization down to the operator," emphasized Hays. "Now, customer service knows exactly when the product is ready for the customer. This greatly enhanced our customer service rapport."

Supporting Supervisors

With PlanetTogether's system, supervisors receive a prioritized list of tasks based on the given production schedule, removing what Hays referred to as the "guessing game" from the process. "Supervisors with a prioritized list got them out of the business of having to juggle jobs and decide what to do," Hays continued. "Now, we've become much more efficient because supervisors finish a job on a list and move on."

Cutting Inventory

Early on, inventory was sitting at around $9 million, according to Hays. Within the first year and a half of the software's implementation, they got it down to around $5 million. "By not building the wrong things we're communicating on a better level with our suppliers in telling them what we need and giving them better delivery schedules," said Hays. "This had a drastic effect on our efficiency."

Transforming the Business

Hays emphasized how implementing PlanetTogether's software changed the whole culture of the company for the better. "It gave us visibility, a communications tool and the ability to move accountability in all directions," he said. "It did ten times what I thought it could do."

About PlanetTogether

Based out of San Diego, CA, and founded by Cornell University engineers in 2004, PlanetTogether develops software that thrives on the challenge of algorithms to drive manufacturing efficiency. PlanetTogether's showcase software cuts inventory and labor costs in half, boosts productivity by double digits, and connects multi-plant operations with precision. The advanced planning and scheduling software is customizable to your business and integrates with virtually all ERP systems.

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